For the second time, Marvel’s Ultimate Universe will come to an end.
During Marvel’s Next Big Thing Panel at NYCC, Head of Marvel Comics and Franchise Dan Buckley, Editor in Chief C.B. Cebulski, Senior Editor Wil Moss, The Ultimates writer Deniz Camp and Ultimate Wolverine writer Chris Condon confirmed that the finite story, as it was conceived by story architect Jonathan Hickman, would wrap up in 2026.
“It’s hard to talk about without getting emotional,” said Camp. “It really is the culmination of everything Jonathan began. Everything from my book and everyone else’s book are all converging. It’s gonna be definitive, it’s going to be big, it’s going to be emotional, there’s going to be death…it’s just wild.”
Marvel previously announced this past summer that December’s Ultimate Spider-Man #24 would be the final issue of that title, and have confirmed that Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates will all end with their 24th issues. Ultimate Wolverine will end with issue #16. The showdown with the Maker will conclude with the previously announced Ultimate Endgame, the five-issue miniseries that kicks off in December and concludes in April.
It was about two years ago that fans were introduced to the Ultimate Universe, starting with different takes on Spider-Man, Black Panther and the X-Men. They lived in a world where the Maker — the Mister Fantastic from the original Ultimate Marvel universe, who survived his reality’s destruction — used time travel to keep certain heroes from experiencing their secret origins, altering history in his favor. Writer Jonathan Hickman served as architect for the project and wrote the kick-off miniseries, Ultimate Invasion, which ended with the Maker trapped for 24 months, giving Earth’s heroes the chance to rebuild before his return, as they fought his clandestine council who secretly ruled the world, made up of familiar characters like The Kingpin, Magik and the Hulk.
“You’ll be able to take this journey—the beginning, middle, and end—and digest it for years to come and pass it on to others,” Buckley said at the panel.