Ultimization that most surprised you

[Jake V]

Which character's Ultimate form surpised you the most in how it deviated from the MU version?

My pick is Mojo, what with the legs and everything.

*First thread and post!*

[pennywisdom]

I'm the second non-mod here!

And the correct answer is Doctor Doom. He was messed up.

[Will.S]

I'm the second non-mod here!

And the correct answer is Doctor Doom. He was messed up.
Yeah definitely Doom.

After him I'd put Green Goblin and Hobgoblin although Hobby wasn't so much of a surprise but more of a consistent follow-up. Vision (both herald & female Ultimates version) and Gah-Lak-Tus will soon join this list as well.

[pennywisdom]

OT: Hey, Will, happy birthday. :)

Back to the discussion....

[Will.S]

OT: Hey, Will, happy birthday. :)

Back to the discussion....
Oh crap, it's today!

Thanks penny! :D

[AllisterH]

The powerless defenders.

To go from a team consisting of Hulk, Surfer, Namor and Strange to a group of wannabes with Pym being the most powerful member?

Woah, talk about a reimagining.

[The Fury]

Throwing in Vision version 1.

First I did not expect him to even be in that comic. And then I didn't expect him to be a huge giant robot from space either.

[atoningunifex]

I don't know that I've been "surprised" at an Ultimization.

I was pleased at Warren Ellis' take on Doom and Sue Storm tho.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Ben Reily (spelling?)

[Grimm]

Being surprised at an Ultimisation. Not so much.

Disappointed by one, sure. Ultimate Doom is an obvious answer.

I really like the Ultimate Mad Thinker though. She is a girl that while incredibly intelligent, did not make the cut for the Think Tank. She then cut out parts of her brain and replaced it with tech, thus boosting her intellect. She seems to be more Reed's arch enemy than Doom is right now.

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Ultimate characters that surprised me the most were Hawk-Owl and Zippy.

[Doom Hammer]

Mister Sinister was a pleasant surprise. "The Tempest" rocked on many levels.

"Stairs!"

[Adem]

I have to say its a tie between Doom and The Defenders for me.

[Expletive Deleted]

I'm going to have to agree about Sinister. I've never been fond of the MU version, and Vaughan's take on the character was a breath of fresh air.

I didn't like Ultimate Doom so much as I thought the changes were necessary. There had to be a break with MU Doom, and I thought Ellis and Immonen did an effective job of it.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

I don't like how Luke Cage (Power Man) was portrayed, but it sirprised me.

[Nightcrawler]

Sinister, followed by the Defenders.

[Karl J. Barnes]

I have to agree with Sinister and Defendeers totally against type. Though Mojo stayed in many ways the same his look was a nice change. Longshot's powers may be the same, but the innocence is truely gone and that makes him, to me, a more compelling character.

Actually, alot of ultimate versions are in many ways better or at least fresher than their MU counter-parts. I can actually say that Ultimate Hawkeye is a helluva more interesting than his MU version.

[Artemis1]

1. Green Goblin: I was in shock when they did him. Hated it(still do), but it surprised me.

2. Doom: Man, did he stink. But still, I didn't expect it at all.

3. Annihulus: WHAT DID THEY DO?!?!?! He was horrible! I couldn't believe that one of my favorite villains turned so stupid and weak.

[Siddon]

Well most comic fans are tools and would rather trash they admit surprise. I really liked Gwen I felt that she was a complicated fully developed character and I found her story line to be fresh and unpredictable.

[StoneGold]

Gwen surprised me in that it was like she and MJ had switched personalities from the original versions. MJ was closer to "the perfect girlfriend," and Gwen was the hellraiser.

Although I have to agree with whomever said Ben Reilly. From clone of Peter, to random black dude who gets killed.

Ultimate Thor was probably also the most surprising. I don't think anyone ever expected him to be a possibly crazy metahuman hippie.

[Arrjay]

Yeah definitely Doom.


