What's the status of the Ultimate Universe?

[Factor]

I know Ewing brought the universe back in the conclusion to Ultimates 2.
He apparently killed Steve there, but then in Spider-Men II, Steve, Peter Parker and most of the Ultimates appeared as if the last events of the UU never happened.

So I wonder if the UU has been basically rebooted to a status quo that's closer to pre-Ultimatum?

I know this doesn't really matter, since the Ultimate line is effectively dead, but I was wondering what a relaunch of the line would be like.

[Digifiend]

You're wrong, Ewing didn't restore the Ultimate Universe. Maker cloned five of the Ultimates.

However, Earth-1610 has indeed been restored. It happened off panel, probably just before Dan Slott's Fantastic Four #1, and was revealed in Bendis's Spider-Men II miniseries. Earth-616's Miles Morales (who's an adult) went over there, where we saw what the Ultimates team now looks like. Peter Parker Spider-Man is back and on the team, Jessica Drew has reverted back to Spider-Woman (she'd become Black Widow previously), and Iron Man is missing, replaced by Ironheart. The Ultimate Universe has since played a major role in Saladin Ahmed's Miles Morales: Spider-Man series, as 616 Miles is back, as a new villain using stolen Ultimates tech, called Ultimatum.

[Hypestyle]

I hope that 616 Miles gets to stay a villain- I don't want him being an anti-hero. that story where he was introduced was very bizarre, to me. Seemed like being all just a set up for him to "win" and get to stay in the Ultimate world with that version of his late wife. Strange.

[Factor]

You're wrong, Ewing didn't restore the Ultimate Universe. Maker cloned five of the Ultimates.

However, Earth-1610 has indeed been restored. It happened off panel, probably just before Dan Slott's Fantastic Four #1, and was revealed in Bendis's Spider-Men II miniseries. Earth-616's Miles Morales (who's an adult) went over there, where we saw what the Ultimates team now looks like. Peter Parker Spider-Man is back and on the team, Jessica Drew has reverted back to Spider-Woman (she'd become Black Widow previously), and Iron Man is missing, replaced by Ironheart. The Ultimate Universe has since played a major role in Saladin Ahmed's Miles Morales: Spider-Man series, as 616 Miles is back, as a new villain using stolen Ultimates tech, called Ultimatum.

Thanks for the reply.
So we're assuming after Secret Wars Franklin and F4 recreated the Ultimate Universe?
I guess that leaves space for them to do whatever they want with that reality.
I'd honestly ignore everything that happened during and after Ultimatum.
It would leave things open for new series starring Ultimate Spider-Man, F4, X-men and the Ultimates in their original forms.
I'd also like to see them exploring other properties like Black Panther, GotG, Thunderbolts, Champions etc.
Thunderbolts aside, those characters and teams got a lot more exposure after Ultimate ended, so for the most part they never got Ultimate runs.

[your_name_here]

The Maker currently is trying to restore the Ultimate Universe over in Donny Cates’ Venom

[Factor]

The Maker currently is trying to restore the Ultimate Universe over in Donny Cates’ Venom

But if it's already restored since Spider-Men II?
So confusing lol

[Kurolegacy]

But if it's already restored since Spider-Men II?
So confusing lol

This is Marvel, you’re expecting continuity? The editors might as well just be cardboard cutouts that they keep in the window to make it seem like there’s life at the offices.

[H-E-D]

This is Marvel, you’re expecting continuity? The editors might as well just be cardboard cutouts that they keep in the window to make it seem like there’s life at the offices.

Donny Cates in particular isn't exactly known for being a continuity stickler.

[Digifiend]

But if it's already restored since Spider-Men II?
So confusing lol

Yeah. Basically it was Bendis's goodbye present to Marvel fans (this being just a few months before he moved on to Superman), putting the Ultimate Universe - which he created - back on the table for other writers to use. Seemed to be an Easter Egg at first, until Ahmed started actively using it in his Miles Morales run.

Maybe the Maker doesn't know his 616 counterpart already restored Earth-1610?

[GodfatherIV]

Hopefully its truly being rebooted

[Factor]

Yeah. Basically it was Bendis's goodbye present to Marvel fans (this being just a few months before he moved on to Superman), putting the Ultimate Universe - which he created - back on the table for other writers to use. Seemed to be an Easter Egg at first, until Ahmed started actively using it in his Miles Morales run.

