Marvel’s Ultimate Namor Surfaces With a Captain America Villain as The Punisher

They’re the forgotten marvels: Super soldier Steven Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. The android avenger Jim Hammond, a.k.a. the Human Torch. And the avenging son Namor McKenzie, a.k.a. the Sub-Mariner. On Earth-616, they fought alongside James “Bucky” Barnes and Toro as the Invaders: the greatest superheroes of World War II. But on the alternate Earth-6160, a multiversal Reed Richards known as The Maker traveled through time to create his ideal world by systematically preventing anyone from ever becoming a superhero.

But this world’s Reed Richards, a.k.a. Doom, and Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Lad, have been on a mission to fix the world before The Maker is freed from his prison in The City in two years’ time. First, they fished a frozen Captain America out of the icy depths, reclaimed the Human Torch’s body from a superhero mass grave in a secret Damage Control facility, and then recruited more heroes to the Ultimates Network: Asgardians Thor and Sif, Giant-Man (Hank Pym) and the Wasp (Janet van Dyne), Hawkeye (Charli Ramsey), the She-Hulk (Lejori Joena Zakaria), and America Chavez.

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After a battle with the Hulk and his Immortal Weapons left Stark comatose in an iron lung, and with ten months until the Maker’s return, the Doom-led Ultimates are expanding their ranks. The Guardians of the Galaxy of the 61st century — Star-Lord, Cosmo Starstalker, the Ultimate Nullifier, and Captain Marvel — traveled through time to warn the Ultimates of a catastrophic future in which the “Unmaker” wins in the 21st century, and then departed to track down the other time-displaced Guardians.

The Ultimates resume their recruitment drive with the introduction of Ultimate Luke Cage in February’s Ultimates #9, followed by the debut of Ultimate Namor in Ultimates #10 in March. According to a solicit, Steve Rogers and Jim Hammond will attempt to recruit an old ally as they face the Red Skull and the Red Skull gang (shown wearing the blood-red insignia of The Punisher).

Ultimates writer Deniz Camp previously told ComicBook that “almost every issue” of the book “is going to introduce a new version of a classic Marvel character.”

“The entire purpose of the book is to change the status quo, to change the world,” Camp said. “In 616 that would be kind of an empty threat; in the Ultimate universe it’s not only possible, it’s probable — whether they change it for the better or worse is a different story.”

Camp continued, “What I like most about this project is that it’s an opportunity to build something pretty much from the ground up. I’m kind of touched, and a little frightened, by the confidence Marvel has put in us. I love continuity, but this feels a lot more like writing a creator owned book, albeit one that is directly working with classic Marvel iconography and archetypes. I consider it a real responsibility, and I’m doing my best to live up to it.”

Ultimates #9

LUKE CAGE AND THE ULTIMATE PRISON BREAK! Juan Frigeri joins Deniz Camp to bring us the history and the future of Luke Cage! Spider-Man isn’t the only success story of Ultimates 1.0…meet the man who has been quietly sabotaging the Maker’s Council from behind bars!

On sale: Feb. 5

Ultimates #10

NAMOR AND THE RED SKULL! Captain America and the Human Torch lead a team to recruit their old comrade – Namor! But they’ll have to get through the Red Skull Gang first!

On sale: March 5