Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe revealed the end game of its first two years at SDCC, and each of the Ultimate titles is building to its end. Ultimate X-Men has been a wonderful slow burn since it started, with writer/artist Peach Momoko giving readers a horror manga-inspired group of mutants dealing with the Children of the Atom in Hi No Kuni, the Japan of Earth-6160. The book stars Hisako Ichiki, the mutant known as Armor on Earth-616, as she deals with her mutation and the reality of mutant life on Earth-6160. The book combines new versions of old mutants — for example, there’s Natsu, who is based on Cyclops and Maystorm, a Storm-inspired mutant — as well as alternate versions like Viper, Nico Minoru, Surge, and Wolverine’s son Akihiro (although it hasn’t been revealed if he’s actually Wolverine’s son and his powers seem different from Earth-616 Akihiro). Ultimate X-Men #18 drops some pretty big clues about who the leader of the Children of the Atom, who has been known as the Maester, might be.
Ultimate X-Men is a breath of fresh air compared to the majority of X-Men titles being published right now. The Ultimate books are Marvel’s crown jewel, and Ultimate X-Men has proven to be one of the better of the books so far. It’s building Armor up, as well as a new version of Shadow King, and this latest issue sees the aftermath of her fellow X-Men trying to help save from the Children of the Atom. The Maester shows up and as I was reading the issue, I started realizing who the Maester may be on Earth-6160, all because of how similar he is to one of the greatest X-Men villains of them all — Mister Sinister. So far, it’s just a theory but there’s a lot of clues.
The Maester’s Purpose Is Very Sinister
Right from the beginning, I suspected that the Maester was based on an X-Men villain, and at first, I figured it was Magneto, basically just because his name started with an M and he was all about mutant supremacy. However, he never showed any powers and didn’t have the trademark silver hair. Eventually, Ultimate Wolverine revealed that Magneto was dead, so that was the nail in the coffin of that theory. However, Ultimate X-Men #18 has some rather explicit nods to Mister Sinister. To begin with, there’s the trademark cape, which I had never noticed before in previous issues of Ultimate X-Men. Since the introduction of the Children of the Atom, there was something more going on, with the Maester experimenting on mutants for some unknown reason. At first, it seemed like he was looking for ways to control mutants, which is why he seemed to be going after Kageyama, the 6160 Shadow King, who was linked to Armor for some unknown reason. The Maester also held Akihiro and it seemed like he was somehow using whatever Akihiro’s powers to help him control the Children (616 Akihiro has limited mind control abilities thanks to pheromones, so if the two Akihiros have similar powers, that could be a part of it). However, Ultimate X-Men #18 reveals that he’s trying to create something called MY-X, which Hisako, Kageyama, and Akihiro were all important to.
Another clue that I noticed was his reaction to Natsu. The Cyclops analogue accidentally killed her mother, and the Maester took her under his wing. I was immediately reminded of Sinister’s relationship to Cyclops in the 616 universe. Sinister had a certain obsession with Cyclops, holding him in the Essex orphanage, and I noticed something of that in the Maester and Natsu. Natsu attacked the Maester to free Mori, and the Maester was shocked, bringing up how well he’s taken care of her over the years. The Maester had cut off Mori’s arm before Natsu blasted him, and her blood splattered the floor. The Maester drank the blood after the X-Men left and it healed him. He checked on Akihiro, and sees a wound, tasting the blood. The taste surprised him. He realized that whatever happened with Hisako and Kageyama going into Akihiro created the thing that he had been looking for — MY-X. The issue ends with him holding a vial and announcing that he had found what he had been looking for. He was able to create MY-X (which we know nothing about at this point), revealing it as the weapon that will allow the Children of the Atom to take power. All of this speaks to him being a genetic scientist of some kind, and the last image of the book has major Mister Sinister vibes.
The Maester Has Many Similarities to Mister Sinister
Ultimate X-Men has worked so well because instead of completely copying the X-Men of Earth-616, it’s gone in different directions. While it definitely takes a lot of cues from the 616 X-Men, it uses them in entirely different ways. The Maester seems to be another example of that. Ultimate X-Men #18 has seemingly gone the rest of the way to revealing the identity of the Maester. This issue has given the most clues and all of those clues point to him being the Earth-6160 version of Mister Sinister.
Things have taken a turn in Ultimate X-Men. Issue #18 ends with the Maester ascendant, having used his scientific knowledge to create his ultimate weapon. However, he has a fight on his hands. The X-Men are more powerful than ever, and they’ve found Armor. Armor has gone through something we haven’t seen yet, and may have finally reached her ultimate form. All of the pieces are in place, with the sinister Maester on a collision course with Hisako and her X-Men.
Ultimate X-Men #18 is on sale now.
