The Ultimates #1 solidified the greater status quo of the Ultimate Universe. That status quo is something we’ve been seeing in Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men. Each of those titles established what several corners of the Ultimate Universe look like. Now with The Ultimates #1 we got a better idea of the long-term plan that is currently in place for the new Ultimate Universe. Let’s take a look at what that is.
ULTIMATE UNIVERSE AGE OF HEROES SLOW START
In Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men we’ve seen the start of a new heroic age. In Ultimate Spider-Man’s case it appeared that Tony Stark, aka Iron Lad, was successful in sending out key items The Maker had stored to kickstart various hero origins. That unfortunately was not the case if we look at The Ultimates #1. How can that be?
Well, after Tony Stark, Reed Richards’ Doctor Doom, Lady Sif, Thor, and Captain America appear six months into the future they find out their gamble didn’t work out. Based on Tony and Reed’s research there were only two classic Marvel heroes who successfully gained powers. Those heroes are Peter Parker’s Spider-Man and Carol Davers’ Captain Marvel. Though of the two only Spider-Man is confirmed active while Captain Marvel is teased to be MIA.
What happened to the other characters? Unlike Peter and Carol, the other classic Marvel characters either rejected Tony’s message, had their origin items intercepted, or died by improper use of their powers. The only example of one of these three results was Clint Barton throwing away the Hawkeye costume and weapons he was sent in a “Spider-Man No More” way.
Giving the Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and Hawkeye examples was done on purpose. It leaves room for any hero or villain to show up in one of the four Ultimate Universe titles. Specifically, the Captain Marvel example did provide storyline potential to find out what happened to Carol and her being the next member to join the team.
THE ULTIMATES VS THE WORLD
The failure in trying to start the new hero age Tony Stark and Reed Richards attempted to kickstart was the least of the pairs concern. That is because when they returned six months after their disappearance the world completely turned on them. Their absence allowed The Maker’s Council to make the narrative that Tony Stark caused the disaster in New York City that took the lives of countless people.
The impact of Tony Stark being blamed for the disaster in New York City has been shown throughout Ultimate Spider-Man. Along with all the deaths he has been blamed for Tony’s plan to bring heroes back and his company’s resources have been taken by some he did not intend to. Some are more dubious in their intentions like Harry Osborn’s Green Goblin. While others like Ultimate Shocker stole the gauntlets Tony intended for someone else.
All of this brings us to the events of Ultimates #1 with Iron Lad, Doctor Doom, Captain America, Lady Sif, and Thor’s return is not at all celebrated. They are currently the enemy of the world. Even with the addition of Wasp and Giant Man they have a huge hill to climb. Given the control The Maker’s Council has over the world they will need to be careful with every one of their moves. They can’t simply expect doing the traditional superhero thing will get people rallied behind them.
NEW ULTIMATE UNIVERSE EVENT…..IN TWO YEARS
The state of the Ultimate Universe further brings to attention that there is a wait going on for The Maker’s return. At the end of Ultimate Invasion #4 the world Hulk, Magik, and the other Council members were set on making preparations as they await for The Maker’s return in two years. Now that timeline has moved to be 18 months thanks to Iron Lad, Doctor Doom, Captain America, Lady Sif, and Thor showing up six months after they disappeared. The 18-month timeline aligns with the current events we are seeing in Ultimate Spider-Man and Black Panther in particular.
Now the question is how the question will work in real time. How things are set up now the Ultimates, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and X-Men are doing their own things to develop different corners of the Ultimate Universe. With the hero and villain age still being relatively new the creators have plenty of room, so we don’t see The Maker’s return happen 18 months from now. At some point all four titles will crossover and given Marvel’s propensity for big events they could fill one of their four event spots with something that crosses over all four titles in 2025.
That said, The Maker’s return is set up to be a major event that will bring big change whenever it happens. He is a villain that is not only a threat to the Ultimate Universe but also the Ultimate Universe. Since he is currently trapped in the future battling a version of Kang the Conqueror, Marvel could be planning a big Multiverse event with The Maker at the center of it in two years. That would align with the current plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie slate. Whatever the case is the Ultimate Universe has established itself as one of the best and most interesting publishing lines going right now.
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