Maybe the Maker doesn't know his 616 counterpart already restored Earth-1610?

That was a pretty cool move by Bendis. I hope Cates doesn't screw things over.

Hopefully its truly being rebooted

I wouldn't want a full reboot. Resetting the pre-Ultimatum status quo would be pretty much perfect, as Ultimatum is very clearly the point where the universe began to lose its strenght. There would still be some stinkers left (like Loeb's Ultimates 3) but at that point most of the characters and concepts were still in a good place even if series like UXM and UF4 had already lost its streak (especially X-men since Kirkman took over).

I'd honestly be okay with any scenario that acknowledged Bendis's USM, Millar's Ultimates, Ultimate X-men up to Vaughan and Ultimate F4 up to Carey.

[Will Evans]

I do miss Ultimate Jessica Drew though.

Due to Spider-Verse crossover before Secret Wars she should be familiar with the multiverse.

[Kurolegacy]

That was a pretty cool move by Bendis. I hope Cates doesn't screw things over.



I wouldn't want a full reboot. Resetting the pre-Ultimatum status quo would be pretty much perfect, as Ultimatum is very clearly the point where the universe began to lose its strenght. There would still be some stinkers left (like Loeb's Ultimates 3) but at that point most of the characters and concepts were still in a good place even if series like UXM and UF4 had already lost its streak (especially X-men since Kirkman took over).

I'd honestly be okay with any scenario that acknowledged Bendis's USM, Millar's Ultimates, Ultimate X-men up to Vaughan and Ultimate F4 up to Carey.

One thing that’s interesting when it comes to Bendis touching the Ultimate Universe in his last few years was that he actually fixed a few things. While you may not have noticed it unless you followed his All-New X-Men run, when the O5 went to the UU, it had been shown that the X-Men were actually back to living out in Westchester and had not only rebuilt the mansion but also had their tech back such as Cerebro and the Blackbird. That combined with the ending of Spider-Men II makes it feel like things were left a lot more hopeful with the UU by the time Bendis left. Who knows, maybe Franklin was even kind enough when he restored it to have brought it back in its prime. The likes of Cap, Thor, Hank Pym and Wasp were back in our final view after after all.

[K7P5V]

I do miss Ultimate Jessica Drew though.

Me too. One of the few bright spots of the Ultimate Universe that I thoroughly enjoyed:

[Ultimate Captain America]

If anyone here's missing the Ultimate comics, you should check my fanfic Ultimate Secret Wars. Every Ultimate comic to the very end is canon, warts and all, until the point when the Maker meets the Cabal but with a small and on-character change: Fury did not trust him, and had him watched by the Ultimate FF (a group formed at the end of the line, with Sue, Falcon, Iron Man and Doom). They stop the Maker and the Cabal, learn about the incursions... and from there on, the Ultimate heroes are the protagonists of the story. The story includes the return of an Ultimate-exclusive character, a full recap of Hickman's Avengers, the last day at Parker's house, a "One more day" that ends well, the final incursion and Battleworld, the return of Ultimate Thor (which was canon, it was at the "Thors" Secret Wars tie-in), the survivors lost in several Battleworld domains; and all the ultimate references and allusions you may ever need. It is still ongoing, but I'm right at the big final fight by now...

As for the Ultimate universe being back or not, that's currently a topic in both "Miles Morales: Spider-Man" and Venom. In the first one, the adult Miles is back, and explained that you forget about it unless you keep contact with something from it. He made Aaron take something, and he remembered; now he has attacked Miles, likely to do a similar thing with him. In the second one, the Maker wants to restore his universe, even the Council of Reeds encourage him to, and he's still working on that (the last issue had a collage of images of events from the Venom run, and one of them was the Maker about to cross a portal... did he finally do it?). However, both stories are going a bit slowly, as the main comic's storylines (such as Outlawed and the consequences of Absolute Carnage) take priority. Hopefully, by the time those stories are finished, they will both make sense together.

By the way, in some months it will be 20 years of the start of the Ultimate Marvel universe, so I wouldn't rule out that those stories lead to some surprise...