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Marvel’s new “Ultimate Universe” has largely been a success. Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” has been a consistent bestseller, Deniz Camp’s “The Ultimates” is the most blatantly political superhero book on the market, and Peach Momoko’s manga-inspired “Ultimate X-Men” is a refreshing reinvention… but you know what they say about all the good things.
The “Ultimate Universe” repurposed the “Ultimate Marvel” branding from the 2000s, which rebooted familiar Marvel characters from the ground up. In that connection was the Creator, the Reed Richards of the original “Ultimate” universe (Earth-1610), who long ago turned evil. The Creator created the new Ultimate universe (Earth-6160) and twisted history to create an authoritarian dystopia.
In the inaugural miniseries “Ultimate Invasion” (by Hickman and Bryan Hitch), Tony Stark managed to imprison the Creator in a pocket dimension, but only for 24 months. After that, he would escape, leaving Tony only two years to find heroes and fix the world. Each issue of “The Ultimates” has ended with a “X months left” countdown that reminds readers of the ticking clock.
That clock has been reduced to two months; The Creator will return in “Ultimate Endgame,” a crossover event written by Camp starting in December. I and many others assumed that this was just “Endgame” for the current story arc, just like “Avengers: Endgame” was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while some are still waiting for Marvel to say “psycho,” all signs suggest this really is the end. That means no character is safe in “Ultimate Endgame.”
Marvel announced at New York Comic Con that all ongoing “Ultimate” titles will end in April 2026. Camp also confirmed that it is the “real” endingbut he also asked fans to see the positive side: “Most comic book stories don’t end on their own terms. Ours does.”
The Ultimate Universe will have the ending that Hickman’s X-Men didn’t have
bleeding fresh has reported that Hickman began designing the new “Ultimate” Universe with the condition of a limited run. In BC’s words, Hickman did not want “a repeat of the Krakoa situation.” What does that mean?
In 2019, Hickman took over writing X-Men. His initial miniseries “House of X” (drawn by Pepe Larraz) and “Powers of Professor X and Magneto founded a new mutant homeland on the living island of Krakoa; The mutants created a new language, blackmailed their way into the geopolitical order, and the lines between hero and villain dissolved as they advanced. all Mutants are welcome on Krakoa.
Different writers explored unique niches of an overall story, with Hickman serving as “showrunner.” However, Hickman only saw Krakoa as “Act 1″… until he surveyed his writers and realized they wanted Krakoa to continue (according to Entertainment Weekly).
So, Hickman left “X-Men” before Krakoa ended anyway in 2024. But while his departure was amicable, Hickman still regrets not being able to finish the X-Men story he intended to write. It makes perfect sense that I wouldn’t want to experience that again.
The new “Ultimate Universe” will also avoid the fate of the 2000s’ “Ultimate Marvel,” which continued for 15 years and became as labyrinthine as the original Marvel Universe. The ending is bittersweet (“I’m sad too,” Momoko admitted on Twitter/X.), but it could actually give the “Ultimate Universe” longevity. Each series had a single creative vision from start to finish. Therefore, in the coming years, readers will be able to read everything with relative ease, which is not the case with most Marvel comics.
