The Ultimates First Look: Deniz Camp on Turning Marvel’s Iconic Team in a Global Resistance Network (Exclusive)

The Ultimate Universe is back, albeit in an entirely new form, but what is the Ultimate Universe without the Ultimates, its version of Marvel’s Avengers? Marvel already launched new Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men series, and The Ultimates . The new series comes from writer Deniz Camp, whose blend or real-world political themes with high concept sci-fi trappings in comics like the creator-owned (with S. Morian at Image Comics) and his Marvel debut (with Luca Maresca) positions him as the perfect choice to bring The Ultimates into the new era. For The Ultimates, Camp is teaming with artist Juan Frigeri, who has kept busy creating brand-new designs for the new Ultimate Universe versions of iconic Marvel characters like the Wasp, Hank Pym, and more.

ComicBook.com had the opportunity to ask Camp a few questions about The Ultimates. Marvel Comics also provided ComicBook.com with a first look at The Ultimate #1 and some of Frigeri’s designs for Wasp and Hank Pym. You can find our conversation with Camp, the preview pages, and Frigeri’s designs below.

The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2 are series that helped define early 21st-century comics. They’re also full of political subtext and very much of their time – it’s been interesting seeing readers who weren’t even born when those series first released encounter and react to them now. I also know you talked about your involvement in a Millarworld competition early in your career, so I wanted to start by asking if you have thoughts or feelings about those original Ultimates runs, and how they may, or may not, influence how you approach writing a series called The Ultimates. Does the title bring certain expectations about what the series will be like, or about, that you are either trying to adhere to or defy?

Our Ultimates is absolutely in conversation with the original Ultimates. In some ways it’s a response to it, in others an inversion of it.

But it’s also in conversation with the world. How could it not be? I think the best way to show respect to what Mark and Bryan (and Andrew, Chris and Paul) did is to be true to the spirit of it. To me that means fresh storytelling and channeling the anxieties and energies of the time. It means letting the world in a little bit. So that’s what we’re doing.

Where that Ultimates was channeling post-9/11 paranoia, this one is addressed to that nagging sense that everything’s gone wrong somehow, that things were supposed to be better than this. In that way the two Ultimates will feel very different, but I think (hope) ours is true to the spirit and the ambition of the original.

That said, there will be winks, nods, and bows to both to 616 and 1610 continuity. Because that’s part of the fun. 

Turning our attention more fully toward the new Ultimates series, the last time we saw most of these characters they were barely dodging an orbital strike aimed at their faces. Where do we find them as this series kicks off? We know they want to destroy the Maker’s council. How are they going about that, and how does that inform the story’s framework?

Right; they’ve traveled six months into the future to escape death. In that time, the Maker’s council has consolidated power and taken control of the narrative. The world believes the Ultimates were responsible for the destruction of Stark tower, and the murder of thousands. That’s a bit of where the inversion comes in; in the original Ultimates, they were fighting terrorists. Our Ultimates *are* the terrorists.

Or, at least, they’re perceived to be.

Their basic mission is to overthrow the council and prepare the world for whatever is going to emerge from the Maker’s time-accelerated City in 18 months. To do that they plan to form an “Ultimates resistance network”, the exact concept/mechanics behind which will be spelled out in the first issue.

But what I can say is that every issue will be a complete, done-in-one story, and almost every issue is going to introduce a new version of a classic Marvel character.

18 months to build the Marvel Universe and free the world. No pressure. 

What can you tell us about the chemistry between these characters? To me, the original Ultimates felt like the world’s most militant boy band, given how Nick Fury assembled them, and their attention to their celebrity. With these Ultimates, we know some animosity exists between Sif and Thor. Are the Ultimates a team? Just some super-people who happen to be on the run together and have a shared enemy? Or something else entirely?

They’re definitely NOT celebrities or rockstars. Just the opposite; their status as outlaws/terrorists means they are under constant threat. It kind of revitalizes the importance of the secret identity; it makes it truly life-or-death.  

They’re more like a resistance network in occupied territory. Think of the partisans in WWII. People with very different backgrounds, beliefs, and reasons for fighting, united by common enemy. That means there is going to be friction about how to go about it, especially as the team expands. This Tony Stark – Iron Lad – is a little more idealistic than 616 Tony. He’s still young, so he’s still trying to figure out who he’s going to be. Captain America and Doom are kind of pulling him in opposing directions, trying to influence the make-up and methods of the Ultimates. Thor and Sif kind of come and go as they please, they are not as bound by the team (or time and space).

As alluded to, we met some of these characters in Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe. However, The Ultimates introduces us to the new Ultimate Wasp and Ultimate Ant-Man (or is Giant-Man?). What can you tell us about these versions of the classic Avengers characters and what they add to the mix?

I really like them. I guess I don’t want to give too much away because that’s a major part of the first issue, getting to know them. I think we’ve got a pretty unique take and dynamic for them. I hope people will like it.

You’ve expressed excitement about this new Ultimate Universe concept. What can you tell me about working in this new take on the modernized Marvel Universe? What are some things you’re doing with The Ultimates (as much as you can say) that maybe you wouldn’t attempt or be able to do on a traditional Avengers book in the decades-old 616 Marvel Universe?

Well, for one, we can change the status quo. In fact, the entire purpose of the book is to change the status quo, to change the world. 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).

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.

Something different about this version of the Ultimate Universe compared to the original, at least in the early days, is the variety of visual styles. Everything seemed built on Bryan Hitch’s “widescreen comics” approach back then. By contrast, in the current Ultimate Universe, Marco Checchetto’s work on Ultimate Spider-Man doesn’t look much like what Peach Momoko is doing on Ultimate X-Men. What can you say about the book’s visuals and how you and Juan Frigeri are developing the atmosphere and style?

I think that’s a very good thing about this Ultimate universe, by the way; that all the books look and feel different. It’s great to see Marvel taking these big swings.

Juan has to design so many characters for this book, it’s a wonder. So we spend a ton of time talking about influences and ideas, along with our editors Wil and Michelle. He’s done a great job; it’s going to be a beautiful, surprising book, and I think this is Juan’s best work ever. The colorist, Federico Blee, is absolutely amazing and further elevates Juan’s work.

Are there any last words you’d like to leave with readers excited about and eager to get their hands on The Ultimates #1?

Just that I think everyone’s pulled out all the stops; every issue is a complete, satisfying story, filled with new ideas, beautiful art, and new twists on old characters. I really hope you enjoy it.

And I want to thank readers for supporting big swings like this Ultimate Universe. It’s really energizing to see readers getting behind new approaches to these characters. 

The Ultimates #1 goes on sale on June 5th. The issue’s final order cutoff date is April 22nd.