Merge:Ultimates

The Ultimates are a government-sponsored team of superheroes in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, appearing primarily in their self-titled comic book limited series The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2, published by Marvel Comics, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Bryan Hitch. The series started out as a monthly publication in 2001, but due to the greater amount of time required by Millar and Hitch to complete each issue, new issues are released as they are completed. Each twelve-issue miniseries is regarded as a "season" of the same title. The team is a re-imagining of the Marvel Universe superhero team, the Avengers.

Their first series, simply titled The Ultimates, ended in April 2004. The current series, The Ultimates 2, began in December 2004 and has published eleven of thirteen issues as of July 2006. A third series, The Ultimates 3, is planned after the conclusion of The Ultimates 2, and will feature a new creative team in the form of Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. It has recently been confirmed that The Ultimates 4 is also currently in the works, with a creative team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada has even stated there is a creative team in mind for an eventual The Ultimates 5.

The tone of the story is widely considered to be darker, more cynical, and more cinematic than most traditional comic books. A prominent theme is the scope and legitimacy of state power, with superheroes - or "persons of mass destruction" as they are described in the series - acting as metaphors for the immense resources of a modern superpower. In this respect, it resembles The Authority, a comic book series that both Hitch and Millar have each worked on, though at different times.

The Ultimates
Notable members of the Ultimates include Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, the Wasp, Giant-Man, General Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.


 * Captain America, Steve Rogers - patriotic, nationalistic, jingoistic and reactionary. He has more of a stereotypical 1940s attitude than the original version did (even in the 1940s). Rogers underwent six months of surgery and steroid treatment during World War II to become America's first Super-Soldier. At the end of the war in 1945, he led a mission to sabotage a prototype hydrogen bomb developed by the Nazis with extraterrestrial technology, and was thrown into the North Atlantic Ocean, where he was frozen. He remained in suspended animation until his body was rediscovered in the present day and revived, just in time to take the field leadership of the new government-sponsored superhuman force known as The Ultimates.
 * General Nick Fury, is the Ultimates' government liaison and head of S.H.I.E.L.D., the branch of the U.S. military currently devoted to meta-human threats (although Hawkeye has stated its original purpose was to bring down the Soviet Union). General Fury is an African-American in this re-imagining -- the original Fury was Caucasian -- but retains other features of his mainstream counterpart. For example, he wears an eye patch due to an injury in the Persian Gulf War. While Fury usually leads the team via a comm-link from their home base, he has occasionally joined the team on field missions, employing advanced spy technology (e.g. invisibility) to stay alive. He also makes various cameos throughout the Ultimate Marvel Universe, more so than the other Ultimates. Reportedly, Millar and Hitch have both indicated that his characterization and image are loosely based on Samuel L. Jackson.
 * Iron Man, Tony Stark a billionaire industrialist, playboy and inventive genius who created the Iron Man powered armor. Stark has an inoperable brain tumor: doctors estimate he has between six months and five years to live. As a result, Stark decides to do something of worth before he dies. He is portrayed as an alcoholic, as he was for a time in the original comics. During the second series, Stark becomes engaged to Black Widow, giving her a suit of armor as an engagement present. It has been suggested that the third series of the Ultimates will involve Stark's brain tumor as an important plot point.
 * Thor, is a man who claims to be the exiled Son of Odin. He has built a cult of personality around himself with his preachings of a political conspiracy orchestrated by the New World Order. According to his dossier, he is Thorleif Golman, an ex-nurse who suffered a nervous breakdown and spent 18 months in a mental institution. He appears to have super-powers which include flight, the ability to manipulate the weather, super-strength and also exhibits a degree of omniscience. He also wields the allegedly magical hammer Mjolnir, which can teleport objects into other dimensions. One of the mysteries behind Thor is whether or not he really is the Thor of Norse mythology. The later appearance of Loki, who mysteriously appears to taunt Thor and subsequently appears with an opposing supervillain team, appears to give credence to Thor's claims. He refuses to be an official member of the team, which he considers pawns of the military-industrial complex, but offers to be on call anytime there is an emergency that requires his help. Mark Millar claims to have based the character loosely on conspiracy theorist David Icke.
 * The Hulk, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a scientist who attempted to rediscover the Super-Soldier Formula that created Captain America. Insecure and neurotic, he used an experimental version of the formula on himself and was transformed into the mindless Hulk. In addition to being childlike and violent, the Hulk is shown not only as a sexual being (in contrast to the Marvel Universe version, which does not emphasize this aspect) with no morality or restraint, but also a cannibal. In the Ultimate War issue of the Ultimate X-Men, he escapes and eats his six-person nursing staff, and eats the extraterrestrial Chitauri leader in the climax of the first Ultimates miniseries. As the Hulk, he is also virtually unstoppable, but easily manipulated. Banner was thought cured of his adverse condition, but recreated the Hulk because he was resentful about being surrounded by people with super-powers who treated him as a milquetoast, and for being cuckolded by his girlfriend, Betty. Although not technically a member of the team, the Hulk was kept in isolation for safety reasons and was called on as a living weapon only as a last resort. In fact he seems to be more of a hindrance than a help, though in the latest arc he has returned to fight beside his "team mates" instead of against them.
 * Giant-Man and the Wasp, are Henry and Janet Pym, a married couple as they were in the original comics. In this re-imagining, their strained relationship includes emotional, verbal and physical abuse on Henry's part toward Janet. Janet subsequently began a relationship with Captain America, which itself has become strained, in part due to their generational differences, and in part due to Janet's attempts to re-establish a friendship with Henry. As in the mainstream comics, Henry Pym is a world-famous scientist with tremendous powers of growth; but whereas the mainstream Wasp is a normal human altered by chemical and technological means, the Ultimate Wasp is secretly a mutant with a wasp-like physiology, including, for example, insect-like appetite and laying eggs. Janet is also Asian in the Ultimate line.
 * The Black Widow and Hawkeye, are Natasha Romanova, a former KGB spy and expert assassin and Clint Barton, an archer with almost superhuman accuracy. They were originally part of the Ultimates' covert operations "black ops" team, but were subsequently moved to public status after their backgrounds were falsified for public consumption.
 * Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, a pair of mutant siblings. Pietro has the power of super speed, and Wanda can affect probabilities with her powers. Unlike the original mainstream versions of these characters, they have not abandoned their ties to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy; they still believe in mutant supremacy. Because of their mutant status, they remain a part of the black ops section. They are often depicted touching and relating to each other intimately, which has led to fan speculation that the two share an incestuous relationship.
 * Falcon, Samuel Wilson, an explorer / adventurer and scientist who utilizes a high-tech backpack with folding wings to fly. The wingtips are also usable as razor-like weapons. Sam Wilson has been seen interacting with the Ultimate Vision, and has demonstrated high level understanding of technology, suggesting that the wing-pack is something of his own design.