I agree with Ultimate Doom. Though I have to say that I actually really like him a lot. I think he's a striking visual and the horse legs rock. Good stuff.

I also thought that the manner in which Carnage and Venom were created is also interesting and I like how it deviated so much from the original.

[Arrjay]

Although I have to agree with whomever said Ben Reilly. From clone of Peter, to random black dude who gets killed.



I agree with this and I'm pissed I forgot to mention it. By the way, don't mess with us possibly crazy meta-human hippies. We're watching you at all times.

[Arrjay]

Though Mojo stayed in many ways the same his look was a nice change. Longshot's powers may be the same, but the innocence is truly gone and that makes him, to me, a more compelling character.


See, I personally believe that the Ultimate Universe is better when the characters deviate from their original looks and behaviour that made them so popular in the original universe. I think that makes the Ultimate Universe as a whole a more original and vibrant place. I would actually like to see more characters created that don't even exist in the 616 Universe. Especially villains. Original villains please. With a side order of more original villians.

[Mike Smash!]

I'm going to go with Ultimate Thor, Captain America and Iron Man. I could never become that interested in their regular Marvel Universe counterparts, but I find the characters that appear in the Ultimates to be very compelling indeed.

[StoneGold]

I'm going to go with Ultimate Thor, Captain America and Iron Man. I could never become that interested in their regular Marvel Universe counterparts, but I find the characters that appear in the Ultimates to be very compelling indeed.
I think I said it elsewhere, but then you haven't been reading Brubaker's take on Cap in his own book. Shame on you!

[cosmicspidey]

The only take that surprised me was Longshot and Spiral reversing their good guy/bad guy roles. There have been some very different and interesting takes on characters, like Dazzler, Arcade, Mojo, Doom...but only with Longshot and Spiral was I expecting one thing and then the opposite happened.

[Mike Smash!]

I think I said it elsewhere, but then you haven't been reading Brubaker's take on Cap in his own book. Shame on you!I checked it out and liked it, but I suppose I wasn't that blown away by it as some people seem to be.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Sinister deserved better. He's always gotten the upper hand in his other versions but why punk him out like this?

[Will.S]

Sinister deserved better. He's always gotten the upper hand in his other versions but why punk him out like this?
I'm sure they'll further develop him later.

Plus I liked that it was different, he was still dangerous but not in the same way. Plus the Apocalypse connection is still there along with the implication that he may or may not be crazy.

[TheDarkestHorse]

Kind of off-topic, but has anyone else noticed that all the villains seem much weaker in the Ult. U? Some of the takes on them were interesting (Sinister, especially), but Rhino is the only one I've noticed to be stronger/more dangerous than his MU counterpart. I haven't read all the Ultimate books, admittedly, but...

Magneto : punched out by Collosus, WHILE Magneto was actively using his powers against him. That's like Namor getting his ass kicked by Hydro-Man.

Sinister : (apparently) crazy weirdo with a gun and a voice in his head.

Apocolypse : (apparently) funny doll thing.

Doom : used a bunch of funny tricks to take out Thing, Torch, and I. Girl, then got his ass stomped by Reed in a face to face fight (iirc, could be off on this one)

I've also only seen Juggernaut sitting around with The Brotherhood (haven't seen him in a fight yet), when he's considered a big time threat all by himself these days.

Anyway, not complaining (I love the Ult. universe), just pointing out what I think might be a trend. I welcome any examples for or against my point.

As for the topic itself...I do remember being genuinely suprised when I first saw Apocolypse. Also, I knew from the first couple of Ult. X-Men issues that Wolverine was a bit of a bad guy, but when I skipped ahead and started collecting around #30 or so and found out he'd tried to kill Cyclops so he could bag cyke's underage girlfriend, I was a bit taken aback...

