Marvel Comics Teases Ultimate Universe Coming To An End In April 2026 – And Hopefully It Stays That Way
With The Maker’s upcoming emergence from his two-year forced exile within the walls of his time-dilating The City laboratory, it appears that Marvel Comics current iteration of the Ultimate Universe, from Ultimate Spider-Man to Ultimate X-Men, will, in some way, shape, or form, be coming to an end – and for the sake of its current storytelling legacy, one can only hope that it’s a definitive one.
Sealed away at the end of September 2023’s Ultimate Invasion Vol. 1 #4 and set to finally emerge this December to kick off the five-part Ultimate Endgame Vol. 1, was initially speculated by fans to be not a ‘true end’ to Earth-1610, but rather a conclusion to its first overarching storyline, with its various series continuing and being added to as normal following the upcoming event.
However, as spotted by Bleeding Cool’s Rich while attending the 2025 New York Comic Con’s Retailer Day exhibition, Marvel Comics is now outright advertising, stylized graphic and all, that “The Ultimate Universe Comes To An End” in April 2026 – which just so happens to coincide with the assumed release date of Ultimate Endgame Vol. 1‘s final issue.
Admittedly, that the Ultimate Universe’s second-go round (or third if you count the collapsing Earth-1610 visited by The Maker in Venom Vol. 4 #26, itself intended to be the ‘second chance’ inflection point for Earth-6160 by original Ultimate reboot author Donny Cates but was ultimately abandoned after Jonathan Hickman took over for him following his infamous car accident) is ‘coming to an end’ means very little in the realm of comic books, as it could mean anything from the line actually being brought to a close, to a line-wide reboot, to a simple shuffling of featured heroes.
Hell, it could even mean the new Earth-6160 will be folded into the original Earth-1610 universe, leading to a new ‘unified Ultimate’ line. The possibilities, at this point, are endless.
To make matters even more ambiguous, its Ultimate Endgame‘s creative team has been exceptionally tight-lipped regarding its plot details, with writer Deniz Camp simply noting that “I know there have been and will be a million comic book crossovers, and it can be hard to get excited for them. But this one is different.”
“Not only is it the culmination of years of stories, it’s genuinely radical in its consequence. The Ultimate Universe will not be the same. It’s incredible what Marvel is letting us do, in fact what they are encouraging us to do. Anyway, more later, but it’s going to be beautiful and bold and I feel very privileged that I get to do this.”
However, no matter the exact mechanics of the Ultimate Universe’s forthcoming end, there is something to be said for it to be definitive in its execution
In other words, no matter the outcome of Ultimate Endgame, the best possible outcome is the complete closure of its opening two-year arc, no ifs, ands, or buts.
That’s not to say the line’s current output is bad; far from it.
In fact, an argument can be made right now that while its quality may range, with Ultimate Black Panther‘s ‘MCU Black Panther-lite’ storyline falling on the lower end, Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimates on the upper, and Ultimate X-Men, incredible as it may be, leaving fans divided over author and artist Peach Momoko’s more Japanese-style storytelling, the Ultimate Universe is delivering the adrenaline shot to the heart that some of these franchises needed, especially in terms of capturing the interest of non-comic book aficionados.
However, an even stronger argument can be made that it would be an absolute disservice to everyone involved in its execution to let the line’s success, itself only possible by way of their collective and respective creative directions, have its legacy brought down by any possible attempt by Marvel Comics to ‘cash in’ on its reputation.
And it’s not like comic books, of all mediums, are a stranger to such sales tricks; well-known examples include the Grant Morrison’s acclaimed DC series Multiversity having its branding slapped on the Tumblr-targeted Multiversity: Teen Justice Vol. 1 and the Hot Topic-oriented Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU Vol. 1, DC’s 2012 Before Watchmen attempt to expand on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original mythos, and Marvel’s recent Giant Size series of one-shots, its premise based on Kamala Khan being thrown into a number of historical X-Men events including the Dark Phoenix Saga, House of M, and the Age of Apocalypse.
As such, if Marvel Comics plans to continue the Ultimate Universe past its upcoming showdown with The Maker, readers can only hope its in the form of Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 4 and Ultimate X-Men Vol. 3, thus defining the original storyline as its own effort, both able to stand on its own and be read as part of a potentially larger exploration of Earth-6160, and not a numbered continuation.
Set to cap off 2025 with a Maker-provided bang, Ultimate End Vol. 1 #1 hits shelves on December 31st.
