Popverse's top stories

• After Stranger Things: The Duffer Bros. original plans for a sequel set in the 90s
• 2026 is the year of The Apothecary Diaries and we love it
• The Stranger Things ConformityGate theory exposes fandom’s obsession with “fixing” endings some don't like after the Snyder Cut

It's bittersweet to see Marvel Comics' Ultimate Universe wind down. The new interpretation of the mainline Marvel Universe that launched in 2024 has been both a critical and commercial success for the publisher. And while the incoming end of the Ultimate Universe is a great opportunity for all of us to practice 'don't cry because it's gone, smile because it happened,' there are lingering questions left over about where the future of The Ultimates may have taken them, had Marvel not decided to pull the plug. 

Recently, Popverse spoke with The Ultimates writer Deniz Camp about the end of the Ultimate Universe, and Camp shed light on what his future plans for the book would have been. Unlike the other writers on the Ultimate line, like Ultimate Spider-Man writer Jonathan Hickman, Deniz Camp revealed that his original plans for The Ultimates weren't limited to just 24 issues.  

"I've said this before, but there was talk that I was going to continue on [past 24 issues]. I was planning on continuing on for a while, and then there was going to be like a new wave of books that launched. But there was always going to be an ending, like not that my run was gonna end, but that there was gonna be a culmination of everything that my run had been building towards at [issue #] 20- around this time - around 18 is actually when I thought it was going to be. And then I was going to continue on doing more stuff, and then we decided to end it," said Camp.

It's a huge bummer to know that there was once a possibility of a new wave of Ultimate books launching, considering that DC Comics' Absolute Universe is set to expand this year with books like Absolute Green Arrow and Absolute Catwoman. As Camp said elsewhere in the interview, there were plenty of seeds planted in his run on The Ultimates that could have spawned their own spinoffs. In particular, he said, "I would have liked to have seen an Ultimate Guardians thing, of course," because who doesn't want more of Ultimate Cosmo the Spacedog? 

Fans also latched onto the versions of Hawkeye and Luke Cage that Camp debuted in The Ultimates. Ultimate Hawkeye is Charli Ramsey, a Two-Spirit archer from the Oglala Lakota nation. And while they still rock a purple outfit like Earth-616's Hawkeyes, suffice to say that they're a very different hero than, say, Clint Barton or Kate Bishop. Charli's debut in the Ultimate Universe expanded Marvel's small pool of Native American heroes - not to mention Two-Spirit heroes, either - and it's a shame to have to say goodbye to this character so soon. 

Even so, Camp remains optimistic about the future for characters like Ultimate Hawkeye because of how fans have embraced them. Camp said, "So it is a bummer that maybe there won't be more Hawkeye or whatever. As long as they meant something to the fans and the fans will take that forward, and maybe they'll become creators one day themselves and for Marvel, or maybe they'll just draw fan comics or whatever, maybe they can take some of that and do something with those characters or those ideas, not even directly, but just kind of be inspired by them, or put themselves into it and make something new that I could never have imagined, or that no other writer could have imagined, that's uniquely them. So while, like you said, it's bittersweet that it's ending, I do think there's a really positive thing there that these characters live on forever in the imagination of the readers as long as they made an impact." 

So while the Ultimate Universe is ending at Marvel Comics, it doesn't mean that it won't continue to live on in the minds of fans. Its future lies within the realm of imagination. 

Popverse members can check out the full interview with Deniz Camp here. 

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.