You won’t have the Ultimate Universe to kick around anymore. As previously revealed at Marvel’s panel during New York Comic Con‘s Retailer Day, the publisher is ending the Ultimate Universe next April, with the conclusion of the Ultimate Endgame event. And at the Next Big Thing panel on Saturday (October 11), the publisher elaborated further about what that all means.
If you don’t understand why this is happening, particularly with a best-selling line of comics, the answer is there’s always been a two-year ticking countdown clock on the storyline crafted by writer Jonathan Hickman: when it’s done, The Maker, the evil Reed Richards returns, and the story is concluded. And now we know that Ultimate Spider-Man #24 in December, Ultimate Black Panther #24 in January, Ultimate X-Men #24 in February, and Ultimates #24 and Ultimate Wolverine #16 in April will be the final issues of those respective series.
Meanwhile, Ultimate Endgame will kick off on December 31, 2025, and run five issues, bringing the story to a close, also in April.
“It’s hard to talk about without getting emotional,” said Deniz Camp, who writes Ultimates and Ultimate Endgame via press release. “It really is the culmination of everything Jonathan began. Everything from my book and everyone else’s book are all converging. It’s gonna be definitive, it’s going to be big, it’s going to be emotional, there’s going to be death…it’s just wild.”
For anyone who is reacting with a “yeah, right” at the idea of Marvel actually ending the Ultimate Universe, considering it regularly outsells the main universe… We’re right there with you. And we won’t share where or how, but Comic Book Club has reason to think this is not quite the end of the Ultimate Universe; at least not the way Marvel is framing it.
However, the reasoning they present is actually good: the goal is to have a complete story that will live on in trades, in perpetuity.
“You’ll be able to take this journey—the beginning, middle, and end—and digest it for years to come and pass it on to others,” Head of Marvel Comics and Franchise Dan Buckley added.
Given Marvel has often struggled with their bookstore game, this is, to editorialize, a good idea.
That said, the story isn’t over in the main Marvel Universe… In Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #5, Miles Morales will bring “Origin Boxes” back to the main universe, which will give powers and abilities to surprising characters throughout the 616, in 2026.
You can check out covers and solicit info for the final Ultimate Universe titles, below.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #24 – 75960620796102411
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art and Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO
On Sale 12/24
ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #24
Written by BRYAN HILL
Art and Cover by STEFANO CASELLI
On Sale 1/21
ULTIMATE X-MEN #24
Written by PEACH MOMOKO
Art and Cover by PEACH MOMOKO
On Sale 2/11
ULTIMATES #24
Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art by JUAN FRIGERI
Cover by DIKE RUAN
On Sale April 2026
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #16
Written by CHRIS CONDON
Art and Cover by ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO
On Sale April 2026
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