One of Marvel’s most successful on-panel experiments, by far, is their Ultimate Comics imprint. Originally conceived in the year 2000, the Ultimate Marvel comics – manifesting as Earth-1610, as opposed to the main canon’s Earth-616 – existed to allow writers the creative freedom to try new things with classic characters without being constricted by present continuity or having to stick within the status quo of the characters themselves.
The results offered audiences a fresh, different, and even modern alternative to the main Marvel comics. The Ultimate Marvel comics were so beloved that they justified a 2023 revival of sorts, albeit not of the exact 1610 universe (the new universe comprises Earth-6160). Even then, still, the original Ultimate Marvel Universe remains a talking point within the comic book community, specifically all the shocking, unique, and utterly controversial takes on different characters. Here are some more memorable changes to Marvel’s finest heroes and villains.
10 Deadpool is a Reality Show Host
Debuts in Ultimate Spider-Man #91 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, John Dell, Justin Ponsor, and Cory Petit
If there is one example of how vastly different various characters could be from their Earth-616 counterparts, this would have to be the most glaring example. In Marvel’s main canon, Deadpool is a fun-loving, cheeky mutant ally, while on Earth-1610, he’s a disgusting bigot who despises mutants. The more deadly serious approach to Deadpool also showcases a character who hates the mutant race so much, that he went through facial modifications to help his approach to hunting them, hence his disfigured face in this universe.
Speaking of hunting mutants, this is how the Ultimate Universe comes to terms with Deadpool’s fourth wall breaking. His hatred for mutants causes him to make it a televised spectacle, kidnapping mutants and bringing them to the island of Krakoa to be hunted live on reality TV. Of course, he interacts with the audience, always talking to the camera.
9 Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are in a Relationship
Throughout Ultimates 3 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira
One of the bolder choices to come out of the Ultimate Universe was having Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver fall in love with each other in ways that’s pretty frowned upon for a brother and sister to love each other. What’s stranger is that in a moment where The Wasp tries to explain to Captain America just how much the siblings love each other, the knowledge of the incest is normalized in the room, with Steve being the odd man out for not understanding.
Believe it or not, the incest was the least of the couple/sibling’s problems, as Quicksilver would grow all the more obsessed when he watches his sister die, mourning her as both a sister and a lover. Needless to say, this is probably the Scarlet Witch’s worst relationship.
8 Red Skull Was the Son of Steve Rogers (and killed JFK)
Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 by Mark Millar, Carlos Pacheco, Danny Miki, Justin Ponsor, and Cory Petit
For decades, Red Skull was the sworn enemy of Steve Rogers, but on Earth-1610, that feud is intensified by the caveat that Red Skull is Captain America’s son. Right before Rogers fell into the Arctic Ocean, frozen for five decades, he spent a night with his girlfriend Gail Richards. Before she could tell him that she was pregnant, he was declared dead. The United States government worked hard to keep Rogers’ child a secret, putting the boy in foster care.
Furthermore, to replace Steve as the super-soldier of a new generation, the child was forced into rigorous military training. He’d try to escape at age 17, rebelling against his trainers by using a knife to carve the flesh from his head, thus dubbing himself the Red Skull. As if that wasn’t enough of a statement, his self-exile from American armed forces was complete when he decided to became a professional assassin and, in this world, ended up being the man who killed President John F. Kennedy. He’d reunite with his old man in the present once he joined A.I.M. and their forces against the Avengers.
7 Steve Rogers is Black Panther (Temporarily)
Ultimate Captain America Annual by Jeph Loeb
This list hasn’t even gotten to the real meat of his time in Earth-1610, but already, this might be the entry that has people raising an eyebrow in his direction. Captain America and Black Panther have always had a close friendship in the official Marvel Universe (at least until recently) and that fact is no different in the Ultimate Universe. Steve even spends time training T’Challa to prep him for an Avengers membership.
Through their friendship, T’Challa – who never unmasks – confides his desire to go back to Wakanda. To satisfy his friend’s wish, Steve Rogers secretly adopts the Black Panther mantle while T’Challa returns home. While a noble move on Steve’s behalf, some readers may liken the notion and imagery to problematic appropriation at worst and just a weird sight at best.
6 Steve Rogers was So Pro-America, He Was Anti-Everything Else
He Hated the French
Oof. Now this is the real meat of Earth-1610’s Steve Rogers’ characterization. Captain America, in his modern day with the Avengers, was always presented as a man out of time, but the Ultimate Universe leans further into that notion by reminding readers every step of the way that Cap lived through World War II and, as such, his views may be a little out of touch with modern values, at the very least. At the very worst, Captain America was a wee bit racist.