The Reserves

 * Rocketmen, who wear customized suits based on early Iron Man designs. 4 of them are members of the Ultimate Reserves, while the others serve actively as general super-soldiers.
 * Giant-Men, seven men who use a modified version of Hank Pym's "Giant Man" Formula.
 * The Four Seasons, four marines who derive their powers from their uniforms. Their costume designs and abilities follow the season motif. They are part of the Reserves.
 * Lieberman (deceased), the only Reserve member (besides Giant Men) whose powers were not costume-based. He was injected with the Super-Soldier serum and, as a result, exhibited enhanced speed and strength, as well as nearly indestructible skin. He also possessed an innate connection to the S.H.I.E.L.D. supercomputer.  However, his central nervous system collapsed after he saved fifty seven people from a fire in New York City; the strain of the super-soldier serum killed him. It is suggested that there have been several other soldiers like him who died the same way.
 * The Human Sentinels, Sixty of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents in Sentinel battle armor that has enough hardware to take on a fleet of the old Sentinel models. Special polychrome coatings prevent magnetic fields from harming them in any way. They also have helmets to deter telepathy.

Other reserves are mentioned, including Thunderbolt and Intangi-girl, but they are not yet operational. In recent issues, certain foot soldiers have been equipped with enhancement suits that bestow flight and super-strength upon the wearer. Based on panel illustrations, it can be assumed that there are about 100+ troops with these suits.

Enemies
Aside from the Hulk, the Ultimates have fought and encountered several super powered foes, including Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, the Ultimate Six and the product of an abandoned Russian supersoldier program. They have also fought the X-Men twice, though it was not until recently that Fury declared the X-Men enemies of the state. They also tangled with the villain Deathlok, whom they defeated with the assistance of Spider-man.

