Marvel's 'Next Big Thing': Bendis, Bagley Talk "Ultimate End"

[Darth Kal-el]

Why the hate for the Ultimate universe? If you don't like it, don't read it, for #¢∞@& sake!

It's pretty much a moot point now because it's about to smash into the 616

[Cmbmool]

It's about time they address the elephant in the room that is Ultimate Petwr PARKER.

[Peter Parker]

5 issues of Bendis == 1 issues worth of content!

[Nisus]

Seriously? After Cataclysm why would they put these two on another Ultimate event?

This!
Even so the Cataclysm: TULS plot was super deccompressed, both the story and the art felt really rushed. With all due respect to Bendis and Bagley, I don't know why they chose the same creative team; Cataclysm: TULS was the worst reviewed of the Cataclysm minis, and the sales were lackluster too.

I think the end of the Ultimate Universe deserved something better :/ .

[ZeoVGM]

Yeah, this really feels like Cataclysm 2. Could they have not gotten someone else to write and draw this and just have Bendis do a Miles Morales tie in book or something?

This is the final book in the Ultimate Universe. They are the only ones who should be doing it.

[_underscore]

BENDIS PROMISES "LEGITIMATE CLOSURE" IN "ULTIMATE END"

"No, for real this time..."

[Quicksilverfan]

The end of the Ultimate universe is five years too late. This series really fell off a cliff. I've never seen a series go from being so good to being so pitifully awful in such a short span of time. What's even more pathetic was that they kept trying to revive it, doing three re-launches in the span of five years. Each one of them failed miserably in the long run. There's only so much they can do when they try to use crappy replacement characters like Jimmy Hudson, Ray Conner, Monica Chang to fill the voids they purposefully created. I really do think the only reason this series lasted as long as it did was because Bendis would not leave. If he left after the Ultimate Clone Saga, Ultimate would've been canned years ago. It really should have because with every failed effort, it just falls farther and farther from what it once was. Even worse, it rendered pretty much every major moment it ever achieved utterly meaningless. It deserves to be destroyed. I don't think anyone besides Bendis and Bagley will shed a tear for it. Ultimate should be a cautionary tale for how to destroy a successful series for future generations.

Everything you've said is TRUTH!!! I liked the idea that death was permanent in the Ultimate universe, but with the way Marvel killed characters just for shock value, they have no one to blame but themselves for the low sales. I stopped reading after Ultimates vol.3. The Scarlet Witch's death was anti-climactic, Ultron killed her because in ONE PANEL, she flirted with him. Admittedly Quicksilver's two deaths, which didn't have a whole lot of build up, at least gave somewhat of a closure to his character arc.
Also there's the issue that there's all these needlessly sensationalistic elements like incest and cannibalism which made me wonder what the writers were on when they wrote that stuff.

[sifighter]

So I guess this will decide which of the Ultimate Characters survive into Secret Wars and the new continuity. Obviously Miles is going to make it out of this, but I honestly hope some other people make it out of it this.

Characters such as Mach 2, Blackheath, Captain Marvel(Rick Jones), Reed Richards, and Jimmy Hudson(I like him and he can join Wolverines with the other Wolverine associated characters)

[Prof. Warren]

This is the final book in the Ultimate Universe. They are the only ones who should be doing it.

Exactly. It's the only way to close it out. Cataclysm wasn't all that but so what - these guys started the Ultimate U, they deserve the last word.

Like a once-great TV show that went on so far past its peak years that it's hard to remember how truly great it really was, the Ultimate Universe kicked some serious ass in its heyday but now is just a shell of its former self. Still, the good years were really good - containing some of the best comics of the previous decade. Post Ultimatum, not so much. Even still, there were flashes of glory - Hickman's too-brief run on The Ultimates, Brian Wood's X-Men, and through it all, Bendis' Spider-Man never really seriously flagged, save for the Death of Spider-Man which was...not good. But it led to Miles Morales, which was freaking great.

On the whole, it has to be said that the Ultimate Universe left a real impact on both comics and on outside media. Looking at the new Fantastic Four trailer, it's easy to see the ongoing influence of the Ultimate U. It'll be interesting to see just how much of the UU remains in play once SW is over.

[Jameszahra]

The end of the Ultimate universe is five years too late. This series really fell off a cliff. I've never seen a series go from being so good to being so pitifully awful in such a short span of time. What's even more pathetic was that they kept trying to revive it, doing three re-launches in the span of five years. Each one of them failed miserably in the long run. There's only so much they can do when they try to use crappy replacement characters like Jimmy Hudson, Ray Conner, Monica Chang to fill the voids they purposefully created. I really do think the only reason this series lasted as long as it did was because Bendis would not leave. If he left after the Ultimate Clone Saga, Ultimate would've been canned years ago. It really should have because with every failed effort, it just falls farther and farther from what it once was. Even worse, it rendered pretty much every major moment it ever achieved utterly meaningless. It deserves to be destroyed. I don't think anyone besides Bendis and Bagley will shed a tear for it. Ultimate should be a cautionary tale for how to destroy a successful series for future generations.