Cap had a particular disdain for the French and let it be known as any old man would. More often than not, Captain America was presented as a man of the people in Earth-616 canon, wanting to do his part to help the world regardless of the flag they waved. This Cap, though, was all about the American way or the highway.
5 Mutants are a Result of Experimentation
It All Leads Back to Captain America
While not directly linked to Captain America, almost everything in the Ultimate Universe ties back to the Super Soldier serum that created Captain America, including mutants. As said earlier, attempts to create a new super soldier created the Red Skull. Elsewhere, Bruce Banner’s attempts to recreate the super soldier serum instead created the Hulk. Even the creation of Spider-Man and the Green Goblin link back to attempts to recreate the super soldier serum.
Most relevantly, mutants aren’t the result of genetic X-gene mutations, but Canadian lab experiments orchestrated to reproduce the super soldier serum. Failing to do so produced unpredictable mutations in unsuspecting participants, like one Wolverine, who was kidnapped and administered the guinea pig formula. It’s certainly a more tragic, horrifying alternative for the mutant race to come to pass.
4 EVERYTHING That Happens in Ultimatum
Ultimatum #1-5 by Jeph Loeb, David Finch, Danny Miki, Steve Firchow, Peter Steigerwald, Guru eFX
Ultimatum was an event and a five-part miniseries where, simply put, the worst things imaginable happen to every character who Marvel fans love. It ranks among the most shocking moments of the Ultimate Universe not just because of how many casualties are left in the dust, but the gruesome means in which many of these characters die off. The sight of The Blob devouring The Wasp remains haunting, and yet, it gets worse from there.
Magneto manages to kill off both Professor X and Wolverine (tearing the adamantium from his bones), before Cyclops kills him in return, who in return is killed by Quicksilver. And these are just some of several casualties. While Marvel Universe characters have a tenacity to return from the dead often, all of these deaths in 1610 prove permanent.
3 Sue Storm and Ben Grimm Fall in Love
They Grow Closer Without Reed
Reed Richards and Sue Storm’s marriage was never perfect, but in the Ultimate Universe, their relationship borders on irreconcilable. More on that later, but the failure of Reed and Sue’s union opened the door for a more unexpected one.
The Thing himself goes through a big change himself, returning to his human form and taking on a new form where he glows a purple radiation brightness. In his human form, Sue and Ben grow closer to each other. Ben winds up confessing his love for Sue during the “Ultimate Enemy” arc, but she doesn’t feel the same. Eventually, though, The Invisible Woman finds herself attracted to Ben and confesses she does, in fact, love him. She goes a step further by proposing to him, which he happily accepts.
2 Jessica Drew was a Clone of Peter Parker
Debuts in Ultimate Spider-Man #98 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, John Dell, Justin Ponsor, and Cory Petit
Much of the confusion surrounding Spider-Woman in the Earth-616 universe is that her origins are not tied in any way to Spider-Man. The Ultimate Universe rectifies that by making her a Spider-Clone of Peter Parker’s. While working for the CIA and FBI, Doc Ock is able to help produce several clones of Peter Parker. One partciular clone had their chromosomes manipulated, producing a woman who the CIA intended to have work for them covertly, wiping her memories as Peter in the process. She’d, however, escape and become Spider-Woman to help fend off the clones against Peter.
What makes Jessica most interesting is how for many readers, her story reads as an allegory for the trans identity, be it intentional or not. Jessica expresses not relating to being Peter Parker despite having his memories and is driven to carve her own path.
1 Mr. Fantastic Becomes The Maker
Debuts in Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Adam Kubert, Danny Miki, Dave Stewart, and CHris Eliopoulos
As said earlier, Mister Fantastic’s relationship with The Invisible Woman is pretty abysmal, with the nail in the coffin coming when he tries to propose to her during her father’s funeral. She breaks up with him, breaking up the Fantastic Four and, by proxy, breaking Reed’s psyche and sanity. What follows is an unhinged Reed who fakes his death, killing his parents in the process and orchestrating alien attacks to, in his mind, save the world. It eventually leads to a disfigured face and a brief stasis in the Negative Zone.
In time, he re-dubs himself The Maker, citing Sue rejecting him as giving him more time to himself to become this part of himself. Reed Richards’ transformation into The Maker is arguably the most important change to come out of Ultimate Marvel. This form has major repercussions on both Earth-1610 and Earth-616, with him being the catalyst for creating the new Ultimate Marvel Universe.
