Ultimate X-Men

General concept

Ultimate X-Men is a superhero comic book published by Marvel Comics. The series is a modernized reimagining of the long-running marvel comic X-Men. The series began in 2000 under writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert; subsequent writers have included Chuck Austen and Brian K. Vaughan. This title is set outside of the Marvel Universe continuity in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, and started from scratch with new versions of each character.

Ultimate X-Men universe

In this version the X-Men, other than Professor X and Wolverine, are still teenagers. The team originally included these two as well as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Colossus, Iceman, Beast and Storm. "Ultimate" versions of a number of others, including Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat and Angel have since been introduced.

Their enemies have included revised versions of the Hellfire Club, the Sentinels, and Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants.

Changes from the mainstream Marvel universe

Many of the versions of these characters keep only the basics, changing them to be more accessible to casual readers (particularly teenagers and younger readers) who are unfamiliar with the decades of history and continuity that the characters have accumulated. In most cases, the core of the character is still recognizable to the older audience, but they are taken in a new direction that results in sharply divided opinions among established fans.

The Ultimate version of Beast looked slightly simian at first, but still passed as human-like. He was turned into a blue, furry beast by the insidious Weapon X project. Beast was apparently killed off in the "New Mutants" storyline.

Ultimate Colossus started not as a peasant. In order to feed his family in Russia, he reluctantly worked as an arms smuggler for the Russian mob. He is strongly hinted to be a closet homosexual and in love with Wolverine.

Dazzler has probably undergone the most drastic change. Instead of being a girlish 70s-disco chick, she is a hard-as-nails punk rocker covered with tattoos and notorious for her foul language.

Emma Frost ("White Queen") is a teacher from Chicago. She is even more pacifistic than Professor X and was his one-time lover. Although she still prefers white clothing, she dresses very chaste and does not seem to have connections with the Hellfire Club.

Ultimate Gambit is a homeless bum from Louisiana, performing card tricks to make a living. After his powers spun out of control, he was picked up and cured by the Fenris twins, ultra-rich mutant brokers. He has hitherto no ties with Mr. Sinister.

Jean Grey is a hip, fashionable upper-crust 21st-century-girl. She is a very responsible person, but is much more outgoing and foxy than her puritan 616 counterpart. She had a passionate affair with Wolverine but then turned to Cyclops.

Ultimate Mr. Sinister aka Nathaniel Essex is an ex-scientist of Oscorp, the firm of Spider-man baddie Norman Osborn. After experimenting on himself, he acquired superhuman powers and went insane, seeing visions of "Lord Apocalypse". He tried to kill the X-Men, was defeated and transferred to SHIELD custody.

the Bavarian mutant Nightcrawler was forced into the Weapon X program, just like in the movie X2. But in contrast to other prisoners like Rogue, Sabretooth or Juggernaut, he never gave up his ideals. Moreover, he only recently learned English and speaks with a strong German accent.

Professor X is not the Gandhi-like saint from 616 Marvel. He is still an idealist and a pacifist, but certainly not above manipulating other's people's minds. Moreover, he married Dr. Moira MacTaggart and then cruelly left her with their son Kevin to pursue a new life with Magneto.

Moreover, Professor X's spine was not crushed by aliens in Ultimate Marvel. He had a falling-out with Magneto, who then magnetically shot a steel rod through his back.

Storm is not the mystic African witch anymore, but an angry, streetwise Harlem chick who stole cars and was reluctant to join the X-Men. But after finding out that her new friends were trustworthy, she opened up more and more and flourished into being a model X-Man.

Wolverine is much more feral and cruel. At first, he was the cold-blooded elite assassin of Magneto. He infiltrated the X-Men to kill Professor X, but was so impressed by his ideals that he switches sides. Still an outsider, he had a bitter feud with Cyclops over Jean Grey and even tried to kill him. After this incident, he underwent a deep change and finally acknowledged that he had to stop being an animal and start being human.

Until now, well-known Marvel 616 mutants like Bishop, Blink, Domino, Destiny, Karma, Havok, Northstar, Polaris, Psylocke, Spiral, Sunspot or Wolfsbane have had only cameos. Others like Maggott, Marrow and Synch were killed off-panel, and others like Boomboom, Cable, Mystique, Shatterstar or the Morlocks have not appeared at all.

Corsair, the Starjammers and the Shi'ar empire, popular concepts in 616 Marvel, have been brought in as a phony world in the mind of Cyclops. It is improbable that these concepts will ever be brought into Ultimate X-Men.

Trivia

Ultimate X-Men #1 (starts with Magneto's Brotherhood committing gigantic bombings which destroy a greater part of Washington and New York. It is chilling how UXM #1 (published in February 2001) succeeded in forshadowing the 9/11 bombings so accurately.

Mark Millar was suffering from a potentially deadly kidney disease, was hospitilized for several months and wrote the groundbreaking "Return to Weapon X" storyline practically from Intensive Care. He was almost always in pain, explaining why there is so much gruesome suffering in RTCW.

For the same reason, Chuck Austen wrote the next storyline "You never forget your first love". It was basically a filler, but still was critically acclaimed.

The same Chuck Austen had an unlucky stint in the X-Men franchise, writing stories in Uncanny X-Men like "Holy War" or "The Draco" which were universally derided. "You never forget your first love" may be the only X-Men story that appealed to the public at all.

As a running gag, cars/ trains/ motorcycles have the number plate "FLHRCI" which is an acronym for a Harley-Davidson bike.

UXM #16 (World Tour, Part 1), which takes place in London, is labelled as issue with the most bloopers. The big ferris wheel is on the wrong side of the Themse, the Union Jack on Colossus' shirt has wrong colours, Iceman is let into a pub (impossible in UK for a 15-year-old minor), Jean Grey sees an accident (taking place in Scotland) while she is in Russia and the truck which ploughs Wolverine over has the steering wheel on the LEFT side, impossible in the UK where the traffic direction is inversed.

"Return of the King, Part 7" mirrors the ending conversation in the "X-Men" movie between Professor X and Magneto, shot in the famous "plastic jail cell".

Mark Millar stated that Jean Grey was modelled on a girl he had a big crush on.

Story Arcs

"The Tomorrow People" (Mark Millar) -- Sentinels, Brotherhood
"Return to Weapon X" (Mark Millar) -- Weapon X, Nick Fury
"You never forget your first love" (Chuck Austen) -- Gambit
"World Tour" (Mark Millar) -- Proteus, Betsy Braddock
"Hellfire and Brimstone" (Mark Millar) -- Hellfire Club, Phoenix
"Return of the King" (Mark Millar) -- Brotherhood, Magneto
"Blockbuster" (Brian M. Bendis) -- crossover Wolverine, Spider-Man, Daredevil
"New Mutants" (Brian M. Bendis) -- Emma Frost, Dazzler
"The Tempest" (Brian K. Vaughn) -- Mr. Sinister
"Cry Wolf" (Brian K. Vaughn) -- Gambit, Fenris

Ultimate X-Men lineup

starting lineup: Professor X; Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Storm
"The Tomorrow People" -- Iceman, Wolverine join
"Return to Weapon X" -- (no changes)
"You never forget your first love" -- (no changes)
"World Tour" -- (no changes)
"Hellfire and Brimstone" -- Shadowcat joins
"Return of the King" -- Nightcrawler, Rogue join
"Blockbuster" -- (no changes)
"New Mutants" -- Angel, Dazzler join; Beast is apparently killed
"The Tempest" -- (no changes)
"Cry Wolf" -- Rogue leaves

The Ultimate titles (Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four and The Ultimates) have proven commercially successful, thanks at least in part to the popular creative teams on each series.