The Chitauri and their leader, Captain America's wartime nemesis, Herr Kleiser, have proven to be formidable enemies of The Ultimates. A reptilian alien race based on the mainstream Marvel Skrulls, the Chitauri also appear to be partly based on the shape-shifting reptiles of the conspiracy theories of David Icke.

The Ultimates have over the years defeated or killed a number of super-villains; most are detained in the Triskelion. A list of imprisoned supercriminals include:


 * Magneto (Escaped)
 * Longshot (Escaped)
 * Mystique (Posing as Magneto)
 * Herr Kleiser (Dead, but remains could be trapped in the Hulk's excrement)
 * Sinister
 * Deathstrike (Status Unknown: neck snapped by Longshot although she possesses a healing factor)
 * Ultimate Six
 * Green Goblin
 * Dr Octopus
 * Electro
 * Kraven
 * Sandman


 * Hobgoblin
 * Omega Red
 * Deathlok
 * Vulture
 * Elijah Stern (Created Vulture's suit, now forced to work for Fury)


 * Vision (Though not really considered a villain, the Vision was being held for research and was allowed to leave after telling her tale and recording all of humanity and its culture)

The latest enemies of the Ultimates are the Liberators, the superhuman strike force of an international coalition that invades the United States out of fear for the incursion of The Ultimates in foreign soil. The team members are:
 * The Colonel
 * Abomination
 * Crimson Dynamo
 * The Schizoid Man
 * Perun
 * Swarm
 * Hurricane
 * Loki
 * Black Widow
 * Ant-Man

Super-Human (#1-6)
The team is initially formed by General Fury and the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. in response to the emergence of supervillians, specifically to Magneto's attack on the White House in Ultimate X-Men. In order to recreate the "Super Soldier Serum" that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America, General Nick Fury recruits elite scientists Bruce Banner - whose estranged fiancée Betty Ross is Fury's PR assistant - and Janet and Hank Pym. The fact that all three individuals have superpowers as well is an additional asset to the cause. Surprisingly, billionaire playboy Tony Stark joins the team, donning his "Iron Man" armor.

Then, there is a miracle: after fifty-seven years, scientists have retrieved the frozen body of Captain America out of the Arctic Ocean. Banner revives the Captain, however Captain America is convinced that he has fallen into Nazi hands and quickly tries to escape. He is stopped by Hank Pym, aka Giant-Man. "Cap" has an emotional reunion with his old friends Bucky Barnes and Barnes' wife - and Cap's ex-fiancée - Gail. Then Fury tries to recruit a super-powered anti-establishment crusader named "Thor." Thor declines, contending that the Ultimates are to be lackeys of a corrupt superpower.

The Ultimates' first enemy comes from within. After being constantly rebuked by Betty Ross, and overhearing a conversation between Fury and the Pyms where he was made into a laughingstock, Banner finally snaps and takes action. To give his team an enemy to fight against (as well as missing the personal empowerment of being the Hulk), he recreates the Hulk and goes on the rampage, devastating much of Manhattan and causing horrific casualties in his wake. Thanks to judicious use of public relations spin, the quelled disaster comes off as a victory for The Ultimates -- hailed as heroes for subduing the Hulk. Later, Stark invites the team over to his Park Avenue home for a black-tie dinner. Thor and Steve Rogers are the first to arrive. However, the team suffers from inner turmoil as tensions between Janet and Henry Pym result in Pym violently assaulting his wife. Tony Stark also reveals that he has an inoperable brain tumor.

Homeland Security (#7-13)
Captain America tracks and finds Hank Pym, who has gone into hiding after beating his wife Janet. The Captain beats Pym to a pulp, despite the fact that Pym grew to giant size in the practically one-sided fight. However, when Captain America visits Janet afterwards, the news makes her even sadder.

In the meantime, the decades-long covert war between the human race and the shape-changing extraterrestrials known as the Chitauri (loosely based on the original Marvel aliens the Skrulls) comes to a head as the Chitauri infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D., sending S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents and The Ultimates together on a wild-goose chase to Micronesia, which turns out to be a massive booby trap, while the Chitauri secretly conquer the world.

