The Ultimate Universe: A Rebirth and a Reckoning

The Rise and Fall of Ultimate Comics

With the relaunch of the Ultimate Universe comes a new Earth, but what happened to the world of the original comics, Earth-1610? Marvel's popular Ultimate Universe is back, but how does that reconcile with the multiple times Earth-1610 has been destroyed? Ultimate Comics are back in a big way. Ultimate Spider-Man #1 has kicked off the universe in earnest, following in the footsteps of the original Ultimate Universe. This alternate timeline telling of Marvel characters has long been popular with fans. A lot of that is thanks to the creative liberties the titles have long taken, resulting in darker, edgier, and sometimes downright nasty takes on popular Marvel Comics characters. With the reborn Ultimate Comics, though, the titles have something of a confusing narrative. Marvel did this once before, so what happened to the previous Ultimate Universe?

Ultimate Spider-Man cast

Ultimate Comics made its debut in 2000's Ultimate Spider-Man #1. The imprint would go on to be the home to the Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates. Marvel Comics Ultimate Spider-Man was the flagship Ultimate title, setting the tone for the entire line. At the time, Marvel was having trouble with its decades of backstory. Titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, and The Avengers had been running since the 1960s. All that history was hard for readers to keep up with, and made keeping the characters fresh and relevant difficult, even with the sliding timescale. Ultimate Comics was designed to be a fresh new universe that fans could easily pick up and read. Set on Earth-1610, the Ultimate Universe was a new timeline with updated origins and new takes on popular characters, all without decades of stories to worry about. The Ultimate titles were wildly successful for years, but eventually found themselves also burdened with years of continuity.

Ultimate Unvierse Spider-Men II

What happened to the original Earth-1610? Earth-1610 is destroyed during the Incursion Event that took place in Secret Wars #1. When the universe was recreated, several characters from Earth-1610, such as Miles Morales, migrated their lives to the new Earth-616. Meanwhile, Earth-1610's evil Reed Richards, The Maker, would have a slice of himself placed into every universe. The Ultimate Universe was somehow reborn in Spider-Men II, but was eventually destroyed under mysterious circumstances. Following the events of 2017's Spider-Men II, the original 616 Miles Morales would venture into the Multiverse to find an alternate-world version of his dead wife, Barbara. That world would be revealed to be a reborn Earth-1610, where several heroes, like Ultimate Spider-Man and the Ultimate Fantastic Four, existed in their prime. Years later, during the King in Black event, The Maker would use a surviving Earth-1610 Venom symbiote to travel the multiverse in an effort to get home. However, he arrived to find Earth-1610's heroes missing and the world in ruins.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 key art

Is the new Ultimate Universe also Earth-1610? The new Ultimate Comics do not take place on Earth-1610. Following Ultimate Invasion, The Maker set up a new home in a new universe, Earth-6160. On Earth-6160, The Maker used a time machine to manipulate history to his benefit. He stole the catalysts that led to the creation of many heroes and teams that could have opposed his goals for conquest. After Howard Stark trapped The Maker in a time loop, though, Tony Stark set about restoring those powers. The first on the list was none other than Spider-Man, who has kicked off the new Ultimate Universe in spectacular fashion.