Ultimate Invasion wraps up with the fourth issue of the miniseries by Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch. Does this new take on the Ultimate Marvel Universe feel like a bunch of set-up, or is there more there?
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
Powered by RedCircle
Ultimate Invasion #4 Review:
In the final issue of Ultimate Invasion, we find out the new status quo of Marvel’s rebooted Ultimate Universe, which is… Complicated, to say the least. The short version is that The Maker (the evil Ultimate Reed Richards) has been trapped for two years, and in the meantime, a bunch of characters are planning on splitting up the United States. On the opposing side? Tony Stark, who goes by Iron Lad, Doctor Doom (who is another Reed Richards), and in the stinger, an about-to-be-unfrozen Captain America.
Host Alex Zalben commented on the series as a whole, saying, “We’ve talked quite a bit here, about not being 100% sure what the direction of this book [was]… At the end of four issues, this feels like a very neat setup for a very different take on the Ultimate Universe.”
Justin Tyler agreed, feeling that the final issue, “landed in such a clean place.” That said, the two disagreed a bit about where the Ultimate Universe is going next, with Tyler feeling like, “We are just going to do it the way that you would expect us to do it, the way we did it the last time.” Zalben, meanwhile, called out that, “they have this ticking time bomb that they set up… It’s not like the Ultimate Universe is gonna go on forever. We know that in two years of comic book time, this all goes to ruins somehow. That’s a smart different way of setting it up.”
How The New Ultimate Universe Is Different From The MCU:
Tyler also noted that the choice to make Tony Stark into Iron Lad — and seemingly letting him eventually evolve into the villain Kang — is a purposefully different choice than Marvel is making onscreen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). “It definitely doesn’t feel like it’s at all gesturing toward the MCU with these choices,” Tyler said, “despite the fact that we’re using Kang. It feels like it’s going to be like the regular Marvel Universe, just on cocaine.”
Ultimate Invasion #4 Official Synopsis:
THE END…OR THE BEGINNING? War breaks out as timelines and universes collide! Iron Man must choose between the lesser of two evils – the Maker or Kang. But what secret does Iron Man know about the men behind the masks? And at the end of it all, the world outside your window will be forever changed! Don’t miss this giant-sized, action-packed conclusion – or is it only the beginning…?