[damngary]

The only take that surprised me was Longshot and Spiral reversing their good guy/bad guy roles. There have been some very different and interesting takes on characters, like Dazzler, Arcade, Mojo, Doom...but only with Longshot and Spiral was I expecting one thing and then the opposite happened.
when did they do Arcade?

[Tennoarashi]

Definitely Nick Fury.
And Galactus.
And Mr. Sinister.

And Valkyrie!

[StoneGold]

when did they do Arcade?
He was one of Mojo's goons.

[Harold of the Rocks]

I'll go with Mad Thinker. Gender change, lobotomizes her brother for more brain mass, I agree with Grimm here... she is Reed's arch-enemy so far in UFF. And methinks I'm in love... ;)

Other 'pleasant' surprises...

Thor. Far more interesting than the MU version.
Defenders. If only they would have recruited a 'Namor' who couldn't swim. Priceless.

Disappointments...

Doom. Not that he can't be salvaged, but hooves, death breath and 'shooting armor thorns'? Maybe it's not even these things that bothered me so much... maybe it's that this supposed monarch is leading a hippie commune in Amsterdam. I half expected him to be found in a 'tea room' puffin' on some hash. His next appearance really needs to show his power and menace a lot more. Then I can overlook the somewhat kooky physical changes. Oh yeah, one more thing that bugged me. He's a genius, right? Why did he assume that Reed had no powers just because he didn't observe any physical changes in him? Sue didn't either when she wasn't using her powers. Seems that Doom coulda programmed one of his robot skeeters to do some type of genetic analysis (even a crude one) to find out if Reed had changed... and the fact that he just jumped to that conclusion when all of the others had changed seems to be contrary to what a genius would assume... unless that was some sort of display that his ego would blind him.

Green Goblin. Too much like a Hulk-Goblin. Did he ever yell "Gobby Smash!"?

-- Don't read UXM, so I can't comment on those characters.

[Jagernaut]

Vision, that was just too far out there

Carnage, not good, but very different

[THE OG GL]

ultimate thor was surprising in a good way

[Kirk G]

ultimate thor was surprising in a good way
Yeah, quite pleasing... I'm waiting for the pay-off in Ultimates 2...
It's Loki, I tell you!!! :eek:

[malephoenix]

I used to be all uptight whenever they changed someone too drastically from the MU version. However, for a while, my thoughts have been shifting, and I completed my one-eighty after reading Robert Kirkman's interview on this site about his upcoming stint on Ultimate X-Men. I had been ignoring a very basic building block to the Ultimate line: it's a different universe. Seems obvious, I know, but I was pretty limited in my thinking.
Kirkman put it something like this; he said someone asked "When will Ultimate Apocalypse show up and turn Ultimate Angel into Ultimate Archangel?" But what good does that do? If there's a Dark Phoenix Saga that happens in the Ultimate Universe, and it happens differently than it happened in the MU, but the outcome is still the same, then what's the real point?
After seeing him explain it like that, I'm now one of the people who sure, I may or may not like an ultimazation - but it's no longer about how that character compares to the MU counterparts. Case in point: I used to despise Ultimate Doom, but now I kinda like him as his own villain. I'll see what happens next before saying he's so bad.

Oh, and getting back to the topic, I'd have to agree w/ cosmicspidey - Ultimate Arcade, though only briefly shown, surprised me more than anyone. I personally liked it, also, but just as far as characters go, it was a huge surprise.

[malephoenix]

Oh, and although I feel for those who really liked the Hulk Foru'm being it's own thing, I like that the Ultimate stuff is in it's own section, now. It helps with that concept I was talking about. It was a kind of obstacle to think of the Ultimate line as a separate universe when both Spidey and Ultimate Spidey were in the Spider-Man section. But now that everything Ultimate is in one place, it helps to see that it really is it's own thing.

[Kirk G]

Guess this isn't your Father's Marvel Universer any more, eh? :D

[sherlockbones]

I'll go with Mad Thinker. Gender change, lobotomizes her brother for more brain mass, I agree with Grimm here... she is Reed's arch-enemy so far in UFF. And methinks I'm in love... ;)

Other 'pleasant' surprises...

