This last year, Marvel completely proved me wrong by bringing back an initiative I didn’t think would ever properly return in the form of the Ultimate Universe. Mainstream comics publishers try a lot of different things, and sometimes you just go "that’s not going to work," but I’m more than happy to have been proven wrong.

I really didn’t think that Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe would be a success - right up until it was. The original Ultimate Universe, beginning with 2000’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert, Steve Buccellato, and Richard Starkings, re-imagined Marvel’s mythos as though they began in the then-present moment. For Spidey, this meant that Peter Parker was a recognizably nerdy teen dealing with the teen issies of the early 2000s. For other books, it meant interacting directly with real politics.

The challenge for Marvel in reviving the line for the mid-2020s wouldn’t be replicating this formula, but making it feel contemporary in its own way without leaning too heavily on the original. Marvel's new Ultimate Universe, which also began with January 2024's Ultimate Spider-Man #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Matt Wilson, and Cory Petit. This time, Peter was reinvented not as a contemporary teenager, but as a husband and father, navigating new responsibilities later in his life.

Marvel's New Ultimate Universe Surprised Me with Its Runaway Success

But I'm Not Complaining

The new universe wasn’t perfect at first. Before the debut of the new USM, the initiative began with the miniseries Ultimate Invasion by Hickman, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Alex Sinclair, and Joe Caramagna. While Ultimate Invasion wasn’t the critical success perhaps expected of Hickman, I personally liked it more than most. I wanted this universe to thrive, but I thought that other writers would have trouble working inside Hickman’s framework of a secretive dystopia controlled by supervillains.

It’s nice to be wrong sometimes.

I also incorrectly assumed that Hickman would take the reins for a new volume of The Ultimates and continue Ultimate Invasion’s larger plot. Instead, Hickman was announced as the writer for Ultimate Spider-Man. It’s nice to be wrong sometimes, especially given the wild success of USM.

How Do You Make Spider-Man Feel Contemporary in 2024?

By Embracing Character Over Plot

Why does 2024's Ultimate Spider-Man work? Instead of the original Ultimate Universe’s teen hero, this Peter Parker is a middle-aged father struggling with the feeling that he’s meant for greater things, if only he was brave enough to change. That’s the trick, right there. Hickman’s still dealing with the meta-plot introduced in Ultimate Invasion, but now it’s just the framework for a story that’s focused on character above all else. Sure, the book trades on the fan excitement about a version of Spider-Man who's still married to Mary Jane, but this premise isn’t just lazy fan-service.

The first six issues of Ultimate Spider-Man - a story subtitled "Married with Children" to really hammer it home - are available now, both digitally and in a collected edition from Marvel Comics.

The other half of the book’s success is how it plays with expectations and isn’t afraid to keep fans on their toes. No-one in comics is better at manipulating fan emotions than Hickman, and that’s a massive compliment. I could offer predictions, like: surely this series is going to kill Uncle Ben, or maybe J. Jonah Jameson, or one of Peter’s kids! Surely Harry Osborn is headed down a villainous path, and so are this universe’s Doc Ock and Venom! But only Hickman and his collaborators know for sure, and they’re not telling. I guess we’ll just have to keep reading with bated breath.

Marvel's New Ultimate Universe Debuts the Strangest Teens of All

I'm Talking about the X-Men, Of Course

Two more books followed in this initial Ultimate wave with the tough job of following Spider-Man - including Ultimate X-Men, which became my favorite book of the entire line. Helmed by writer-artist Peach Momoko, and with a script adaptation by Zack Davisson and letters by Travis Lanham, I’ve seen readers describe the book as manga-inspired or a "young adult" comic, but these labels feel reductive when looking at the whole. Focusing on a group of young female heroes in this world’s Japan, this book has a tone that matches nothing else at Marvel and holds the potential to bring in the mythical "new Marvel reader" like few other comics.

