Was the Ultimate Universe Successful

[FFJamie94]

So it's been over 20 years since the Ultimate Universe begun (and about 7 since it ended) and so I thought I'd ask the question, was it successful in what it was trying to do?
I'll admit, I have a bit of a fondness for that line, especially the early years from 2000-2005. I feel there was a of great material that came out of those years especially, but outside of Spider-Man, the whole thing either seems to be best remembered as either a joke that got out of hand, or a mean spirited experiment which dragged on for too long,

I'll admit, it did last for way too long, I remember by the time Ultimatum was being advertised, folks already felt the novelty wear off, and while it took another 6 years (and some great runs in that time), I think ending the Ultimate Universe when they did was probably the best thing they could have done.

But regardless, do you think it set out what it tried to do and that is create a new world to appeal to new readers?
Or do you think most People who don't read comics felt off by the edginess of Millar on X-Men and Ultimates?

It's kind of funny as Marvel Zombies originated in Ultimate Fantastic Four, and I remember that being a massive thing back in the day (it was also the first link between the Ultimate Universe and 616 via a Black Panther story arc).
There is also the introduction of the Miles Morales who has become a popular in his own right, being given his own movie and game.
And lets not forget the introduction of the Maker, a twisted form of Reed Richards who himself can turn into a major threat with the right writer on board.

A lot of the ideas from the UU seem to still be going strong in 616, but I always wondered if the Ultimate Line itself was successful.

It's weird as it's the one place you'll find Bendis actually do compressed storytelling (his Ultimate Marvel Team-Up run consisted of 1-2 issue story arcs outside of a single 3 issue arc).

[Gnostic]

For a while it was, at least.

[MichaelC]

It was very successful for several years. Then it failed because it built up too much continuity to fulfill its design purpose, which was a simpler, continuity free version of the 616. Once that happened, it was simply 616-lite, without the history, nostalgia, and name-recognition of the 616. So it basically was always destined to have a short lifespan.

[Jabare]

yes ultimate Spider-Man was very succesful and several ideas were implimented for the MCU, so it more then served it's purpose

[Username taken]

Yes, the Ultimate line handily outsold the main universe line for a while.

It was basically the springboard for Marvel to re-launch the Avengers and basically served as the template for the MCU (phase 1).

[Rift]

Would have been much more successful with Hellion, but it did alright despite that.

[Thor-Ul]

It was very successful for several years. Then it failed because it built up too much continuity to fulfill its design purpose, which was a simpler, continuity free version of the 616. Once that happened, it was simply 616-lite, without the history, nostalgia, and name-recognition of the 616. So it basically was always destined to have a short lifespan.

Yes, the Ultimate line handily outsold the main universe line for a while.

It was basically the springboard for Marvel to re-launch the Avengers and basically served as the template for the MCU (phase 1).

I think these comments resume pretty much everything about what happened with the Ultimate Universe. Except than its lifespan was dragged on more than expected.

[Jack The Tripper]

It definitely worked for what it wanted to do imo. A more realistic reboot of the MU that could shed a light on Marvel through a 21st Century lens - eventually becoming more a post 9/11 lens.

It also worked as a litmus test I guess for where the 616 could go - I think following the Ultimate Marvel’s birth, the 616 really leaned into a more realistic aesthetic (bound to happen considering overlapping creators) which I think helped Marvel become more current following the 90s and I reckon it really helped cement them as the most popular publisher.

Ultimate marvel continues to have some impact on the MCU but had an even bigger impact in phase 1, again leading to huge wins for Marvel financially.

I think aspects of Ultimate Marvel were great, and a lot of aspects have aged poorly. I wish it didn’t feel compelled to have to introduce Ultimate versions of almost all 616 characters, as I think it became stale when stories from the 616 were repeated in the ultimate line.

Overall, it definitely worked for both long term and short term reasons, but ultimately was a victim of itself!

