The ULTIMATE UNIVERSE returns from Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch

Marvel has announced that, following the conclusion of Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch‘s upcoming Ultimate Invasion miniseries, a new ‘Ultimate Universe’ will emerge, seemingly replacing the original alternative to Marvel’s mainline continuity.

This Ultimate Universe will launch (or relaunch) with the appropriately titled Ultimate Universe #1, a one-shot coming this November from Hickman and Stefano Caselli, featuring a cover by Hitch. There’s little information as to what the issue will contain, but it sounds as though we’ll be seeing a reintroduction to the Ultimate line, albeit with some substantial tweaks for a world 23 years after the original universe launched.

The Ultimate Universe originally launched in 2000, and was the brainchild of Marvel’s Vice President Bill Jemas, who was looking to make comics more accessible for a modern audience. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley were the first to work on the Ultimate line, with Ultimate Spider-Man, an incredibly successful title that, with a few relaunches of its own, eventually brought us Miles Morales.

Ultimate Comics ran for a solid 15 years, with successful analogs for the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more, some of which have made their way into the mainline Marvel Universe over the years. The line was shuttered in 2015, coinciding with Hickman’s Secret Wars, which brought back Bendis and Bagley for one last collaboration in Ultimate End. There have been a number of teases over the years for the return of the original Ultimate Universe, but no true return until now.

Here is Marvel’s official description of the relaunched universe:

In the same vein as the groundbreaking Ultimate Comics line that defined the 2000s with bold storytelling and risk-taking twists on Marvel characters, Hickman and Hitch’s new universe will revolutionize the world outside your window. Witness the spark that will light this new age in ULTIMATE INVASION. After the Maker’s desperate attempt to restore the Ultimate Universe unleashes massive, unintended consequences, a group of Marvel’s heroes are caught in a war between timelines. As universes collide, the foundation of a new line of ULTIMATE COMICS will be built.

This November, Marvel is proud to present ULTIMATE UNIVERSE #1—a one-shot written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Stefano Caselli with a cover by Bryan Hitch. The breathtaking epic will introduce readers to this new line that will be home to an array of brand-new hard-hitting series. A fresh start for a new generation, prepare to see your favorite characters redefined for today’s world. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information about this exciting new universe crafted by some of today’s greatest comic book visionaries.

Hickman has a brief, if impactful history with the Ultimate line, writing a number of series from 2010 to 2012, and ultimately destroying the Ultimate Universe in 2015’s Secret Wars. He reflected a bit on how the world has changed since the original line started and what the goals for this new universe are:

“What made the Ultimate Universe originally really interesting was that it was a reflection of the world outside your window, in the moment that you were living in. What does it look like in the world we’re living in now? It’s kind of shocking how much the world has changed in that period of time. The idea of what it would be like to see the genesis of super heroes in a brand-new world is a really fascinating exercise.”

Hitch has a far earlier association with the Ultimate Universe, working as the original artist on The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2, dual maxiseries with Mark Millar that helped to define early 2000s superhero comics and shape the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. He emphasized that this new universe wasn’t dependent on the stories of the old world:

“You don’t ever have to have read any of the Ultimate Universe to enjoy this. There’s some great comics in there, but this doesn’t need you to be familiar with that stuff. You just need to get in on page one and enjoy this because the story takes you where you need to go.”

Ultimate Invasion #1 launches on June 21st, and Ultimate Universe #1 will release at an undisclosed point in November. Below are the main covers for Ultimate Invasion, along with the release dates for each issue.