Hickman Ultimate Universe #1 Preview & Spoilers

[Coop]

Oh damn. Sounds like I need a whole new education on the Ultimates. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Ultimate Invasion 1-4 has all you need.

[Cap808]

Ultimate Invasion 1-4 has all you need.

Really? Okay, gonna check on that today!

[Krakoa]

So… not much actually happens lol. The Ultimates just break into Asgard and get Thor, they have Cap but don’t free him yet (seems no one actually remembers him still which is interesting), and they have one container full of relics like Peter’s spider but there were far more they had to leave behind. Sif is kind of on their side, she’s still not convinced about what Tony and Reed claim, but she’s leaning towards helping them. The Ultimate Illuminati retaliates for the theft by framing Tony for murder as a terrorist - Norman and Emily Osborn are listed among the missing/KIA of the blast - and so is May Parker. Looks like Hickman is setting up Harry to be the Green Goblin of 6160 and Peter either won’t have May OR Ben, or in 6160 May is dead and Ben is alive.

Given this directly sets up the Black Panther book it looks like my hunch of BP being the one to actually host the Ultimates was correct. Hickman likely wants to push people to check out BP and is holding off on Ultimates for that reason.

This sets up all three books, not sure what you're seeing that's leading specifically to BP. All three books are set up. Peter's spider & the deaths of Norman, Emily, and May; BP's shadowed appearance; and Armor is clearly referenced when the newscaster talks about a girl in Hi-No-Kuni surviving a car crash with no damage.

[Vordan]

One thing that didn’t immediately “click” is that Tony seemingly uses his Immortus Engine right before the blast hits. It’s possible he may have saved some people who were going to die, such as the Osborns and Aunt May, which is why there’s no bodies.

This sets up all three books, not sure what you're seeing that's leading specifically to BP. All three books are set up. Peter's spider & the deaths of Norman, Emily, and May; BP's shadowed appearance; and Armor is clearly referenced when the newscaster talks about a girl in Hi-No-Kuni surviving a car crash with no damage.

BP is going to be fighting the Ultimate Illuminati directly so I think he’s more directly connected to what’s going on with the Ultimates. With Tony a fugitive and branded a terrorist, I think the Ultimates are going to have to hide in Wakanda for a bit. X-Men and Spidey are much more tangentially connected though Spidey will likely be somewhat involved (X-Men seems like a total side project however).

[Hurricane Billy]

One thing that didn’t immediately “click” is that Tony seemingly uses his Immortus Engine right before the blast hits. It’s possible he may have saved some people who were going to die, such as the Osborns and Aunt May, which is why there’s no bodies.

That'd make some sense, but at the same time, I kinda also love the idea that Hickman is just starting off Earth 6160 with this sort of body count and unorthodox status quo that I think I'd prefer it if the Osborns and May are dead here. Especially considering Hickman's said elsewhere that part of the point of this universe is for it to run as an inverse to the main 616 continuity.

BP is going to be fighting the Ultimate Illuminati directly so I think he’s more directly connected to what’s going on with the Ultimates. With Tony a fugitive and branded a terrorist, I think the Ultimates are going to have to hide in Wakanda for a bit. X-Men and Spidey are much more tangentially connected though Spidey will likely be somewhat involved (X-Men seems like a total side project however).

This definitely makes sense to me. Though I'd imagine that the X-Men comics will eventually lead to Armor and whoever else is in this lineup to fight against the mutant factions that were part of the Maker's Illuminati.

[Refrax5]

I agree that this might not be accessible for new readers, but I very much like the idea that these are all heroes that had their destinies stolen from them or at least delayed. I'm interested in USM less because of the marriage and kids and more because the idea of Peter Parker getting bitten by the spider as a middle aged man is something totally different than any version we've seen before that I can think of. It feels like it could radically alter things for this Spidey. It feels like it could be a very unique take on the character and his world.

Why does Reed call himself Doom again? I know he's dressed like Dr. Doom, but Doom was just Victor's name, not a mantle.

Fully expect Howard Stark to return and go up against Tony, knowing what he now does about his fate.

[charliehustle415]

Why do I get the feeling that this isn't a new line initiative, but a bunch of minis?

Am I wrong in thinking this?

I feel like this issue set up an endgame for the line already?