Thor. Far more interesting than the MU version.
Defenders. If only they would have recruited a 'Namor' who couldn't swim. Priceless.

Disappointments...

Doom. Not that he can't be salvaged, but hooves, death breath and 'shooting armor thorns'? Maybe it's not even these things that bothered me so much... maybe it's that this supposed monarch is leading a hippie commune in Amsterdam.


that was in kopenhagen, denmark, not amsterdam, netherlands btw, so no pulp fiction hashhash

[Mister Mets]

I've been really surprised with what they've done with the Fantastic Four turning them from 30-something explorers to teenage government wards, and the way it's worked with Ultimate F4 #13, and up. Franklin Storm's role as a scientist, and one of their bosses is a real departure from this brief appearance in the Lee-Kirby run, but a welcome one.

[wingsofdamnation]

Gwen surprised me in that it was like she and MJ had switched personalities from the original versions. MJ was closer to "the perfect girlfriend," and Gwen was the hellraiser.

Although I have to agree with whomever said Ben Reilly. From clone of Peter, to random black dude who gets killed.

Ultimate Thor was probably also the most surprising. I don't think anyone ever expected him to be a possibly crazy metahuman hippie.
wait when did ben die?

[Bearpod91]

Galactus is the biggest one I would think they would lay off when reading the beginning of UFF but now with all these pics and storylines on it, I gatta say this what the Ult U does do classic characters.

[StoneGold]

wait when did ben die?
Wasn't he the first guy Carnage killed?

[Iron Syndicate]

Wasn't he the first guy Carnage killed?

Ben didn't die. He stole the "carnage" suit and ran off. AND Bendis said that he's coming back. AND there's an upcoming arc called "Clone Saga".... *shudder*

anyways,

The ones I liked were:
Invisible Girl - Sue always was my favorite, and she's been called the most powerful of the four more than once. But add in the fact that she's also an Uber-Genius, it just makes her PERFECT!!

Vision (Big Alien Space Robot version) - that one blew straight out of the water. I did NOT see that one coming. Ellis is god.

Apocolypse - From Big, Mega-Strong, World-Conquering, Cyclops-killing (10 points for that one....) Super-Mutant to......... a scarecrow.
Priceless.

Sinister - The Tempest was by FAR one of the best UXM arcs, and it just SCREAMS to be developed further.

The ones I didn't like:
Carnage - He was lame. Mindless not-even-a-living-thing that just sucked the life out of people for god-knows what reason. And then fell into a chimney. Oh, and he killed Gwen... the bastard.

The ones that are freaky:

Xavier - he scares me, at the begining he was like "I'm planning more than I'm letting on, and I control every thing you do with my mind powers", which was good. But they over-used it, and now he's just annoying.

Wanda and Pietro - Yeesh..... Ca-ree-py...

[wingsofdamnation]

i thought was just a guy on a random date. besides at the end of the arc wasnt it ben who took the other blood sample?

[wingsofdamnation]

another ultimate change that surprized me was the ultimate dark pheonix. it went from this all super powerful entity to just a figment of jeans imagination

[Jomero]

Hulk as a cannibal rapist was kind of a surprise.

[pennywisdom]

Hulk as a cannibal rapist was kind of a surprise.
It shouldn't be. The Hulk is supposed to be a frightening monster. What could be more frightening than that?

[hugh45]

I'm surprised that noone mention The Inhumans.

How much did Galactus changed?

[Kid Kamikaze10]

I'm pretty surprised that Vision is gonna be not only a chick, but a robot chick that looks like the Engineer from Authority (just green).

[Handcannon]

Ultimate Thor is cool. A crazy liberal!!! Like me!!!

