The Ultimates

The Ultimates is a comic book published by Marvel Comics, part of the Ultimate Marvel line featuring classic Marvel Universe characters re-imagined for a modern audience. It is written by Mark Millar and drawn by Bryan Hitch. The series was first published in 2001, and continues to be published, albeit very sporadically. In theory, the series is monthly, although in practice it has become a quarterly publication, at best.

The Ultimates are the Ultimate Marvel version of the superhero team The Avengers. It shares similarities to its source material, but like the other Ultimate titles, has undergone deconstruction and reimagining. The stories take place outside of the regular Marvel Universe and bear no relation to the latter's continuity. They also have a darker, more cynical tone and resemble more a large-screen action movie than a traditional comic book.

The Ultimates' lineup initially consisted of the Ultimate Marvel Universe versions of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Wasp, and Giant-Man (a.k.a. Ant-Man), with General Nick Fury as their government liaison. Later members included The Black Widow, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.

• Captain America is Steve Rogers - jingoistic, nationalistic, and prone to violence (as are most of his teammates). He has more of a 1940s attitude than the original version did (even in the 1940s), which often makes him look reactionary. 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, 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.

• Iron Man is Tony Stark, the world's richest man, a billionaire industrialist, playboy and inventive geinus who created the Iron Man powered armor. He joins the team because he has an inoperable brain tumor which will kill him anytime between six months and five years and wants to do something of worth before he dies. He is portrayed as an alcoholic, as he was for a time in the original comics.

• Thor is an ex-nurse who suffered a nervous breakdown, spending 18 months in a mental institution. When he was released, he claimed to be the exiled Son of Odin, building a cult of personality around himself with lecture tours and self-help books. He wields an allegedly magical hammer called Mjolnir which can also teleport objects into other dimensions. He appears to have super-powers, including flight, the ability to control the weather, super-strength and also exhibits a degree of omniscience. However, whether he is a delusional mutant or really the Thor of Norse mythology is still uncertain. He has refused to be an official member of the team, which he considers pawns of the military-industrial complex, but has offered 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 is Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, 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 transformed into the mindless Hulk. In addition to being childlike and violent, the Hulk is shown to be also a perpetually horny maniac with no sense of morality or restraint. In his Hulk form he is also virtually unstoppable, but easily manipulated. Banner was thought cured of his condition, but recreated the Hulk because he was resentful about being surrounded by people with super-powers. Technically not a member of the team, Banner is kept in isolation for safety reasons and is called on as a living weapon of last resort, as he was in Issue #13, where he defeated the leader of the Chitauri by literally eating him. Despite difficulties with his wife Betty Ross (who heads Public Relations for the team), this act seems to have started a reconciliation.

• Giant-Man and The Wasp are Janet and Henry Pym, a married couple as they were in the original comics, but here they are emotionally and physically abusive towards one another. As in the comics, Henry Pym is a world-famous scientist, but the Wasp is secretly a mutant and much more wasp-like than the original. Giant-Man's powers are derived from hers, which was apparently a source of resentment to him. In Issue #6 Giant-Man carried out a horrific assault on the Wasp, for which she required hospitalization. She has since taken up with Captain America, who had tracked Pym down and beaten him senseless when he found out about the assault.

• The Black Widow and Hawkeye are Natasha Romanova, a former KGB spy and 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. The Widow seems to have genetic or cybernetic enhancements, and has set her romantic sights on Tony Stark.

• 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. Fans have speculated that they are incestuous lovers, but this is never made explicit in the comic books. Unlike the originals they have not abandoned their ties to Magneto's Brotherhood, and still believe in mutant supremacy. They are and remain (because of their mutant status), part of the black ops section.

The Ultimates, Vol. 1

Warning: Plot details follow.

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 supervillains, specifically to Magneto's attack on the White House in Ultimate X-Men. However, amid the publicity of the team's debut, the first enemy comes from within, as Banner recreates the Hulk and goes on the rampage, devastating Manhattan and causing horrific casualties. Thanks to judicious public relations spin, the disaster comes off as a victory for the Ultimates, who are hailed as heroes when they subdue the Hulk. However, tensions between Janet and Henry Pym result in Pym violently assaulting his wife.

While the Wasp is recovering, 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 them and the Ultimates on a wild-goose chase to Micronesia while they secretly conquer the world. When the Ultimates escape the Chitauri's trap, the aliens prepare to set off a device that will obliterate the solar system as alien motherships gather above the city of Phoenix, Arizona. With the battle joined, the last hope may be to turn the Hulk loose again.

The 13 issues of the first series were collected in two trade paperbacks: The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super-Human and The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security.

Other appearances

In the Ultimate universe the team is connected to Spider-Man and the X-Men.

While said to be independent, the X-men have tangled with or fought the Ultimates before and General Fury shelters them and (to an extent) supports Xavier's agenda since the other option is all-out war which the normals probably could not win.

Fury occasionally helps Spider-Man clean up the mess after his battles and in concealing his identity. He has also offered Peter membership in the Ultimates at 18 and tends to aid him when things go really bad. Fury's motives are unclear, but he may be motivated partially because he likes Peter and knows he may be of some use (not to mention is tying up most of the New York rogues gallery), and he also wants to get his hands on the technology and genetic code of Peter's enemies (especially the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus).

The latest X-Men arc has made it clear that Fury is not that influential; despite control of the Ultimates he has enemies higher up who consider the heroes a mistake and want to go back to the former policy of executing post-humans with the use of the Sentinels. Fury has dealt with this mess by "not" warning Xavier and telling him "not" to get involved, while basically telling him to get on with it.

The second volume of The Ultimates was due to appear in April 2004 but has been held back to September so the notoriously slow Bryan Hitch can get six full issues drawn before publication begins. Meanwhile the team has co-starred (with Spider-Man) in the mini-series Ultimate Six and the X-Men in Ultimate War. The team continues to appear around the Ultimate Universe.

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 The Avengers, based on The Ultimates, which would be released on DVD in 2006.