Ultimate Universe #1

History

The project grew out of a creative hand-off: writer Donny Cates had originally planned a story involving the Maker following his own Venom run, but a serious car accident left Cates unable to proceed, and Jonathan Hickman was brought in to take the concept in an entirely new direction. Hickman had deep history with both the Maker character (from his original Ultimate Comics run) and with universe-ending narratives (having written Secret Wars, which destroyed Earth-1610), and he used the preceding Ultimate Invasion miniseries to architect Earth-6160 before this one-shot handed the ongoing line to other writers. Ultimate Universe #1 was written by Hickman with art by Stefano Caselli — who also drew the early issues of Ultimate Black Panther — and edited by Wil Moss and Michelle Marchese, with executive editor Tom Brevoort overseeing the line's launch.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Stefano Caselli; edited by Wil Moss and Michelle Marchese; published by Marvel Comics with a cover date of January 2024.
• First appearances (Earth-6160) of Iron Lad (Tony Stark), Doctor Doom (Reed Richards), Thor Odinson, and Lady Sif as the nascent hero team that would become the Ultimates.
• First appearances (Earth-6160) of the Maker's Council antagonists: Emmanuel Da Costa, Viper (Aida), Magik (Illyana Rasputina), Lord Khonshu, Henri Dugarry (Captain Britain), and the Hulk (Bruce Banner) — the shadow government controlling the world's seven incorporated nation-states.
• The story is set two weeks after the conclusion of Ultimate Invasion, with the Maker imprisoned inside 'The City'; Doom and Iron Lad free Thor from his Asgardian prison and recruit Lady Sif, who joins as Thor's warden-turned-ally.
• Black Panther (T'Challa), Captain America (Steve Rogers), and Hisako Ichiki appear in supporting/cameo capacity, seeding their roles in the concurrent ongoing series (Ultimate Black Panther, The Ultimates, and Ultimate X-Men respectively).
• The issue establishes Earth-6160's core premise: the Maker used the Immortus Engine to prevent or alter the origins of most heroes, leaving Iron Lad, Doom, Thor, and Sif as the only active resistance at the story's start.
• The Hulk (Bruce Banner) on Earth-6160 is depicted as the leader of a martial-arts cult called the Children of Eternal Light, controlling much of Asia — a radical reimagining that fuses the Hulk with Iron Fist-style mythology.
• Collected in Ultimates by Deniz Camp Vol. 1: Fix the World alongside Ultimates (2024) #1–6 and the Free Comic Book Day 2024 tie-in issue.

Cast · 17 characters

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Variants (7)