I agree with you that a great degree of quality was taken out of the UU post ultimatum. And sales have indicated that there's been a massive drop in fans, but I can only speak for myself. And I still enjoy the hell out of UU.
You talk about replacing characters, but I don't see it as so bad compared to what the x books are doing in the regular MU. At least they're not replacing they're characters with with a bunch of kids regular MU mutants have been watered down more than the UU x10.....Let's be straight though. The ultimate books aren't selling due to the lack of characters not good stories

[Plawsky]

I can't say I'm surprised - we saw this coming. I'm not thrilled, of course. It's the end to something good, and the Ultimate U will be sorely missed. I'll probably have some more complex feelings about it as this sets in over the weeks to come.

I'm not entirely crazy about the Bendis/Bagley team, but I want to stay optimistic. More importantly, though, I know that their story is only part of it. It might be the true capstone for the Ultimate Universe, but I'm choosing to focus on the fact that Hickman (and Ribic!!!) will be using the Ultimates in Avengers and Secret Wars. Plus, as far as I'm concerned, Cap and Thor are basically confirmed to return.

The end of the Ultimate universe is five years too late. This series really fell off a cliff. I've never seen a series go from being so good to being so pitifully awful in such a short span of time. What's even more pathetic was that they kept trying to revive it, doing three re-launches in the span of five years. Each one of them failed miserably in the long run. There's only so much they can do when they try to use crappy replacement characters like Jimmy Hudson, Ray Conner, Monica Chang to fill the voids they purposefully created. I really do think the only reason this series lasted as long as it did was because Bendis would not leave. If he left after the Ultimate Clone Saga, Ultimate would've been canned years ago. It really should have because with every failed effort, it just falls farther and farther from what it once was. Even worse, it rendered pretty much every major moment it ever achieved utterly meaningless. It deserves to be destroyed. I don't think anyone besides Bendis and Bagley will shed a tear for it. Ultimate should be a cautionary tale for how to destroy a successful series for future generations.

Do you just have this paragraph ready to copy/paste once every few months? You've been saying the exact same thing for 5 years, and most of the arguments don't hold up anymore.

You bring up the same replacement characters over and over again, but of your three examples, one of them (Ray) hasn't been used in 4 years, and was in a whopping one arc; one of them (Monica) isn't really a replacement in the same regard, as she's nothing like her predecessor, and she served a completely different role in the series; the third is a legacy character in every sense of the word, so I guess 1/3 isn't bad. Conspicuously missing from your list, though, is Miles, who is arguably the most successful legacy character that Marvel has ever had, leading a solo series for 40 issues and gaining a pretty large fan base.

As for relaunches, it's no different anymore than any other title. In the time since Ultimatum, there have been three new sets of #1s. In that same time, there have been at least 2 relaunches for both main Avengers books, several X-Men books, Daredevil, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Spider-man - most of those in just the past 2 or 3 years. Relaunches are just the status quo now. The post-DoSM titles all ran for 30+ issues, which is unfortunately longer than the average life of a Marvel book nowadays.

While the UU hasn't been as lucrative as it once was, especially in the past year, it still last more than FIVE YEARS after Ultimatum. An entire third of its life came after the so called "death" of the UU. In that time came some of the most well received stories in the UU since the "glory days" of Ultimates 2 - Hickman's Ultimates, Death of Spider-man, Brian Wood's X-Men, Fialkov's Ultimates, and Miles Morales (which garnered the first Eisner nod for an Ultimate book ever).

You didn't like the UU anymore? That's fine. But a lot of people still did. Even more so, the idea that stories are somehow "made utterly meaningless" because something followed that you didn't like is absolutely asinine. Nothing about the old books has changed - they're still there for you to enjoy.

[Wolverine12]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=58844

This is pretty depressing for me to read about but I can't say that I'm really shocked. The Marquez variant features a few "dead" heroes so maybe this takes place in an earlier time in the UU and we can see some of our old favorites one more time

[UltimateTy]

I will never get over how ugly Ultimate Iron Man's armor is

[eliyanimoses]

Oh my. I haven't had the time to post on these forums since there was a separate Ultimate U section! Made me make a new account. I remember Plawsky but that's about it. :P I can't express how sad I am that it's gonna be over soon... I keep thinking that it really wasn't as great as it used to be but that was ok. I loved the world for what it was.

I've been saying that I'm ok with it as long as Miles survives Secret Wars but then I think of all the other characters I love. Like Reed Richards, Kitty Pryde, Ganke, Bombshell and I could go on. I guess as usual I'll just have to read it and decide how sad to be after we see what happens.

Anyway if you understood any of that then great! Otherwise,

tl;dr I'm going to miss it whatever happens.

[Kurolegacy]

Fellow Ultimate fans if this is truly the end this time, it has been an honor to serve and discuss all things Ultimate at your side these years.