Marvel "Ultimate" Universe.....
 

I've been away from comics for 6-7 years (and to be fair I wasn't a big Marvel reader anyway), so can someone give me the (brief if possible!!) basics of the "Ultimate" universe??
Is it supposed to be all-new, or some sort of alternate universe? Do characters have the same backgrounds/origins etc; ?

basically the ultimate universe is marvel "reimagining" some of their core characters for a modern audience. basically the same characters but with a few new twists added into the mix.

Isn't Beast gay in this version? Seems like I read that somewhere.

Gay Beast was in New X-Men (Marvel Universe Proper), but it turned out to be something he said to get back at an old girlfriend.

OK, I just read The Ultimates 1-3 and really enjoyed it (and intend to read the rest). Do I need to go back and read Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men from the start? For example, there was some sort of fight between Spidey & the Hulk when Bruce Banner met Nick Fury for lunch.

I think maybe Colossus is gay in Ultimate X-Men.

Marvel's Ultimate line is essentially an "Earth-2" for the Marvel Universe.

The word from some industry insiders is that the Ultimate universe was created for one reason only - film royalties.

There has been a series of lawsuits by the original creators of characters, looking for more money off of what they created.

Marvel's idea was to create the Ultimate universe. Let's say that for some reason Stan Lee wanted a bigger piece of the pie for the Spider-Man movie. Marven can say "Hey, it's not based on Stan Lee's Spider-Man, it's based on Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis."

So, what are the essential "Ultimate" reads???

I would definitely check out The Ultimates, the best ultimate universe title. That's about the only one I would say is "essential", but Ultimate Spiderman and X-Men are also good, as long as you don't mind a complete rehash of all the old storylines.

I myself can't wait until December to check out Ultimate Fantastic Four which is being written by both Brian Bendis and Mark Millar.

I read the 1-3 collection of The Ultimates, and was very impressed. I'm going to pick up the trade paperback and carry on! By the way, does the TPB also include issues 1-3, it's a little unclear from the one I read.

I'm going to pick up Ultimate Fantastic Four as well, although it's not a title I've really read much before I've always loved the "idea" of it.

As for Ultimate Spider-Man, does it include somewhere the fight between the Hulk and Spider-Man in Manhattan that's mentioned in The Ultimates?

And what's Ultimate Six??

The Hulk Vs. Spider-man is in Ultimate Spider-man Team-up (title?). It's on the 1st TPB.

I really hate The Ultimates. Especially Thor.

Ultimate Spider-Man, however, is a work of pure genius.

i would reccommend all of the ultimate spider man hardcovers. it is a very well done series. the ult. xmen hc's are good too.

I haven't read a Spider-Man comic in almost 20 years. Picked up the Ultimate Spider-man graphic novel and was blown away! Got them all now. The way they modernized Spider-man was incredible!

Better than Spider-Man 2099?

If you are going to get into the Ultimate Universe, I would read more than the Ultimates. They are far from a monthly schedule on that title, so it is a pretty long wait in between issues. The Ultimate War trade features the Ultimates as well as the X-Men if you need some more Ultimates.

Hmmmm, hardcovers? Do they have anything not found in the regular trades?

i think that they have some scripts, a few concept sketches, emails between creators, etc. however, i am not sure what is in the TPB as i haven't looked at those.