When the Ultimates escape the Chitauri's trap, the aliens prepare to begin their plans for world domination from an infiltrated military base in Phoenix, Arizona. However, a fleet of Chitauri motherships suddenly arrive, bringing news that their enemies across the galaxy have been fighting back, and that they had been driven to the backwater of the galaxy. Instead of taking over Earth, the Chitauri leadership decides to set off a device that will obliterate the solar system and retreat to the "lower fourth dimension." In the final clash between The Ultimates and the Chitauri, Bruce Banner is thrown out of an aircraft - deliberately provoking his transformation into the Hulk. Manipulated by the battlefield strategies of Captain America, the Hulk "victoriously" deals a decisive blow to the alien threat by literally devouring the Chitauri leader, while Thor teleports the alien explosive device into another dimension (the wastes of Nastrond, home of Fafnir the Dragon) where it detonates safely. The story ends with Captain America and the Wasp coming together, despite the attempts of a deeply rueful Hank Pym to make amends.

Gods And Monsters (#1-6)
It has been a year since the Chitauri invasion and things are starting to look bad for The Ultimates. Cap is sent into Iraq to defuse a hostage situation. This incident prompts Thor to leave the team and talk of a conspiracy to get The Ultimates to enter conflict in the Middle East. Jan and Cap are also dealing with the generational gap between them. Dr. Banner is regularly being visited by Hank, who join together to work on more super soldiers. Tony and Natasha have entered into a relationship. Thor is told by Volstagg in a restaurant that Loki is on the loose and plans to stop Thor's mission before a waiter tells Thor he is talking to no one. Soon, things go very bad as Banner's connection to the Hulk is exposed. Both Cap and Fury suspect Thor, but the Norse god denies it. During the trial, Matt Murdock gives an impressive defense, but Banner is still sentenced to death. After the trial Banner is tricked into drinking a sedative by Fury and brought to a carrier to be nuked. It was later revealed that at the last minute, Banner Hulks out and survives, calling Hank to thank him.

The Ultimates' next goal is containing Thor, who they believe is becoming more violent. Fury takes the team to meet the super soldier wing of the European Defense Initiative to plan Thor's capture. Thor's "brother", Dr. Gunnar Golmen (Loki in disguise), tells the team that Thor is actually an insane ex-nurse named Thorlief who stole Gunnar's bio-mechanical hardware to become Thor. The team, along with the European super soldiers, go off to arrest Thor. The ensuing battle begins in Thor's favor, but he is eventually captured when Quicksilver takes his belt, the source of Thor's powers. Thor is put in Banner's old cell where Loki taunts him and tells him of a traitor in The Ultimates' ranks. Meanwhile, Fury brings Cap, Tony and Hawkeye into his office to say that something's happened in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Hank Pym has been fired by Fury and is joining an amateur group of wannabe superheroes called the Defenders. Hank and The Defenders plan a bust against a gang who are stealing cigarettes. However, the bust goes horribly and Hank is photographed naked on the front page of The Daily Bugle. Later Hank meets with the traitor in the Ultimates who states that he / she is doing so because of an opposition to American foreign policy. The traitor then informs Hank that The Ultimates had just invaded a country in the Middle East.

The Ultimates 2 Annual #1: The Reserves
The Annual follows a day in the life of Nick Fury. After the Ultimates stop a hostage situation on an aircraft mid-flight, Fury reveals Phase Two of the project; increasing the number of super-soldiers in the team from nine to twenty-six. The Reserves consist of 3 Rocketmen, 5 Giant-Men, "The Four Seasons," Thunderbolt, Intangi-Girl, Owen, Rusk and O'Donaghue. The last reserve member, Lieberman, has been injected with the Super-Soldier serum and as a result he has enhanced speed and strength, nearly indestructible skin and is also connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. supercomputer.

At a private function, Fury gets into an argument with a general named Viktor over the legality of these super-soldiers. Later, Mister Nix, "the World's Greatest Hitman", is contracted to kill Fury. He is equipped with an experimental rifle, one of only two in the world that can fire through solid objects.