I feel like that Hickman will be on Spidey for 12 issues and the rest will be 6 issue minis

[Nomura99]

Why do I get the feeling that this isn't a new line initiative, but a bunch of minis?

Am I wrong in thinking this?

I feel like this issue set up an endgame for the line already?

I feel like that Hickman will be on Spidey for 12 issues and the rest will be 6 issue minis

Hickman always says the point of comic books is playing with the toys and also putting them back in the box. With Tony and Reed trying to make 6160 like "it was supposed to be" without Maker, it does kinda feel like the end game will be putting the universe back together without the bullshit created by The Maker.

Once that is over, I guess it will depend if sales would warrant to continue with this new universe and if someone else has a pitch to keep it going. But yeah, this does seems like it has a not that long of end date. Didn't Ultimate Invasion ended with the Illuminati saying they had like 2 years before Howard and Maker cameback? That's probably going to be the big crossover that sets things right and ends Hickman's tenure with the line.

[GoldenTiger]

No, it was revealed that the maker and Howard had NOT emerged after two years in the time bubble. They weren't out at the end of Ultimate Invasion.

[Vordan]

Clearly the Maker, Kang, and Howard re-emerging from the City will be an event that ends the first “Phase”. Doesn’t necessarily mean the line itself will end, Hickman has said he’ll be on USM for as long as he enjoys writing it. Whether this Ultimate Universe goes on or not will come to sales, if the sales are good I’m sure they’ll keep going. Otherwise they’ll end the line, but at least (hopefully) Hickman will have gotten to tell his story this time.

That said I don’t see this world ever being a 1-to-1 of what it was “supposed” to be. Some stuff obviously has changed too much to go back - Peter will never have been Spidey in his youth the way he was “supposed” to, DoomReed’s family are dead and are likely going to stay that way so no F4. Odin is dead, the Rasputins control Russia, I doubt this ends with the old nation-states returning.

[Omnihallows]

Returning everything to how it should be seems a little selfish to me, as if destiny were written in stone. Return to a world where Bruce Banner is persecuted has no control over his anger and is a cannibal, where mutants are hated, all the tragedies that Parker suffered, ultimatum wave, etc

The important thing is not to try to rewind everything, but to learn to accept the changes and keep moving forward.

[Hurricane Billy]

Clearly the Maker, Kang, and Howard re-emerging from the City will be an event that ends the first “Phase”. Doesn’t necessarily mean the line itself will end, Hickman has said he’ll be on USM for as long as he enjoys writing it. Whether this Ultimate Universe goes on or not will come to sales, if the sales are good I’m sure they’ll keep going. Otherwise they’ll end the line, but at least (hopefully) Hickman will have gotten to tell his story this time.

That said I don’t see this world ever being a 1-to-1 of what it was “supposed” to be. Some stuff obviously has changed too much to go back - Peter will never have been Spidey in his youth the way he was “supposed” to, DoomReed’s family are dead and are likely going to stay that way so no F4. Odin is dead, the Rasputins control Russia, I doubt this ends with the old nation-states returning.

Yeah, IMO one of the most exciting and intriguing things about Earth 6160 is how different the status quo is compared to 616 and 1610. It'd be a mistake for anyone to try and rewrite the timeline over to make it hew closer to the traditional Marvel mythos narratives.

[Thundershot]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting. The mini before this I felt was boring, but this… I’m looking forward to the next books.

[marvelprince]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting. The mini before this I felt was boring, but this… I’m looking forward to the next books.

Same. I was really hyped for Invasion, but it left me cold. This new setup with its vastly different starting point to the regular universe at least has me curious.

[Factor]

It surprisingly didn’t tease many new things about any of the ongoings. I’m even confused about where this story will be followed up on, as we’ve seen no indication of where Tony, Reed and Thor will appear next.
Ultimate X-men in particular feels the most disconnected. Spider-Man and BP could have bigger impacts in the overall narrative, but we know too little, as this issue gives us almost zero.
The story was fine, but I can’t understand many of the decisions regarding how they’re going about building and marketing this new line. Why have a whole mini and one-shot focused on characters that are nowhere to be seen in the promotion of the regular books?
It’s confusing. Luckily fans will want to read the Spider Marriage book, but that would have happened regardless of the books they’ve published so far.