Well, all the speculation that the Ultimate Universe was on its way out has proven false, as Marvel has announced a revamp, bringing us All-New Ultimates, a new Ultimate FF and Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man.
After the events of Cataclysm, which involves the 616 Galactus messing with Ultimate Earth, instead of some kind of weird blending of the two universes, the Ultimate folks get to keep kicking it in their no-holds-barred style.
All-New Ultimates, with writer Michael Fiffe (Copra) and artist Amilcar Pinna (X-Men: First Class) will feature Spider-Man, Black Widow (no longer Spider Woman, but still the female clone of Peter Parker), Kitty Pryde, Bombshell, Cloak and Dagger dealing with a Hell’s Kitchen crime wave from a group called the Serpent Skulls, and that’s coming in April. “The Ultimate Universe is relatively young, which yields more opportunities for real change, real dangers, and dramatic avenues left unexplored in superhero comics,” Fiffe says.
Naturally, Brian Michael Bendis is staying on board for Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man with artist David Marquez, and Miles will have to throw down with a big-name villain from Peter Parker’s past.
Finally, Joshua Hale Fialkov is bringing out Ultimate FF with Mario Guevara, showcasing the Future Foundation – Sue Storm, Tony Stark, Machine Man and Sam Wilson – fighting against “COMPLETE AND UTTER DOOM.” So said the PR email, and you have to imagine it’s in all-caps to obscure whether or not we’re talking regular doom or Victor Von Doom.
So there you are! No huge crossover with the 616 announced, no end-of-the-world (although curiously, no mention of Ultimate X-Men yet), but the Ultimate Universe lives on. What do you think?
