Ultimate Spider-Man is Incredible, But News About the Book's Original Author Has Us Wondering What Might Have Been

Acclaimed writer Jonathan Hickman reveals who was originally supposed to helm Marvel's new Ultimate Universe.

Per Bleeding Cool, Hickman confirmed an earlier report that the current iteration of Marvel Comics' Ultimate line was originally intended to be written and mapped out by fellow fan-favorite scribe Donny Cates. "I was not supposed to do that book," Hickman said, before explaining that "Donny was going to do that book, and he had been kinda working on it in the background over the years, and he had some stuff go on, they asked me to come in and help, and then take over, and obviously I took it in a different direction."

Hickman went on to explain how he is helming the Ultimate Universe, as well as Marvel's upcoming Imperial event, the latter of which will serve as a starting point for a whole new generation of interstellar titles to come. "A big thing I do for the company right now is, I try and give them a big tree to hang some branches off. So the Ultimate Universe works that way, this Imperial thing is going to work that way when we're done with it, three or four writers can come in and pick up a book that's already moving forward, it doesn't have to start from an origin point... So we've been doing those kind of projects, as opposed to me sitting down and doing something like House Of X... where I'm coming in to tell a really big story, that is for the most part self-contained and kinda evergreen, and taking really really wild big swings. That's the difference."

Marvel's latest Ultimate Universe was introduced in the pages of 2023's Ultimate Invasion #1 by Hickman, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, and Alex Sinclair. Once a universe not all that unlike the primary reality of Earth-616, this new Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) was discovered by the villainous variant of Reed Richards known as the Maker. Using his advanced knowledge of historical events and the lives of various heroes and villains, the Maker effectively remade the world in his own image, establishing global regimes he could command and preemptively eliminating those who would otherwise stand opposed to him. After finally being confronted for his crimes, the Maker was sealed away long enough for a young Tony Stark to begin setting things right wherever he could.

Currently, the Ultimate Universe is on a direct collision course with one of the greatest heroes of the original Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) - Miles Morales. This is set to take place in the upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #1, which will kick off a five-issue limited series from writers Deniz Camp and Cody Ziglar and artist Jonas Scharf. The series will follow up on previously laid plot threads, specifically those which saw the Maker gift Miles his very own path to Earth-6160 in case he decides he wants to reconnect with his fellow survivor from the original Ultimate Universe. The events of Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion will also mark the first time that all five ongoing Ultimate titles, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate X-Men, The Ultimates, and Ultimate Wolverine, have crossed over with one another.

Source: Bleeding Cool