The Ultimate Universe

With Marvel's Ultimate Universe event, Ultimatum, over half finished, many fans are wondering what the aftermath will be like. It's been previously announced that there will be three books in the post-Ultimatum lineup. The first is the New Ultimates, written by Jeph Loeb with art by Frank Cho. The second title Ultimate Avengers, written by Mark Millar; and the third is volume 2 of Ultimate Spider-Man, still by Brian Michael Bendis.

The interesting concept here is that there are three writer's with three different writing styles, and it will be interesting to see the outcome of how the three of them manage an entire universe.

Loeb has been heavily criticized in the past couple of years for his static, one-note characterization of characters and the flashy melodrama of his stories. His books of late, especially Ultimates Vol. 3 and Ultimatum, are filled with characters who are exaggerations of themselves and are constantly pushing shock value that often feels inorganic and contrived.

Millar, while known for similiar shock value and absurdity, is arguably much better at the execution of such ideas. He has the ability to make an absurd situation feel much more organic in the context of the story and the universe. He also has a much better sense than Loeb of how to balance the crazy situations with the already defined characters he is placing in those situations.

Bendis is really the odd-man-out in this situation. It seems the only reason why USM is still sticking around on shelves after the relaunch is because of the book's high sales and popularity. The problem here is how Bendis' tone on the book is going to fit with the darker and more adult-oriented tones of Millar and Loeb. USM has always been a more lighthearted and amusing book, and it will be interesting to see if the new volume of the book brings a change in tone to fit the new status quo, or if we'll just see a light-hearted and amusing Spider-Man's reaction to such a dark and different world.

At this point there is no telling how things might change, but it's safe to guess we'll see some hints in upcoming issues of Ultimate Spider-Man and the rest of the Ultimatum event mini-series.