The State of the Ultimate Universe, One Year In

The Ultimate Universe was almost a world without heroes. The Maker, a twisted version of Reed Richards from another reality, used a time machine called the Immortus Engine to prevent the rise of heroes in this universe’s history.

With no one to oppose him, the Maker divided the world into seven regions, which he commanded from a Latverian base called the City. The sub-leaders of those territories all served on the Maker's Council, where the covert group quietly governed the entire world.

However, the Maker’s grip on this universe slipped when Howard Stark, AKA Iron Man, betrayed the Council. The Maker ordered the industrialist to build a new Immortus Engine with Doom, this world's tortured Reed Richards. However, Stark trapped himself and the Maker behind an energy field, locking them in the City for the next two years.

With his father presumed dead, the teenage Tony Stark followed in Iron Man’s heroic footsteps as Iron Lad. Alongside the escaped Doom, they recruited new heroes in the fight against the Maker and his Council. With one year elapsed and one year to go until the Maker’s vengeful return, let’s dive into the Ultimate Universe’s first year of fighting back.

THE ULTIMATES: ONE YEAR IN

Alongside Doom, Iron Lad rescued the frozen World War II hero, Captain America, and recruited two Asgardians, Thor and Sif, to build a team that would resist the Maker’s world order. Just as Stark's team began taking shape, the Maker's Council framed them for the destruction of Stark Tower, an attack that killed thousands.

Although their initial efforts to rally a generation of heroes overnight only partially succeeded, Iron Lad and Doom relentlessly tried to build the "Ultimates network" of heroes starting in ULTIMATES (2024) #1 by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri.

They first approached Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, two married pest exterminators, with offers to become Giant-Man and the Wasp. During a battle with Henri Duggary, Hank and Janet embraced their size-changing destinies as the Ultimates announced themselves to the world.

Branded as terrorists by the Maker's Council, the Ultimates later broke into the White House, defeated its owner Midas, and rescued America Chavez, whose cosmic powers were exploited as an energy source.

After cruel gamma bomb tests in the South Pacific horrifically transformed all living life in the impacted radius, Lejori Zakaria, AKA She-Hulk, joined the Ultimates to seek justice for her land and people.

Meanwhile, Clint Barton declined the team's invitation. Charli Ramsey, a member of the Oglala Band of the Lakota Nation, claimed the archer's hi-tech bow and waged war against Roxxon Energy. They accepted Captain America's offer to join the Ultimates as Hawkeye.

When Iron Lad fully assembled the Ultimates for the first time, he walked them directly into an ambush by the Hulk, a member of the Maker's Council leading the Children of Eternal Light. Hulk bombarded the team with attacks measured by the strength of nuclear blasts alongside the gamma-irradiated warriors known as the Immortal Weapons. This failed mission left Iron Lad on the brink of death.

While shaken, the Ultimates stand tall as the last hope for Tony Stark and his dream of a better world. 

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: ONE YEAR IN

Even with a happy marriage to Mary Jane, two adorable kids, and a job writing for The Daily Bugle alongside Uncle Ben, Peter Parker felt his life was missing something.

When Iron Lad approached Peter with a radioactive spider and a pico-tech costume, the 35-year-old jumped at the chance to become a hero in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (2024) #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto.

As Spider-Man, Peter befriended Harry Osborn, who ran Oscorp and used Stark's technology to become the heroic Green Goblin. Together, they fought Wilson Fisk, the Council's New York operative, who set his sights on destroying the two vigilantes.

After researching their super-suits, Oscorp scientist Otto Octavius unlocked the full potential of Spider-Man and Green Goblin's armor. He gave Harry's suit an A.I. modeled after his ruthless late father, Norman, while Peter opted for an A.I. based on his own mind.

To stop these vigilantes, Fisk assembled the Sinister Six, a group of crime lords who controlled different parts of New York. During a brutal battle against the Black Cat (Walter Hardy), an enraged Harry threw the veteran thief off a rooftop as a horrified Spider-Man watched.

Meanwhile, Ben and J. Jonah Jameson fought Fisk on the cultural front, splitting from The Daily Bugle to start their own newspaper with support from Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, Harry's wife. With Harry's help, the reporters began publicly connecting the paper trail between Fisk, Oscorp, and Stark's technology.

As both Parkers faced an increasingly dangerous world, Ben revealed to Peter that he knew his secret identity and told him to be more careful.

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER: ONE YEAR IN

While the Maker and his allies took over the Ultimate Universe, they never conquered Wakanda, which remained firmly in the hands of King T'Challa, the nation's ruler and Black Panther. However, Khonshu and Ra, the leaders of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms, tried to change that in ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER (2024) #1 by Bryan Edward Hill and Stefano Caselli.

With their Moon Knight forces, the Maker's Council members attacked Wakanda and killed T'Chaka, T'Challa's father. As Queen Okoye and Princess Shuri began Wakanda's grim march to war, Erik Killmonger and Ororo Munroe saved Black Panther from an ambush.

While traveling with the two freedom fighters, Black Panther discovered a mysterious green ore with life-giving properties that perfectly countered vibranium, the unearthly ore that powers Wakanda. As Black Panther consulted with Wakanda's mystics, the Vodu-Khan, Khonshu used the green ore to recruit an army and start an all-out war with Wakanda.

Meanwhile, Killmonger and Wind-Rider embarked on a quest of their own to find the Sorcerer Supreme, Inan, and recruit her to their cause. Once freed from a H.A.N.D. prison, the Sorcerer Supreme ruthlessly tore through the Maker's soldiers and agreed to use her mystical knowledge to battle Khonshu and Ra.

ULTIMATE X-MEN: ONE YEAR IN

While a few mutant leaders sit on the Maker’s Council, they work to repress and control this super-powered community. However, a new generation of mutants emerged in parts of the Hi No Kuni territory, formerly known as Japan.

After discovering her armor-generating abilities in ULTIMATE X-MEN (2024) #1 by Peach Momoko, Armor (Hisako Ichiki) was haunted by the dark psychic energy of the Shadow King (Shinobu Kageyama) and several deaths at her old school. 

However, Hisako fought back against the obsessed telepath alongside the weather-controlling Maystorm (Mei Igarashi) and the psychic Nico Minoru. The electricity-controlling Surge (Noriko Ashida) recorded a fight between Armor and another mutant, which went viral when she uploaded it online.

As anti-mutant sentiment began rising, Nico told her friends they were mutants. The girls teamed up to form the Secret Society X-Men, investigating the Children of the Atom. With the backing of the Maker's Council, this mutant-worshipping cult tried to create artificial mutants using the blood of mutants like the Shadow King and Akihiro.

As the X-Men and their friends began investigating the cult, Psylocke (Kanon Sainouchi) found the body of one of the experiments' victims and posted about it online. As they uncovered the Children of the Atom’s secrets, the X-Men grew closer with other young mutants, rallying a new generation of hope for mutantkind.

Nick Fury, the director of H.A.N.D., now stands before the Maker’s Council. What secrets will be revealed? Find out in ULTIMATE UNIVERSE: ONE YEAR IN #1, available now.

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