Rebooting Ultimate Marvel: Should It Be Done?

[K7P5V]

No. If they have the resources why not shore up characters in the main line. Surely there should be enough that exist to tell any kind of story. It also sort of flys in the face of when it's said that there are too many books for so and so to have a book but if that is the case how is there a whole line based on alternate characters. I mean alternate universes are nice to visit but imo it shows a lack of confidence in your main universe to have a secondary one.

Enjoyed reading your post. Couldn't agree with you more, especially concerning the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610).
As you said: "...an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there."

I'd use the Malibu universe characters and give them a revamp/update.

OMG! I'd love to see the return of the Ultraverse, but I'm fine with them just the way they are. Keep any "revamp/update" to a minimum, if necessary.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

I don’t know how it can be rebooted. Jeph Loeb wiped out most of the characters with Ultimatum. I’d rather see the New Universe get rebooted.

[MarvelMaster616]

I don’t know how it can be rebooted. Jeph Loeb wiped out most of the characters with Ultimatum. I’d rather see the New Universe get rebooted.

I agree completely. Ultimatum basically kneecapped the entire Ultimate universe so that it could never be as prominent or as successful as it once was. You just can't come back from losing that many iconic characters.

That's why, when I say rebooting the Ultimate Universe, I don't mean rebuilding the one that got destroyed. I mean starting fresh from scratch. No connection whatsoever to the Ultimate Universe from 2000. I think that's the best way to do it without dealing with all the baggage from the previous Ultimate Universe.

I believe the time is right to attempt something like this. It just needs the right plan and vision.

[Thundershot]

No. It would never capture the charm of the original, so why bother? I’d rather see interesting ideas or the few unique characters from it integrated into 616 like Miles. I feel the same with the New Universe, Ultraverse and Crossgen characters. Any of them that seem like a good fit or can get good stories should just be integrated.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I don’t know how it can be rebooted. Jeph Loeb wiped out most of the characters with Ultimatum. I’d rather see the New Universe get rebooted.

Reboot means a restart and often you restart from scratch. So you could give the UU a do-over.

[jwatson]

[/B]

^Because provided it’s the main line, there will always be (1) the fear of “getting it wrong” on the part of Marvel; (2) readers that say “that’s not my [insert character] and will have issues with directions taken; (3) tied to point 1, there are slaves to continuity [mainly amongst readers] that will bring some 1965 issue of something and say “that’s not right” etcetera. I’m sure I can come up with more reasons but I’m sure you get the drift.

Point is, there are just too many restrictions, both literal and “reader made”.

^^And the underlying one, which governs it all - “don’t f*** with the money”…

I definitely get what your saying but at the same time.

(1) If the reason they are creating a new universe is because they fear getting creativity wrong the problem is deeper than the need for a new universe.
(2) I respect continuity as much as the next person but at most that is an outline the continuity that matters the most to me is the consistency during a writer's run. whether i agree with it or not which is why i feel early issues for me are generally a good indicator if i will like something or not.
(3) imo the comic industry is one of the most subsidized industries i can think of it's like the farming of reading or the welfare of reading which is sad because the idea that we can't create something new because people are use to things one way or have an expectation imo is no different than China wanting to change Shang Chi in order to have it released there. It's like at what point is integrity and vision worth more than a dollar. like are we going to start making tv's the way "Fans" want them just because we might lose money on a customer model that is functionally impossible. Instead of Don't F)#) with the money they should be thinking "Geeeeeet moooooooney"

And just a small thing, no"fan" so entitled they think they can direct your product is actually buying it because it's never exactly what they want. I can almost guarantee that.

If marvel wants a new universe that bad i say take the risk, kill reempower moira and then kill her. You got 53 years shaved off your history right there.

[Ultimate Captain America]

I don’t know how it can be rebooted. Jeph Loeb wiped out most of the characters with Ultimatum. I’d rather see the New Universe get rebooted.

Of course it can be done. I did it myself in my fanfic "Ultimate Secret Wars" (it starts in the very last, goes to Secret Wars with the Ultimate heroes being the lead characters, leaves no ultimate character or plot without being referenced, ends with an epic grand finale, and leaves the door open for a reboot after it). And I'm just a fan with limited writing habilities, just imagine if Bendis, Millar or Hickman tried to do a similar premise.

[Digifiend]

The original Ultimate Universe was already brought back by Bendis in Spider-Men II. But then it got trashed again in Venom. It's not really worth bringing back anyway - most of the big name X-Men and several Avengers are dead. Carol never got her powers and Kamala's origin is impossible because New Jersey got nuked by Galactus (in fact, the only active Champion in 1610 is Ironheart, who Bendis showed as a member of the Ultimates in Spider-Men II. Amadeus Cho exists, but again, no powers).

Better to start again. I'd personally use Earth-65, Spider-Gwen's world. You could easily explain that most of the other heroes just haven't had their origins yet. Though Wolverine and Shadowcat would need a heel face turn, as would Sue and Johnny Storm, and Daredevil (those five heroes have all been shown as villains). The other big issue there of course is Spider-Man, as Peter is dead as part of Gwen's origin. Silk is a villain too. They could use an alternate Miles though.

[your_name_here]

If it is revisited, it will be the same way the 2099 universe is revisited. It’ll never stick the landing of the first time because, frankly, the time has been and gone.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

How about if Marvel took characters from different Universes and created one Universe from that? With the multiverse they basically have already done it. Just focus all these characters into a new line. Give it a one year trial. Combine Ultraverse, Ultimate, New Universe, Squadron Universe and whatever else they have sitting on the shelf. Just include DP7 and Spitfire and I’ll be happy.

After it is done they can all return to their original universes and go sit on the shelf again for another 50 years.

[Iron Maiden]

If it is revisited, it will be the same way the 2099 universe is revisited. It’ll never stick the landing of the first time because, frankly, the time has been and gone.

That recent 2099 mini-event was poorly done. I don't know if anyone can recapture that era but it was fun while it lasted.

[Alan2099]

The Ultimate Universe was already a reboot in a sense. At this point you're just copying a copy. It's not fresh anymore. The stuff that made the Ultimate comics work have since been copied into regular Marvel and the movies. We were getting more cinematic versions of heroes and that was fine because we didn't really have the more cinematic versions.

Well at least that seemed the original intent of the Ultimate Line, once The Ultimates came out it seemed to be more "How can we make the Marvel Universe more cynical and make everyone act more like jerks?" And even THAT was copied into the regular Marvel Universe with Civil War and we've long since moved past it.

Like the 2099 UNiverse, Heroes Reborn, and Age of Apocalypse, it's time is done and no attempts to return to it will ever recapture the magic.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

An in-universe timeskip would work. Just make it however long the UU was defunct- (5 years?)

[Iron Maiden]

Currently the one AU that keeps coming back is the one tied to Millar's Old Man Logan which debuted in his Fantastic Four run. Then there was an arc that started in Millar's Wolverine series. IIRC those issues were collected in a TPB. It was also used as the basis for the Logan movie with Hugh Jackman.

There have been a number of minis with the Wastelands of that AU as the locale, the most recent being last week's Wastelands: Doom. More mini series in that AU are due some time later this year I think.

The Red Skull was the leader of the group of villains who took over the United States but he gets killed later by Captain America IIRC.

[AJpyro]

I wouldn't say no to a reboot. The old stuff already had enough to beat DC's Earth 1 books.