The last two years of the Ultimate Universe have built up to one major moment, and it has all the makings of an Avengers: Endgame-level event. It’s been two years since Marvel introduced its new Ultimate Universe, and while the line has grown and the accolades have rained down on it, there was a threat looming in the background. And his name is the Maker. The evil Reed Richards is responsible for orchestrating the Ultimate Universe, but after being imprisoned for the last two years — both in real time and in-universe — the Maker’s return will kick off what is being dubbed Ultimate Endgame.
Marvel revealed the creative team behind Ultimate Endgame at the Marvel Comics: Ultimate Universe Panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The five-part event series comes from Deniz Camp, Jonas Scharf, and more, and it lands in comic book stores in December. The Maker emerges from his imprisonment to finally confront the heroes who have brought hope and freedom to a world he once held in his tight grip. Bringing the characters of all five Ultimate Universe titles together for the first time, the Ultimate fate of this captivating new universe is decided in an epic, multi-front conflict with the Maker and his powerful allies.
“This is the craziest and most impactful crossover [I’ve worked on],” Camp said. “I’m really excited about it. It’s all the characters: everyone coming together in this big way, coming up against each other in a big way, and the resolution of some long plot threads we’ve all been seeing. It’s very big, very dramatic, and with the Ultimate Universe, we can change the world. We can actually do it as creators because we have this incredible playground that Marvel has not just allowed, but encouraged us, to use. It’s such an honor to do something like this. It’s been amazing, and this is the culmination of a lot of what we’ve been doing together.”
“Doing this tight continuity stuff, this smaller line… the execution from the company on this has been great, and it’s stuff we should keep trying to do. You guys supporting this book is the only reason we can [tell stories] this way. Hearing you like this gives us the opportunity to do more things like this,” Jonathan Hickman, writer of Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Spider-Man, expressed.
Ultimate Invasion was the first limited series to lay the groundwork for what is now the Ultimate Universe. There is currently an event running, Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, by Deniz Camp, Cody Ziglar, and Jonas Scharf, that brings Miles Morales — one of the survivors of the original Ultimate Universe — to the new Ultimate Universe. It appears that once that series wraps up, the line will transition to Ultimate End.
Marvel previously released promotional art for Ultimate Endgame that recreates a poster of Avengers: Endgame. The art by Stonehouse perfectly captures the Avengers: Endgame poster of the remaining members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner, Okoye, Ant-Man, and more. The Ultimate Universe’s Captain America is front and center for the Ultimate Endgame poster, just like his MCU counterpart. He’s joined by Wasp, Maystorm, Doom (Reed Richards), Spider-Man, Black Panther, Iron Man, and The Maker (Evil Reed Richards).
What’s noteworthy is that Ultimate Endgame treats this as if it’s a legit poster, using the real names of the heroes and creative team working on it. It’s an impressive piece of art, especially when you compare it to the Avengers: Endgame poster.
Ultimate Endgame has some big shoes to fill if it hopes to live up to the hype that was Avengers: Endgame. Fans were left reeling when Thanos snapped half of humanity out of existence in Avengers: Infinity War. They wanted to see the Avengers rebound and come out victorious. Crowds cheered as Captain America lifted Thor’s hammer, and when Cap finally gave the battle cry, “Avengers Assemble!” Tears were flowing when Black Widow and Iron Man sacrificed their lives to stop Thanos. Can Ultimate Endgame achieve that level of emotional investment with a much shorter runway? It’ll be fun to find out.
Ultimate Endgame #1 goes on sale Wednesday, December 31st. Let us know your thoughts on the event series in the comments below!
