Ultimate universe fail?

[CTTT]

I remember when this was coming out. Marvel decided to put out a line of comics that were different and separate from the main 616 line and I really liked the idea. I wish they'd bring it back. So, what happened and why did they decide 15 years later to fold the universe into 616 and eliminate everyone except evil Reed Richards and Miles Morales? Lots of good titles, Ultimate Spider-Man X-Men and Ultimates etc.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The Ultimate Universe didn't fail. It did exactly what it was supposed to do -- workshop some visuals and story ideas that could never be done in 616, toss it on the wall to see what worked what didn't and so on.

It was never meant to last. Don't be sad that it's over, be happy it happened. Words to that effect.

The Ultimate Universe began in 2000 around the turn of the millennium, with Ultimate Spider-Man. A big part of why it was successful was that in the year 2000, in the onset of this big milestone year, Marvel (and not DC) put out a comic titled "Ultimate" with the premise of what if Marvel heroes started today in the 21st Century. That's an incredible lightning-in-the-bottle stunt, that just can't be repeated because milenniums and all those futuristic optimism that people still had in 2000 (Soon to disappear a year and 9 months later) can't really be repeated.

And once the 21st Century got kicking and it turned from 9/11 to the War on Terror to the Financial Crisis, people realized that we weren't going to be in any progressive futuristic millennium but merely process (at least in the first 2 decades) leftover 20thC. bullsh-t.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, it's been a bad two decades hasn't it? 9/11, 7/7 (London terrorist attack), Russian, Chinese and North Korean political stuff, trouble in the middle east (Gulf War II, Israel and Palestine), a financial crash, and now a pandemic.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah, it's been a bad two decades hasn't it? 9/11, 7/7 (London terrorist attack), Russian, Chinese and North Korean political stuff, trouble in the middle east (Gulf War II, Israel and Palestine), a financial crash, and now a pandemic.

Futurama got it right:

[Kurolegacy]

Futurama got it right:

And we’ve still got another 979 years to go.

[Iron Maiden]

A lot of us here on the CBR boards were highly suspicious of the Ultimate line. Between this, Marvel Knights and the Heroes Reborn many thought that the "originals" would be replaced. Marvel was dealing with the bankruptcy and sales had declined so things were looking bad for their usual line of X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man, etc. The new "wonder boys" like Mark Millar and Bendis ( and to a much smaller extent Warren Ellis's brief run on the Ultimate Fantastic Four) were given the task of reimagining the Marvel Universe. I think most would say the only lasting success as a title/character was Bendis and Bagley's Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales. Mark Millar gave the reader a totally unlikable Avengers team called the Ultimates that featured among other characters a cannibalistic Hulk. Eventually Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch would leave and Jeph Loeb would take over in a new title / mini series Ultimatum. Loeb proceeded to turn the title into a charnel house of death. The Wasp was eaten by the Blob, who has his head bitten off by Giant Man/Hank Pym. I don't think I read much of the rest of the series but there were probably a couple dozen deaths.

For something that was supposed to be a bright future Marvel, it took a dark turn fairly quickly and imploded. Many blamed Jeph Loeb and one can see why....I don't know if it was editorially mandated to start all the mayhem and put an end to it all. Ultimate Fantastic Four dragged on for a while and we found out that Doom wasn't killed by the Thing in Ultimatum and that it was Mary Storm that was inside the armor when Ben came looking for Doom in his castle.

IIRC the main survivors of the Ultimate universe are Miles Morales and the Maker/Reed Richards. Ultimate Doom with the goat legs was also still around and was last seen during the final incursion fighting Ultimate Spider-Man.

[Thor-Ul]

The Ultimate Universe didn't fail. It did exactly what it was supposed to do -- workshop some visuals and story ideas that could never be done in 616, toss it on the wall to see what worked what didn't and so on.

It was never meant to last. Don't be sad that it's over, be happy it happened. Words to that effect.

Exactly. Also, another objetive of the Ultimate Universe was to sell the concept of superhero to Hollywood and in that aspect was successful.