The return of Ultimate Marvel was the publisher’s biggest moment of the 2020s so far. Sure, there have been some important events in these last few years, but none of them can match the premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Black Panther. Since then, we’ve gotten several other Ultimate series, both ongoings and miniseries, like The Ultimates, Ultimate Wolverine, Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, and Ultimate Hawkeye. Fans love the current Ultimate line, and its upcoming end has caused some consternation among readers; while fans are happy it’s a story with an end, they’re already sad they’re losing the books they love.
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The Ultimate books have definitely been a feather in the cap of Marvel over its two year existence, becoming an integral part of the history of the House of Ideas. Fans have built up some notions about the books, and these notions have influenced the way the books are looked at by readers. These five Ultimate Marvel ideas show that these fans are sometimes wrong, and that things are a bit different than they believe.
5) The Month to Month Trope Have Hurt the Books
The Ultimate comics use a unique trope, one that a lot of fans really enjoyed at first. Basically, every issue took place a month after the one before it. This approach mirrored the way comics were published, and allowed readers to get more of a realistic feel for the events. However, the longer it’s gone on, the worst this trope has aged. It kills one of the most important aspects of comic storytelling: the cliffhanger. While the books have done some cliffhangers (like the ending to 2024’s Ultimate Spider-Man #12), the next issues usually don’t have the excitement that comics that don’t use this trope have. It’s also made some books a bit more confusing, and messed up the pace of storytelling several times.
4) Ultimate Spider-Man Stopped Being Amazing After Issue #12
Ultimate Spider-Man was Ultimate Marvel’s crown jewel, and it quickly became the bestselling comic in the land in its first year. Fans loved seeing an older, happier Peter as Spider-Man, the way he worked with Harry Osborn, the Ben Parker/J. Jonah Jameson combo, the realities of New York City on Earth-6160, and more. Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #12 was awesome, bringing together the cast for a book that ended on a massive cliffhanger. It was a turning point for the series and it turned in a direction that wasn’t as great as it was before. The book become less of a Spider-Man book and more of a Green Goblin book, and it just hasn’t hit the same heights as the first year. It’s still a cool book, but it’s no longer the best comic in the land.
3) Ultimate X-Men Is the Best Series
Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men was a dark horse candidate for best Ultimate book, but it’s been able to rise above the other books in the line by a lot. The reason is simple: it’s actually a unique story. The Ultimates is beloved by fans, but it’s still basically an Avengers comic: a team of the greatest heroes bound together against the greatest evils. Ultimate X-Men uses the trappings of the team — young mutants, a school setting, similar character tropes — in an entirely new way. The book is a horror manga, a slow burn story starring mutants, and that’s paid off for readers of the book. It’s consistently brilliant, Momoko really nailing the feel of the book and making it feel different than anything out there. Ultimate X-Men is a unique take on the team and their mythos, and it’s given readers the only Ultimate book that actually feels new.
2) The Ending Won’t Make Anyone Happy
The newest round of Ultimate Marvel always had a ticking clock connected to it, as the Maker was going to return in two years time. Fans figured things would go in the normal Marvel direction, with a big event ending the first phase of the universe, and the books going on until they got cancelled. The House of Ideas announced that Ultimate Endgame was going to be the end, and it surprised fans. While the book has one of the better writers in the industry right now in Deniz Camp (along with rising star artist Jonas Scharf), let’s be real: no one is going to be happy with his ending. Marvel’s been really bad at delivering great events in the last decade, even from great creators (seriously, since 2015’s Secret Wars, only A.X.E. Judgment Day has actually been a good event comic), and Ultimate Endgame isn’t going to be able to make fans happy.
1) Marvel Shouldn’t Be Ending the Ultimate Universe
Marvel in the 2020s has had a distressing tendency to milk stories and characters until they’re dry, destroying books that fans really enjoyed. The best example of this was the X-Men’s Krakoa Era; anyone who thinks that the massive successes of the line’s early days didn’t play a role in getting the creators to change the original outline and extend the whole thing doesn’t understand Marvel. Looking at the ending of the Ultimate Universe from that perspective, its ending is a good thing; we aren’t going to be stuck with a pale reflection of what it was in the beginning. However, the Ultimate books aren’t stale; they’re popular and mostly great. There are still lots of stories left in the Ultimate Universe, and that makes ending it a mistake. Deniz Camp and Peach Momoko have both said they can do their books for way longer, and let’s be real: Marvel would be better off letting them cook in the Ultimate Universe than shuttering it.
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