Once considered one of the best things Marvel had going, the Ultimate Universe is in its final days.
How did this come to pass?
In the world of comics, theres a feeling that anything can last forever.
Spider-Man and Batman and the like will always be around as long as comics exist.
If somebody dies, it doesnt matter because theyll just come back later down the line.
Yeah, maybe for the A-list, but even popular concepts and characters simply fade away after a while.
After so many false-finishes, its going to meet its end during the bigSecret Warsevent this May.
The Ultimate Universe was introduced in 2000, starting withUltimate Spider-Man, quickly followed byUltimate X-Men.
For those of you who werent reading Marvel at the time, Spider-Man and the X-Men certainly needed it.
Oh God, did they ever.
Spider-Man was in dire straits.
The stink of the infamousClone Sagawas still fresh and what followed wasnt much better.
They needed a new start, but not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
If anything, Marvel appeared to realize just how much of a mess X-Men side of things was.
The firstX-Menmovie was a huge box-office hit, but how was anyone supposed to actually get into the comics?
They had so many characters with the rosters constantly in flux and there was too much insanity going on.
They too needed a new start.
It went back to square one.
Peter Parker was a teenager, living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
On a class trip, he was bitten by a spider and it gave him powers.
It was an instance of reinventing the wheel, but with a modern bend.
The science behind the spider bite wasnt just radiation on its own.
They went with a more modernized take that it was genetically-engineered by Norman Osborn.
The whole origin wasnt wrapped up in half an issue, but stretched over several.
Also important was that the Sam RaimiSpider-Manmovie was on the way and this gave everyone a ground floor.
As mentioned, this was a bigger deal with X-Men as the continuity had gotten completely out of control.
Storm, Colossus, and especially Wolverine were there from the beginning.
Grant MorrisonsNew X-Menrun was way better, but at least Millars stuff was a strong, streamlined starting point.
Ultimate Marvel Team-Upsoon followed, which allowed Ultimate Spider-Man to team up with different reimagined versions of classic heroes.
There we got the first looks at the likes of Ultimate Hulk, Iron Man, Dr.
Strange, and so on.
Thor no longer had a human form that he could alternate with.
While that was going on,Ultimate Fantastic Fourintroduced theMarvel Zombiesuniverse, which got years of play.
The Ultimate line was riding really high for years.
Whats Ultimate Deadpool going to be like?
What about Ultimate Thanos?
In a way, the Ultimate Universe was the comic book predecessor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Even as the line expanded, the connections in the continuity felt stronger and more tightly-knit.
There were problems, though.
Orson Scott Card and Andy Kubert did a miniseries about the origin ofUltimate Iron Manand it felt…off.
Even various Ultimate comics made references to its lack of completion.
It had all of Loebs annoying habits.
A whole bunch of guest appearances even if they were pointless and didnt make sense?
Heroes and villains written out of character?
Oh, you certainly have a check there.
He was a villain in the regular comics so surely he would just be a good plug-and-play villain here.
Loeb reportedly even tried takingUltimate Spider-Manfor himself, but Bendis put his foot down and refused to budge.
It was a five-issue snuff comic where shock value took center stage above everything else.
The idea behind the disasterpiece madesomesense.
Marvels mainstream line was doing fantastic and some felt the Ultimate line was losing its luster.
Simply saying, Heres Ultimate Mr. Sinister, was no longer doing it.
What better way to show off how different this world could be than just causing massive, irreparable damage?
The whole line was changed from Ultimate ______ to Ultimate Comics ______.
The results were scattershot.Ultimate Comics Spider-Manstill had Bendis at the helm and continued its run of quality.
He threw some interesting stuff in there, but it didnt really measure up to his originalUltimateswork.
The world was once again shoved into a more dystopian direction thanks to theUltimatesarc.
Ultimate X-Mengot off on the wrong foot due to writer Nick Spencers decision to write a less-than-linear storyline.
BendisSpider-Manremained the heart of the Ultimate line and held onto the quality like nobodys business.
Thats pretty impressive, in my opinion.
Unfortunately,Ultimate Comics Spider-Manwas the only series that had any juice in it.UltimatesandX-Menwere dying out.
This time, coming out of the 616 miniseriesAge of Ultron, they gave usCataclysm.
Naturally, it took a big superhero team-up to stop him.
It even brought Peter Parker back to let him ride off into the sunset.
Its given us plenty of inspiration.
Marvel Comics is killing it right now in general.
Were no longer in the post-Clone Sagaera.
Theres no luster left in building on this alternate, more modern reality.
Little reason other than nostalgia for a few years ago when there was something left to say.
After several fake-outs, its time to say goodbye.
Though that, Do you think this letter on my head stands for France?
line can bite the dust.
Im fine with that.
