10 Characters Marvel Should Have Given the Ultimate Treatment Too

Ultimate Marvel has been the most important part of the publisher in the last two years. While the House of Ideas hasn’t held the year in the same kind of sales stranglehold they usually do, the Ultimate books have sold well and mostly made fans rather happy about the various comics. We’ve seen a lot of new versions of classic Marvel characters, and many of them have become fan-favorites. Creators like Jonathan Hickman, Deniz Camp, Chris Condon, Bryan Hill, and Peach Momoko gave readers some amazing new versions of the coolest characters in the Marvel history, which has helped fuel sales for the Ultimate books.

Looking at the awesome Ultimate characters, it’s plain to see that Marvel made a lot of great choices to populate Earth-6160. However, there are also a lot of best of all time characters that were left out of the new Ultimate Universe that could have been very cool. These ten Marvel characters should have gotten the Ultimate treatment, as they would add so much to the books.

10) Gorgon

Ultimate Wolverine, for a lot of fans, had a lot of problems this year. A lot of readers don’t like the storytelling decisions made in the book and maybe introducing more of Wolverine’s most dangerous villains would have made fans like the series more. Of all Logan’s enemies, Gorgon probably would have been a great addition to Earth-6160. He could have fit into Ultimate Wolverine, Ultimate X-Men, or even The Ultimates. He’s a character that never gets used to his utmost extent, and he could have shined in the Ultimate Universe.

9) Kang

The Ultimates is one of the best Ultimate books, creating a team of Avengers out to save the world from the yoke of the Maker. It’s taken readers to a lot of great places, but could have been even better. The Avengers have amazing villains, and the Maker could have thrown more of them at the Ultimates. A perfect villain for the team could have been Kang. It would be interesting to see Kang “working for” the Maker, trying to defeat the Ultimates and take the Maker’s place as leader of the world. Or maybe we could have seen a Kang completely under control of the Maker. It’s hard to see what could have made The Ultimates better, because it is so fantastic, but Kang could have been awesome in the new Ultimate Universe.

8) The Eternals

The Eternals have always been an interesting idea, but have rarely been used to their potential. The new Ultimate Universe could have been a perfect place for them. The Maker would have to deal with them to take over the world, especially since his desires would be very different from the Celestial plan. It would have been really cool to see them as soldiers of the Maker or enemies of him and the heroes of the Earth. They are amazingly powerful characters who could have been taken multiple ways in the Ultimate comics and gotten more attention than ever.

7) Silver Surfer

Ultimate Universe: Two Years In was amazing, with the new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy shining in the issue. Other than the Guardians, the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe hasn’t gotten a lot of chances to shine in the new Ultimate Universe. This is a shame, because we could have gotten one of the coolest characters in comic history: the Silver Surfer. Surfer’s origin is inextricably linked to Galactus, but there’s way around that if they didn’t also want the World-Devourer there. Silver Surfer had a big year in 2025; they could have even used the Ultimate books to introduce a version of him based on the movie, which would echo the relationship of the old Ultimate books and the MCU. Seeing him (or her) in the Ultimate Universe could have been awesome, expanding the cosmic side of things.

6) Cassandra Nova

Ultimate X-Men, for my money, has been the best of the Ultimate books. It worked so well because of how different it was from the mainline version of the team. Writer/artist Peach Momoko took the group in different directions, using aspects of horror manga and magical girl manga to give readers something awesome that they couldn’t get anywhere else. However, it might have been very cool to see some of the X-Men’s greatest villains in that book, like Cassandra Nova. Nova also could have fit into Ultimate Wolverine, and maybe that would have helped the book connect positively with audiences. Nova is popular both with new fans and old, and would have been an interesting addition to the books.

5) Rogue

Rogue is one of the most popular X-Men, and has taken her place at the head of the team again in the mainline X-books. She’s a beloved character, even for more casual audiences coming off X-Men ’97, and it would have been great to get a version of her in the Ultimate Universe. There was a Rogue-like character in Ultimate X-Men, but we never found out if this was the same version of the heroine of one of Momoko’s homages. She could have slotted perfectly into Ultimate Wolverine or even The Ultimates, as Rogue has a history with the Avengers. She’s always a ray of sunshine as a character, and there are many ways she could have been used in the new Ultimate Universe.

4) Maverick

Maverick played an important of Wolverine’s history, one that could have been used very well in the Ultimate Universe. He was also a member of the Weapon X program and worked with Logan and Sabretooth in the ’60s as Team X. He’s made a few important appearances in the last few years in theWolverine comics, and it would have been cool to see him in the Weapon X by way of the Winter Soldier-centric Ultimate Wolverine. Sabretooth appeared in the book, and it would have been great to see Maverick there as well, as a friend or foe of Wolverine. He’s another character that isn’t always used to his potential, and maybe he could have been the killer app that made Ultimate Wolverine better.

3) Norman Osborn

Ultimate Spider-Man has been a fan-favorite book, with Harry Osborn playing a key role in the it (there’s an argument that could be made that he was the main character of the book, in fact). However, one Osborn has haunted the book, and that’s Norman Osborn. We see characters talking about him and he did make a flashback appearance, but other than that, he’s a been a ghost. Getting to see him in the present could have been awesome, and it seemed like the book was setting that up by making Norman’s brain the basis of Harry’s in-armor AI, but nothing ever came of it. Norman is an integral part of the Spider-Man mythos and it would have been great to see him as a more important character in these new ones.

2) Matt Murdock

The Ultimate Universe did get its own version of Daredevil, but instead of Matt Murdock being under the mask, it was the Beyonder. Readers didn’t get to see Matt at all, which is just plain strange. He’s one of the most beloved characters in Marvel history and could have fit perfectly into either Ultimate Spider-Man or The Ultimates, whether it be as a vigilante or someone working against Kingpin and the Maker from within the system. We didn’t need him to be Daredevil, but it would have been awesome to see him on Earth-6160. He’s an amazing character and would have worked beautifully in several Ultimate books.

1) Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones is one of the greatest characters introduced in the ’00s, but since her co-creator Brian Michael Bendis left Marvel, she hasn’t gotten the time to shine that she used to. The new Ultimate books could have been a return to prominence for her. She could have fit into any of the books as a reporter/detective working against the Maker or even a servant of his twisted order. She would have fit perfectly into Ultimate Spider-Man, as Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson starting their own news site and she’s had books where she worked with reporters, namely The Pulse. Plus, the character has a history with the Avengers, meaning she easily could have fit into The Ultimates. Jones is an A-list character, and the Ultimate books could have reminded readers of that.

Who do you think should have gotten the UIltimate treatment? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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