Successes and Failures of the Ultimate Marvel Universe

[Digifiend]

I thought it was hilarious that he hit on Earth-616 Carol Danvers during the Final Incursion, didn't even give a damn that his universe was about to be destroyed.

Maybe Tony fancied Carol because she actually had powers? Her Ultimate counterpart was never a superhero so the 616 version probably seemed more exciting.

I liked Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and Wasp as both Asian and mutant. It was some nice nods to diversity (and Marvel diversity, with a founding Avenger being a mutant).

But then there was jack-booted thug Cap, wife-beater Pym and cannibal rapist Hulk, any one of which would have lost me, but all three together, yikes.

Isn't 616 Hank also a wife beater though? That's what prompted their divorce. Even his then-unknown daughter Nadia (who he still doesn't know about as she debuted after he died and he's yet to be resurrected six years later) disowned him when she found out, choosing to take Janet's last name.

[Alan2099]

Isn't 616 Hank also a wife beater though? That's what prompted their divorce. Even his then-unknown daughter Nadia (who he still doesn't know about as she debuted after he died and he's yet to be resurrected six years later) disowned him when she found out, choosing to take Janet's last name.

No. He's not. He hit her once while he was having a mental break down and went all supervillain. He then attacked the rest of the Avengers with an unstoppable killer robot but nobody ever calls him an Avengers villain.


I think it's also worth noting that Janet's reaction to Hanky flipping out and going "I'm not Hank Pym! I'm Yellowjacket! I MURDERED HANK PYM!" was "I can use this as an opportunity to get him to marry me!"

[Omega Alpha]

The biggest failure was Ultimatum, the worst creative decision in Marvel's history. It's plausible the UU would still be around without it.

Ultimate X-men was also a failure, though. Introduced too many characters all at once, while having too much focus on Wolverine, who was just a vile ******* with no redeeming features.

Biggest successes were Ultimate Spidey related, though Ultimates was also a hit until Loeb took over.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I liked it in the beginning but lost interest before Ultimatum. I did read the Ultimate X-men relaunch and thought it was fun.

I don't mind a 2020 take but the movies stole its thunder. Outside of a different cast of characters as the Mantles there isn't much they can do.

[Huntsman Spider]

I liked Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and Wasp as both Asian and mutant. It was some nice nods to diversity (and Marvel diversity, with a founding Avenger being a mutant).

But then there was jack-booted thug Cap, wife-beater Pym and cannibal rapist Hulk, any one of which would have lost me, but all three together, yikes. Plus the dumb notions about 'badassery,' like Hawkeye being able to kill people by flicking his fingernails at them (so, so ridiculous), or Wolverine somehow being immune to radar because they spent a bunch of money? Wow, my super-power is just throw money at me and I can do whatever, and that's the entire rationale? Lazy writing.

I never really got around to reading Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate X-Men, so I really have no idea how they went, only that Ultimate (Avengers) was increasingly trash, just sort of 'cool because we say cool a lot' and not actually organically cool. (It read a lot like Marvel's answer to the Authority, which was also stone-cold terrible, IMO.)

Funny enough, The Authority and Ultimates were both written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Bryan Hitch, and a lot of Ultimate Marvel, at least initially, was cribbing off Wildstorm's more transgressive and subversive takes on the superhero genre. As for Ultimate Spider-Man, you might like it better because it was at least consistently written by one author, Brian Michael Bendis, who did remember that the main character and his supporting cast were supposed to be heroes, or bare minimum decent people worth rooting for, even if they were imperfect or made bad decisions at times.

[CaptainUniverse]

Maybe Tony fancied Carol because she actually had powers? Her Ultimate counterpart was never a superhero so the 616 version probably seemed more exciting.

I highly doubt he knew it was her, this was their only interaction before she was teleported to Reed's Lifeboat and he was crushed to death by both Earth-1610 and Earth-616.

Crossover.jpg

[dornwolf]

I liked Ultimate Spider-man both Peter and Miles. But everything else…yikes. I know everyone points at Loeb but let’s be honest Millar doesn’t help any he basically doubles down on all the unlikable ness of Ultimates.

I will say I wish we would’ve seen what Hickman was planning out. It was the perfect play ground for someone like him. The Ultimate Thor mini for example was great.

[Ultimate Captain America]

Don't make things so complicated. The only reason Iron Man tried to flirt with Captain Marvel is that he is a casanova. He flirts with any woman he meets, even with off-panel ones.

[Huntsman Spider]

I liked Ultimate Spider-man both Peter and Miles. But everything else…yikes. I know everyone points at Loeb but let’s be honest Millar doesn’t help any he basically doubles down on all the unlikable ness of Ultimates.

I will say I wish we would’ve seen what Hickman was planning out. It was the perfect play ground for someone like him. The Ultimate Thor mini for example was great.

Considering Millar kicked off Ultimates in the first place . . .

[nose norton]

The Ultimates were a resounding success. The Avengers of the MCU look more like them than anything else.

[xpyred]

Someone here mentioned Ultimate X-Men being bad and i have to ask why? I thought Millar's X-Men run was pretty good.

[Alan2099]

The Ultimates were a resounding success. The Avengers of the MCU look more like them than anything else.

The look like them, but they act nothing like them.

[Zero Hunter]

One good thing that came out of Ultimate X-Men was some really good costumes. I still say that was the best look Colossus ever had.

[Agent Z]

The look like them, but they act nothing like them.

And even then, that isn't the case for all of them. Iron Man and Hulk look more like their 616 counterparts than their Ultimate ones. Even Thor more resembles his 616 version sans helmet.

[lordozone]

I liked almost all the comics, and even if certain aspects not aged well, the ideas, the energy, the action, was off the chart and I continue to read Ultimates or Ultimates Spider-man and Ultimate X-men time to time. But Jeff Loeb, with Ultimates 4 and Ultimatum, succeeded to single-handedly destroy this universe for me. A real sabotage of the entire line.