[Morgoth]

It was. And it still has some impact.
But, unfortunately, they weren't able to fully realize the potential. And then Loeb and his Ultimatum happened.

[Iron Maiden]

When I saw this thread, I went to Marvel Unlimited and read a few issues of the Fantastic Four. Right off the bat I was reminded how much the Josh Trank Fantastic Four was patterned after the first arc of the Bendis/Mark Millar work. Those issues are done pretty well IMO but as I recall it went off the rails the longer it went on. For me at least, goat-legged Doom was a big fail. He started out promisingly in the Ultimate FF as being less contemptuous of Reed. Even though they weren't exactly friends they worked together on the project, which is pretty much the same one that Trank's film does. Sue was a scientist like the rest which was another good overhaul of a character. Unfortunately Johnny was still...Johnny. Reed was a nerdy young man as you would suspect but he was not the offspring of a wealthy industrialist like Nathaniel Richards and was from a middle class family. Victor Van Damme becomes the aristocrat with a physically abusive father who is a wealthy man with an estate in Belgium.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four surprisingly lasted for 60 issues and as noted earlier it did give us the Marvel Zombies. But it seemed to lack direction and did get a number of different writers. Millar and Bendis only hung around for the first arc and then they were gone. Then it was Warren Ellis for a while, later there was Mike Carey for a few arcs.

[jpmst17]

It was very successful. It started to fail because they tried to do too much too fast. They didn't take enough time to build things and rushed some stuff. I'm mostly thinking about ultimate X-Men when I say this

[Yohei72]

Don't forget Miles Morales came out of the Ultimate line. That's an important legacy. And we wouldn't have Into the Spider-verse without that, and this would be an even sadder world.

[Digifiend]

It definitely worked for what it wanted to do imo. A more realistic reboot of the MU that could shed a light on Marvel through a 21st Century lens - eventually becoming more a post 9/11 lens.

It also worked as a litmus test I guess for where the 616 could go - I think following the Ultimate Marvel’s birth, the 616 really leaned into a more realistic aesthetic (bound to happen considering overlapping creators) which I think helped Marvel become more current following the 90s and I reckon it really helped cement them as the most popular publisher.

Ultimate marvel continues to have some impact on the MCU but had an even bigger impact in phase 1, again leading to huge wins for Marvel financially.

I think aspects of Ultimate Marvel were great, and a lot of aspects have aged poorly. I wish it didn’t feel compelled to have to introduce Ultimate versions of almost all 616 characters, as I think it became stale when stories from the 616 were repeated in the ultimate line.

Overall, it definitely worked for both long term and short term reasons, but ultimately was a victim of itself!

They didn't introduce Ultimate versions of all 616 characters. Notably, there's no Ultimate Ms. Marvel. Carol never got her powers and New Jersey was destroyed by Galactus (in the Cataclysm event) just before Kamala debuted in 616, meaning that even if Ultimate had continued, she'd have needed her backstory changing as her 616 one would've meant she was dead in 1610!

Nova doesn't exist in 1610 either.

[Darkshadow]

Way more successful than the 2099 universe.

[Jack The Tripper]

They didn't introduce Ultimate versions of all 616 characters. Notably, there's no Ultimate Ms. Marvel. Carol never got her powers and New Jersey was destroyed by Galactus (in the Cataclysm event) just before Kamala debuted in 616, meaning that even if Ultimate had continued, she'd have needed her backstory changing as her 616 one would've meant she was dead in 1610!

Nova doesn't exist in 1610 either.

I just don’t think they got to it to be honest. I’m sure they would have gotten around to it haha

I was exaggerating obviously but I did say “almost all” as there’s no way they could feasibly make new versions of all of them. But the main characters I’m talking about are X-related - introducing versions of Cable, Apocalypse, Onslaught etc just felt like jumping the shark imo. Same with the Galactus/Silver Surfer stuff imo

Weirdly I think some of their best creations came after Ultimatum when the line was less popular - Miles Morales and the Maker being obvious stand outs!