Ultimate Invasion Is Changing The Marvel Universe - Here's What To Expect

Contains spoilers for "Ultimate Invasion" #1 by Marvel Comics

The Ultimate Universe might be a remnant of the past in the Marvel Universe, but The Maker (Reed Richards of Earth-1610) is doing everything he can to ensure a new version of the alternate Marvel world is brought back.

In "Ultimate Invasion" #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, and Alex Sinclair, The Maker gets a one-up on the heroes in the Marvel Universe and begins assembling the technology needed to recreate the Ultimate Universe. However, The Maker has bigger goals in mind than just bringing his old world back. Instead, he is trying to bring the Ultimate Universe back to a world that he can rule all for himself — and is eliminating heroes by going back in time and interfering with their origins to prevent them from ever rising and gaining powers to stop his evil machinations. 

But is the Ultimate Universe actually returning to the Marvel Universe due to the Maker's actions? The answer is complicated.

The Ultimate Universe was created in the 2000s, with the reality serving as an alternate timeline where recognizable heroes and villains were reimagined. The universe allowed writers and artists to tackle iconic characters and make significant changes to their past, present, and future without worrying about the strains of continuity. For readers, they had the chance to jump into a comic and not worry about the decades of previous stories that shaped the current arcs. 

The Ultimate Universe featured the introduction of "Ultimate Spider-Man" by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, allowing them to start fresh with Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Meanwhile, the Avengers became the Ultimates, with bold new redesigns and origin changes to its most iconic members, including transforming Hulk into an even more untethered, cannibalistic rage monster. The Ultimate Universe inspired the Marvel Cinematic Universe in several major ways, including basing Nick Fury's new appearance on Samuel L. Jackson's and the importance of S.H.I.E.L.D. in forming the Avengers.

Despite the Ultimate Universe's early success, the wheels eventually fell off. The characters eventually became edgy caricatures of their usual selves, with the "Ultimatum" crossover being the final nail in the coffin of the original world. Marvel would relaunch the new version of the Ultimate Universe, introducing Miles Morales' Spider-Man and transforming Reed Richards into his villainous persona as The Maker. But, following the events of "Secret Wars," the Ultimate Universe would be destroyed with incursions leading to the world's death, and its only two survivors are Morales and the twisted version of Mister Fantastic. 

Now, The Maker is out for revenge and attempting to bring back his world with a twist.

The quest to reconstruct to Ultimate Universe began in this week's "Ultimate Invasion" #1. The first issue of the four-issue miniseries shows The Maker breaking out of stasis and imprisonment and stealing technology from the likes of Wakanda, the Atlanteans, The X-Men, and the Inhumans to build a device capable of taking him to a new world. The Illuminati meet to figure out how to stop The Maker but are too late in stopping him, with the villain getting everything he needs to jump universes. After offering Miles Morales the opportunity to join him in a world reminiscent of their home reality, The Maker takes a solo trip through time, ending up on Earth-6160.

While the Illuminati promises to try to take him out, The Maker's arrival in a new world sees him interfere with a young Peter Parker getting bitten by a radioactive spider. Instead, Reed Richards prevents Parker from ever becoming a hero in the world, putting the spider in a test tube before it latches onto him. The scene hints at The Maker's plan to recreate a new Ultimate Universe. 

The evil Reed doesn't want to bring back the heroes of the old Ultimate Universe but wants to make a new world where they never came to be. The Maker will continue to travel across Earth-6160 and through time itself to stop even more heroes' origins from happening, with his end goal to be the last powered force in a reality that he can rule.

The Maker's attempts to create a new Ultimate Universe will have catastrophic results for the Multiverse. Earlier this month, Marvel Comics revealed Johnathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli's "Ultimate Universe" will spin directly out of the events of "Ultimate Invasion," with the Maker's actions leading to significant problems in multiple timelines, causing universes to collide, which lays the groundwork of the Ultimate Universe's return. Hickman told Marvel.com the new "Ultimate Universe" will echo its former stories and be a reflection of the present day, updating characters and settings to reflect the real world.

"What made the Ultimate Universe originally really interesting was that it was a reflection of the world outside your window, in the moment that you were living in. What does it look like in the world we're living in now?" Hickman said. "It's kind of shocking how much the world has changed in that period of time. The idea of what it would be like to see the genesis of Super Heroes in a brand new world is a really fascinating exercise."

The Maker's mission appears to succeed initially, as his actions will lead to the Ultimate Universe returning. However, his attempts to recreate the timeline and strip heroes of their powers before that happens will result in devastating loss across the Multiverse. From the ashes of whatever happens throughout future issues of "Ultimate Invasion," a new Ultimate Universe will be born. 

"Ultimate Invasion" #1 by Marvel Comics is now in comic book stores and online retailers. "Ultimate Universe" #1 releases following the conclusion of the four-issue miniseries, with the new Ultimate Universe arriving in November.