[StoneGold]

I'm pretty surprised that Vision is gonna be not only a chick, but a robot chick that looks like the Engineer from Authority (just green).
I've said it before, I'll say it again: some people needs ta get them some culture.

http://www.poster.net/metropolis/metropolis-script-4004042.jpg

[stealthwise]

Is it just me or wouldn't Ultimate Green Goblin and the movie Green Goblin been much cooler if they had swapped media?

[pennywisdom]

Apocolypse - From Big, Mega-Strong, World-Conquering, Cyclops-killing (10 points for that one....) Super-Mutant to......... a scarecrow.
Priceless.
But is he just a scarecrow? He could be a figment of Sinister's imagination or he could be some sort of conquerer of worlds. Who's to say? That's what I love about that whole story line... deliberate ambiguity. I love to be kept on my toes.

[Harold of the Rocks]

that was in kopenhagen, denmark, not amsterdam, netherlands btw, so no pulp fiction hashhash

I stand corrected. Sometimes I sit corrected too, but I won't profess to have the best posture. Thanks, Sherlock. ;)

[DeadpoolNakago]

Ultimate Sinister. The change in personality between the 616 and U version is so striking.

Old Sinister:Little Used, ego maniac, regeneration, machiavellian.

New Sinister:Enfeebled, stutterer, powerful ability, scary with the possibilities of his powers.

[MrHooligan13]

How are Ultimate Sinister's powers different from his 616 counterpart's?

[Jake V]

How are Ultimate Sinister's powers different from his 616 counterpart's?
He doesn't have that "complete cellular control" power, but his mind control powers are quite formadble, and can't be influenced by Professor X.

[DeadpoolNakago]

How are Ultimate Sinister's powers different from his 616 counterpart's?

U-Sin has no regen but he does have an ability similar to Jesse Custer's, from "Preacher". Okay, so Sinister has to be looking into that person's eyes, but that's one difference. He tells you to do something and you do it. So far the range has run through "Stand Still" to "Choke Yourself"

Also, U-Sin leaves behind no scent and does not show up on electronic equipment (well, atleast he never shows up on video cameras)

[Chou Blaster]

I'm surprised that noone mention The Inhumans.

How much did Galactus changed?


He is now a rac eof giant mosnte rbgus out to eat worlds as a Swarm.

Stone GOld; TOo true, the ORIGNAL robot chick from metropolis.

:Thumbs up.:

[TheWolfOfAsgard]

How are Ultimate Sinister's powers different from his 616 counterpart's?


U-Sinister had the power to introduce UXavier to his worst enemy....stairs.


I still laugh over that panel.

[Rosie]

The "robot chick" is "Maria".

I have to say the Green Goblin was an unpleasant surprise. He was just a Hulk rip off when we first see him.

When he comes back, he has the 616 Gobby's personality, more or less, which is pretty cool, and he's all green which looks better visually but makes him more of a Hulk rip off.

Hobgoblin was terrible. Good story, but removed all meaning from the character completely. If it's a different character and different concept, what's the point? All it's doing is reinforcing the idea that Hobby is a Green Goblin recolour.

Carnage, again, an unforunate mess. Gwen Stacy's death lacked any emotional resonance whatsoever.

And the clone thing? Wtf? My guess is that "Carnage 2" is actually going to turn him into a Spider-Man clone(Carnage had Peter's DNA remember?), and the original Carnage still survives, with Gwen and all the other people's lifeforce/minds inside it. That'd be creepy. I hope it bonds with Kassady. Carnage was cool because of his insane personality.

Venom is kind of the same(or different, rather) in that respect. I really liked the little touches in earlier 616 like "Spiderman's going to die! Oh Happy Happy Happy!". I doubt the Ultimate Venom is even capable of delivering that line.

As for Pleasant surprises, I'd have to say just about everything else :)

[Titan76]

Dr. Doom and Mr. Sinister for me. They really screwed them both up and I don't even look forward to their next apperance unless they retcon the last one in some way.