In the Ultimate Universe's 2024 release schedule, Ultimate Black Panther came next, and while I don’t have as much to say about it, that’s not a knock on its quality. By Byran Edward Hill, Stefano Caselli, David Curiel, and Cory Petit, the first collected volume of Ultimate Black Panther is available now from Marvel Comics.

In a way, Momoko pulls off the same trick as Hickman. There are plenty of familiar X-Men elements here, but presented in an entirely new context. The big difference is that Momoko herself has stated that she didn’t have a massive familiarity with the X-Men before taking on the project. This unfamiliarity works to the book’s benefit. Momoko still pulls references from across the franchise but does so unclouded by expectations both internal and external. Someone who knew the X-Men inside and out wouldn’t be able to write this book as it stands now, and we’d be all the poorer for it.

This World's Ultimate Problems Require the Ultimate Team

The Ultimates Has Become One of Comics' Most Acclaimed Current Title

Then there’s the new version of The Ultimates by Deniz Camp and Juan Figeri. The original 2002 Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch was a massive success, directly influencing the MCU’s Avengers, so there were high expectations for this book, especially since it launched later than the other titles. The original Ultimates was emblematic of early 2000s comics, with edgy political commentary that wasn’t as clever as it thought it was, eventually devolving into a near-parody of itself the further the original Ultimate Universe plodded along.

A new Ultimates book was always going to have political commentary, especially after Ultimate Invasion, but it needed a smart writer. Luckily, Camp was available. With Frigeri, Camp has built on the alt-history that Ultimate Invasion only hinted at to create a team whose struggles are informed by a twisted version of real-world injustices.

Deniz Camp is quickly becoming one of comics' most acclaimed new writers. For more, check out his creator-owned series 20th Century Men with Stipan Morian and Aditya Bidikar, and be on the look-out for his forthcoming DC title: Absolute Martian Manhunter with Javier Rodríguez, available spring 2025 from DC Comics.

In The Ultimates, She-Hulk’s story mimics the horror of real-life nuclear testing, and Hawkeye is an indigenous American who fights off a new generation of colonizers polluting their native land. Art reflects life, and the new Ultimates title is a cutting condemnation of our own world even as it shows heroes stepping up to fix problems in a way we can only hope for.

The Ultimate Line Is a Massive Success, and It's Largely Thanks to the Art

Artists at the Tops of Their Games Grace These Pages

Part of the line’s success is that its books have consistently great art, a quality that’s surprisingly easy to underrate in comics. Ultimate Spider-Man’s main artist, Checchetto, blew up working alongside writer Chip Zdarksy on Daredevil. Now, Checchetto brings a realistic style and killer design sensibilities to Spidey. Momoko's watercolor art in Ultimate X-Men is spectacular and does justice to the big emotions of her young protagonists. There’s at least one moment per issue where I sit back and mutter words I can’t repeat here because of the sheer skill on display.

Meanwhile, Ultimate Black Panther's artist, Stefano Casilli, has never quite got the critical flowers he deserves, especially for the physicality of his figurework. Caselli has also designed many of the Ultimates for the one-shot Ultimate Universe #1. Frigeri takes the reins for The Ultimates and has gotten consistently better since I first encountered his work in Invincible Iron Man (not that he was a slouch there either). That doesn’t even mention the slew of other great artists involved, from Phil Noto to David Messina to Dike Ruan and more.

The Ultimate Universe Proves That Creators Need Freedom

Big Swings Makes for Great Marvel Reading

The common thread throughout all these titles is that their creators have a huge amount of creative freedom, which can often feel like a rare commodity in Big 2 comics. There are plenty of "Elseworld"-style comics that feel like the creators are only 5 degrees away from mainstream canon, whether thanks to their own intent or editorial limitations. You need risk-taking at all levels, and luckily this line is built on nothing but big risky swings. As the new Ultimate Universe heads into year two with new books around the corner - including Ultimate Wolverine - I can’t wait to see what comes next from Marvel's best new initiative.

The latest issues of the Ultimate Universe line are available now from Marvel Comics.