Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand (Bendis/Bagley)

[Ice]

Or: How Galactus doesn't look to be coming back to 616.

From Marvel's Ultimate Comics Panel at SDCC:


Loew then exclusively announced: “Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand,” from Bendis and Mark Bagley, a Galactus-centric story where the heroes of the Ultimate Universe not only will discover there’s a Marvel Universe but realize they can’t send Galactus back there as if they do he will just destroy that world.

"He's going to earth and eating it, Bendis said with a laugh. "It breaks open the barrier of the Universe to the Marvel Universe."

 

[Captain Canuck]

Ugh...

 

[Ice]

According to teases by the panel, this could end the Ultimate Universe...

 

[Bass]

What a failure the ultimate universe turned out to be. How sad.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

It wasn't a failure, it brought us all together.

 

[DIrishB]

It wasn't a failure, it brought us all together.

That could be viewed as a failure.

 

[ProjectX2]

My Ultimate Universe ended with Ultimates 2.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

That could be viewed as a failure.

Whore

 

[Captain Canuck]

Seriously, why do they have to destroy the ultimate universe??? Just cancel all the books besides Ultimate Spider-Man.

Why is that difficult?

 

[wyokid]

I said it during the liveblog and I'll say it here. This doesn't sound like the end to me, this sounds like a new beginning.

 

[Zombipanda]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The Ultimate Universe should have been a limited run imprint (say ten years), with a middle and end roughly sketched out from the start. They had a bunch of interesting ideas in place, regarding the real world implications of superheroes as the 21st century's WMD's and the implications the ensuing arms race would have on the world. Unfortunately, those were mostly pushed to the side as the books lost their perspective and spun out of focus.

Hell, I'd be happy to see that limited run then a reboot model applied to the mainstream DC and Marvel universes.

 

[E]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The Ultimate Universe should have been a limited run imprint (say ten years), with a middle and end roughly sketched out from the start. They had a bunch of interesting ideas in place, regarding the real world implications of superheroes as the 21st century's WMD's and the implications the ensuing arms race would have on the world. Unfortunately, those were mostly pushed to the side as the books lost their perspective and spun out of focus.

Hell, I'd be happy to see that limited run then a reboot model applied to the mainstream DC and Marvel universes.

Agreed.

I was always disappointed - even when the books were good - that the universe wasn't tighter so those real-world implications actually were "real world". I seem to remember some disagreements around here about whether the Ultimate line was supposed to be more "real world" but I always thought it clearly was. At least at first.

I think things started to turn a little too 616 when they started bringing in 3rd and 4th tier writers on Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men. The cosmic stuff that was going on in UFF was bad; getting away from that real-world realism (even in dealing with events and characters like Ultimate Galactus and the Chitauri) hastened the lower quality of the books as a whole. And of course it all came to a head with Ultimatum. But the downward spiral started much earlier than that.

Galactus staying in the UU is, of course, a ridiculous notion. Why even bother suggesting or hinting at that? Stop trying to shock readers with dumb ideas that we know will either never happen or be overturned. Just tell good stories.

I really wish this would all get over with. I don't like that this line exists. It's bad and it makes comics look bad.

 

[Zeek]

I said it during the liveblog and I'll say it here. This doesn't sound like the end to me, this sounds like a new beginning.

Yeah, but how many "new beginnings" is this line going to have? It's had two already, and neither has stuck, with the only reliably consistent book being Spidey. I seriously doubt that the third rebirth will be the charm.

I'm with Cap. Kill everything but Spidey. Just get it done with.

 

[Ice]

SDCC: WILL BENDIS & BAGLEY'S "CATACLYSM" END THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE?

Editor Mark Paniccia spoke with CBR about the possibility that the just-announced "Ultimate Cataclysm" will serve as an end to the Ultimate U at the hands of originators Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley.

 

[Captain Canuck]

It's happening. I hate stupid crap like this.

 

[Zombipanda]

It's happening. I hate stupid crap like this.

I'm all for bringing Miles into the main universe as long as they really put support behind it and make him THE Spider-Man rather than just some secondary character in a team book. I've had the impression for a while now that Superior Spider-Man was getting Pete out of the picture to replace him with Miles and while the way they seem to be going about it is a convoluted mess, I'd love a book about Miles as Spidey with a retired Pete in a mentorship role.

Besides, it's past time they retired the UU. When it stopped being the "accessible Marvel universe", the UU had potential to become the Wildstorm imprint of Marvel, but they seem to have fumbled the ball with that.

 

[Ice]

I don't want his USM supporting cast to go anywhere without him.

 

[ProjectX2]

They should sacrifice Ganke to Galactus.

 

[E]

It's happening. I hate stupid crap like this.

Yeah, I hate stupid crap like this but I can't decide how I feel about this. On one hand, I'd rather have Miles around in the MU than stuck in a stinking stagnant UU, but on the other hand his supporting cast is so vital to how good the book is and I wonder how they could bring the whole thing over to the MU decently, so either they do it and I expect it will suck, or they don't and it will suck because of that.

This smells more like Marvel just throwing poop on the wall and seeing what sticks.

 

[E]

By the way, Bendis posted this on his Tumblr:

is it really necessary to end the ultimate universe?
- maliciousmike

Please allow me to not comment on unsubstantiated rumors and let us tell our story. and please believe me when I tell you that I have been working on the ultimate universe for 14 years. as important as it is to some of you it is doubly doubly doubly important to me. if not more so. and I promise you that I will not let you down and I will tell the story worth telling.

can you imagine if there were someone at your job who just decided it was their job to spoil everything that you do? and if they can't spoil it they just make something up?

that is what it's like to try to tell a decent story for this generation of mainstream comic book creators. see, if we deny the rumor, we give them hits, which is all they want, and if we don't deny it, we make it true and give them hits. which is all they want.

so no matter what I do, I lose. and no matter what I do they win.

i just want to tell a ****ing story without this barnacle on my ass. and, yes, i know, just mentioning them causes them to start masturbating. I know I'm not helping myself but i just want to be clear where i stand with this.

what's funny to me is that no matter how many times these stupid websites are wrong, and they are wrong about half the time, people still believe what they read. and I'm not just talking about rich's website.