Speculation
One of the things I love about the Ultimates is the speculation that follows every issue. I've read #11 at least 10 times now, and every issue before that probably more (due to the delays, etc.).
My own thoughts on what will happen next:
I think Hank Pym will try to play the good guy, turning the Ultrons against the Liberators expecting to be welcomed back to the Ultimates with open arms. I expect the opposite reaction from them, but I don't expect Cap to just "biatchslap" him (as someone said) and then Hank commits suicide. On the other hand, I expect him to get beat down by Cap or Fury or whoever... then arrested for treason. He did, after all, conspire with the enemy. Just letting him go off and commit suicide or drown his sorrows in a bottle, that doesn't seem likely. If that's the case, he will probably be the newest prisoner in the Triskelion's prison block. I do enjoy the possibility of the Ultron(s) going rogue at some point in time, however. An Avengers-based book wouldn't be complete without Ultron.
Scenario two for Hank Pym is that he turns on the Liberators, but is killed by one of them because of it. Either way, I don't expect a happy ending for Hank.
I'm not sure what to think about Iron Man, but the pod for Iron Man 6 was huge, so it's definitely going to be "big". I doubt he'd keep a "Quinjet" docked on a satellite, but I could be wrong. What I would personally love to see there is a huge mech-style Iron Man. Iron Optimus Prime, perhaps, but without the "transformer" schtick. Just a huge Iron Man that will bring down god's wrath on Crimson Dynamo and his War of the Worlds-style minions. Call it War Machine if you want to.
Then again, Iron Man 6 could be, as someone has predicted already, something based on Chitauri or Kree/other alien tech. During Ultimate Extinction, he did show a desire to reverse engineer Kree technology.
Hawkeye is on a mission of revenge. It doesn't really matter who gets messed up in his wrath, only that his wrath is carried out. I like Ultimate Hawkeye on a level that I never liked 616 Hawkeye. He is to the Ultimates what Bruce Willis was to Die Hard. No super soldier, no fancy technology, mutant magic or scientific genius. Just a gritty bad-*** who gets the job done in the clutch.
The Union apparently has some kind of back-up plan, but that's a gray area for me. I have no clue what they have up their sleeves... but knowing as much of the Captain Britain backstory as I do... I will say that I hope it has nothing to do with Ultimate Merlin. That would just suck. I doubt they had anything to do with the Hulk showing up again. I think the Hulk is perfectly capable of showing up on his own. Banner is a genius and if he could get around Europe and the Eastern hemisphere without setting off too many SHIELD alarms before Fury got wise and sent Logan after him, I'm pretty sure he could find a way to get back to the US without raising any eyebrows.
As for the Hulk, I love seeing him back and with Banner "in control of his inner sociopath". I don't expect that to last for long, as it never lasted too long in 616 continuity. Hulk should always be a back and forth character. Banner gets control only for so long until the real HULK goes on his rampages. That's the beauty of the character. Nonetheless, he will be somewhat of a deux ex machina, though I doubt as much as he was against the Chitauri.
Thor's going to kick so much *** it won't even be funny. I believe that Gunnar/Loki's story from earlier in the series about the vest/belt and hammer being technology was true, but it wasn't Thor/lief who stole it. It was Loki, who in turn, handed it over to the man who would become Perun. Thor's stuff is his own, given to him by birthright and his father Odin. I can envision him using his actual powers (as opposed to Perun's acquired powers) to fry out Perun's gear and then give him a proper Asgardian beatdown. I've been a huge fan of Ultimate Thor since day one, he's just an excellent character. Can't wait to see him open up a can.
Cap vs. "The Colonel W", whatever the "W" stands for (a poster on millarworld suggested "Wali", which apparently means "Protector" in Arabic... others are salivating at the possibility that he's Ultimate Wonder Man, but I don't see that scenario being realized in this instance!). That's just going to be some icing on the cake. Wether or not this Colonel turns out to be the Red Skull in the future, I'm sure he won't be taking a permanent leave after Cap handles him. Every character needs an arch enemy, and this will probably be Cap's for a long time to come... it's inevitable that Ultimate Cap will get his own series eventually, so he's going to need as many baddies as possible to face in those pages.
The good guys are going to win, the gist of the last 2 issues will be the Ultimates with a few panels dedicated to the supporting cast (UXM, UFF, USM, et al) but I really don't think any Triskelion prisoners or other villains will be showing up to save the day or otherwise. That would just create too much of a morass which is not a good idea when you're trying to close out a story arc.
But the one prediction I'll make and stick by is that #12 and #13 are going to be two of the very best issues out of the entire v.1 and v.2 series'.
5/5. Naysayers be damned.
