Contains spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #13!Spider-Man’s latest adventure has taken him to a new version of a classic Marvel location, adding a fresh twist that makes it MCU-ready. These changes don’t just turn this Marvel mainstay into a more immediate threat, but alsogive a huge upgrade to a villain who sorely needs it.
Ultimate Spider-Man #13debuts a new version of the Savage Land - a forgotten jungle populated by dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. However, Marvel’s new ‘Ultimate Universe’ continuity hasmoved this iconic location from Antarctica to under New York City. The issue comes from Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Cory Petit and Matt Wilson.
This issue follows Peter Parker and Harry Osborn aftertheir kidnapping by Kraven the Hunter. Kraven, one of five gang bosses working in alliance with the Kingpin, has taken the duo to the underground Savage Land to hunt them for sport. The land is under the control of one of New York’s other six bosses, this world’s Mole Man. The move makes Mole Man way more of a threat, as well asbinding the Savage Land far more closely to Spider-Man lore. It’s no longer somewhere he visits with the Avengers, but a threat lurking under his city.
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Ultimate Spider-Man Turns the Savage Land into New York’s Dark Secret
Mole Man Just Got a Major Upgrade with His Underground Territory
Drawing on pulp traditions of lost islands and Hollow Earth adventures, the mainstream Marvel version of the Savage Land is located in Antarctica - a unique biome created using alien technology. The Savage Land is full of dinosaurs alongside more mystical threats. It’s also the home of characterslike Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil. In mainstream Marvel, it’s the X-Men who tend to visit the Savage Land the most, but in this new Ultimate Universe, it’s Spidey who gets first dibs on this lost world, literally being dropped into it by Kraven.
This isn’t the first hint toward this world’s Savage Land.Ultimates #2, written by Deniz Camp and drawn by Juan Frigeri, showed a flashback to what looked like the destruction of theoriginalsavage land bythe industrialization of the Maker, the dictator who used time travel to ruin this timeline and stop the emergence of its superheroes. Does that mean that the dictator moved this world’s dinosaurs underneath New York? Or is this all the doing of the Mole Man?Either way, the Ultimate Universe just turned the Savage Land into Spider-Man’s problem.
Moving the Savage Land (Deep) Under NYC Would Be Great for a Film Adaptation
This Is the Perfect Way to MCU-ify the Iconic Locale
The Savage Land connecting directly to New York would be the perfect excuse to introduce it in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With aFantastic Fourmovie coming up soon, fans will be wondering how Mole Man - the team’s first villain - could fit in. Making him a New York-based threat answers that question, and begins to expose the weird, wild world that the FF inhabit. It also makes the Savage Land an immediate threat to human life, as opposed to heroes needing a reason to head to Antarctica and encounter dinosaurs.
An apparent version of the Savage Land already appeared inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, teasing that Marvel has the location on their mind. Making it Mole Man’s subterranean kingdom connects two B-tier threats, turning each into something more imposing. Hopefully,Spider-Manjust showed the MCU how to make Mole Man andthe Savage Land a true threatto New York’s heroes.
Ultimate Spider-Man #13is on sale now from Marvel Comics
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is the name given to several individuals who have employed a spider-moniker throughout Marvel Comics. Typically gaining their powers through a bite from a radioactive spider, the different Spider-Man heroes employ super-strength, agility, and intellect while utilizing webbing to swing and tangle up their foes. The most notable of these Spider-Men is Peter Parker, who remains one of the most popular superheroes throughout the world.