Fury briefs Lieberman in private that if Rogers is ever compromised or killed in the line of duty, Lieberman will be there to replace Rogers as Captain America or take him down. However, while rescuing fifty-seven people from a burning building, his body rejects the Super-Soldier serum and his central nervous system collapses, killing him. It is revealed that Lieberman is only the latest in a string of failed volunteers who have been administered the serum.

Finally, Mister Nix has Fury set in his cross-hairs but is interrupted by his operator who has discovered who hired him. Before she can tell him, Fury has re-appeared in the cross-hairs aiming the same rifle at Nix, and kills him. Fury had hired the hitman himself in order to eliminate him as a potential threat.

Grand Theft America (#7-13) (Ongoing)
Weeks after The Ultimates laid siege to a Middle Eastern nuclear facility and destroy all of the warheads, Hawkeye and his family are attacked in their home. The attackers kill Laura and Callum Barton and presumably Hawkeye. After reviewing the security tape of the attack Nick Fury becomes convinced that Captain America is responsible. After being defeated by The Ultimate Reserves, Captain America is sent to the Triskelion for containment. In fact, Hawkeye was not killed but captured and tortured, and the true traitor on the team was Black Widow.

After obtaining the security codes for the Triskelion from Hawkeye, an anti-American terrorist organization is able to cripple the station's defenses, and then immediately follows up with a massive attack on America. Every major city in the country, including Washington D.C., is taken over by footsoldiers wearing suits that give them flight and low level super-strength, and at the head of the superhuman army are the Liberators. America is seized in less than an hour. Black Widow kills Jarvis by shooting him in the head. Nick Fury's right arm is torn off. The Rocketmen and Giant-men are overwhelmed and killed and the Statue of Liberty is toppled.

The American government is overthrown, and Hank Pym, who is now working with The Liberators, keeps the American populace in line using the Ultron robots he created. However, The Liberators appear to have made several critical errors in their plans: they underestimate Hawkeye, who kills all of his captors using his own fingernails as projectiles, Iron Man, who downloaded information on the Liberators out of Black Widow's brain before knocking her out with a champagne bottle and Wasp, who has hidden in Captain America's cell in the Triskellion. After being subdued, Wasp reveals to Schizoid Man that she had already released Captain America. Cap then proceeds to defeat all of Schizoid Man's replicas, freeing Wasp and leaving the Triskelion looking for Thor and any other survivors.

Thor, however is gone, apparently taken out of his cell by Odin. Meanwhile, Iron Man flies to an orbital space station to retrieve his most powerful suit. President Bush is captured by Perun and Crimson Dynamo, who have hijacked Air Force One. Captain America and the Wasp manage to make it to the White House and break in, only to find that Hawkeye has escaped along with Betty Ross, Scarlet Witch, Nick Fury and Quicksilver. The group managed to kill / immobolize 28 footsoldiers, but a fresh troop of Liberators fly in, along with The Abomination, Swarm and Hurricane. Captain America is flung through a wall and lands near a waiting Al-Rahman, who is eager to duel with him. Bruce Banner appears outside of the White House and, after one of Crimson Dynamo's robots steps on him, turns into the Hulk and tears the robot in half. It is evident that Banner is now in charge of his Hulk persona.

Awards & Recognition
The "Super-Human" storyline running through the first six issues of the first series won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 2003.

Trivia

 * In the DC comic Superman / Batman, the title characters find themselves involved in a dispute with a group of alternate universe superheroes known as The Maximums, who are analogues of The Ultimates much the way Marvel's Squadron Supreme served as substitutes for DC's Justice League. The Maximums, unlike The Ultimates, are based out of San Francisco.


 * The Ultimates 2 has become noted for trailing behind its original monthly publishing scheme, issue #10 being three months late.


 * In The Ultimates #6 It is revealed that Tony Stark purchased his New York apartment for his "dear, old mother" with his very first million. In Ultimate Iron Man #2 it is shown that Tonys mother died shortly before he was born to him and was taken off of life support after giving birth to him.

The Ultimates Movies
On July 20, 2004, Marvel Entertainment and Lion's Gate Family Home Entertainment announced that they would be producing a 66-minute animated movie titled Ultimate Avengers, based on The Ultimates, which was released on DVD February 21, 2006. It does not include the member Hawkeye.

A sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2 was released on August 8th 2006. It introduces African superhero the Black Panther, who rules the African nation of Wakanda.