Ultimate Origins
Encyclopedia
Ultimate Origins is a comic book
limited series
published by Marvel Comics
, released in June 2008
. It falls under Marvel's Ultimate Marvel
imprint. It was written by Brian Bendis and illustrated by Butch Guice. It was intended to be a "chapter in the development of Ultimatum
, a crossover event scheduled to begin in September 2008.
Jeph Loeb
has stated in an interview with Comic Book Resources
: "What Ultimate Origin is going to do is sort of tell us how it all began. ... The Ultimate Universe
isn't very old, so this isn't a cosmic story. You're not going to see the birth of a planet. What you'll see is how the superhero community was introduced into the human population. So you'll learn the importance of things like the Super Soldier program, which has been hinted at in Ultimate Spider-Man
and Ultimates
1 and 2. Now, Brian is going to connect the dots."
is confronting a deranged Bruce Banner, who tells Spider-Man in desperation that "it's all connected." General Ross arrives, and despite Spider-Man's attempts to defuse the situation, Banner transforms into the Hulk and escapes.
In 1942, at Battle of the Tenaru
, an American super-soldier (a normal GI dressed in a special uniform, looking much like Citizen V
) rallies his men in the face of a Japanese onslaught. However, the soldier is shot and killed, his blood staining the American flag. A photograph of this image is released around the world, and then-President Roosevelt demands a true super-soldier from his advisors, rather than a normal soldier wearing a special uniform.
A year later, during the invasion of Sicily
, three soldiers, (American privates Fisk (the grandfather of The Kingpin) and Nicholas Fury
, and Canadian soldier James Howlett), attempt to loot a house. Military police arrive to arrest them, and all three are subdued. Fisk is grazed by a bullet, while Fury and Howlett, despite the latter's protests that he's Canadian, are shipped off to separate unknown locations.
Fury is selected to be the next test subject for Project Rebirth, as his bloodwork most closely matches that of subject 22, the most successful of the previous test subjects. He is injected with a serum that gives him super-strength, which he uses to free himself and the other prisoners, who then escape. The scientists who were working on him let him escape, deciding that they have all the information that they need for now. Elsewhere, Howlett awakens in a tank of water inside the Weapon X complex. He escapes the complex, but is shot as he nears freedom. Miraculously, Howlett's wound heals completely and he is recaptured. Dr. Cornelius, Weapon X's head scientist, explains that in attempting to create their own version of Captain America, Weapon X accidentally discovered a genome that, when genetically altered, grants the person carrying it various abilities based on their DNA. He calls these altered humans “mutants", (with Howlett as "Mutant Zero"), and states that mutants will be how humanity survives.
The story then flip-flops between Captain Carol Danvers at Project Pegasus finding the artifact known as the Watcher and the events leading to the birth of Captain America
. Project Pegasus
is shown as a government-issued warehouse for objects with mysterious origins and, usually, mass destructive value.
Steven Rogers, with a bad limp, is recruited by Dum Dum Dugan into the Super-Soldier Program; Project Rebirth. Through many different treatments, Steven Rogers is reborn as the ultimate super-soldier and leaves his fiance Gail behind to start his life in World War II.
Later, a teenaged Erik Lehnsherr visits the Weapon X complex and sets Wolverine free, letting him know that his name is James. When Magneto's mother, who works at the complex, tries to stop him, he murders her and proclaims that he hopes there "is a hell." Before his mother's death, she justifies her work with Weapon X by declaring that she only wanted to find a cure for Erik and the others.
Even later in Erik's life, he reads a book published by Charles Xavier and is determined to meet him. Showing up in the class that Xavier teaches, they soon realize that Charles's telepathic powers do not work on Magneto. They discuss the theories involved with having "mutanity" accepted and eventually relocate to the Savage Land
, where Magneto's Brotherhood is waiting to be trained by the two.
Sometime later, Nick Fury is questioned by General Ross while lying in a hospital bed after seemingly being saved by Wolverine during an earlier war. General Ross feverishly questions him about his previous involvement with the mutant known as Weapon X and the nature of Nick Fury's unique physiology. After Fury dismisses his use as the "new" Captain America, he wonders about his usefulness in other ways.
The story skips forward for the brief description of Project Rebirth 2, including Fury later becomes involved with Project Rebirth 2, which includes the involvement of Dr. Franklin Storm, Bruce Banner, Dr. Hank Pym, and Dr. Richard Parker. During this time, Dr. Storm is contracted to work with the Baxter Building
project as well as Project Rebirth. Their work with the facility is helped along by the use of a vial of Fury's blood of which, none of the scientists know the truth of where the blood came from, (except Parker who suspected it). When Banner seems to have had a breakthrough, he and Dr. Pym decide to try it on themselves, starting with Banner. The trial goes horribly wrong and Banner, now as the Hulk, destroys the building, and wounds both Richard and Mary Parker, leaving their infant son Peter an orphan.
The sight of the infant son in his mother's arms shocks Banner back to himself and is quickly subdued by Fury. Taking the infant in to his arms, he whispers that it is good that Peter is young, because he won't remember a thing.
Later, Fury infiltrates the Weapon X project, and, after the shock of the environment sinks in, Fury realizes that neither man nor mutant should ever know of man's involvement in the mutant gene. This conclusion is acted upon when he kills all of the scientists and their experiments. The only mutant to make it out alive is T'Challa, whom Fury feels a connection with due to their tragic pasts.
Charles Xavier is next seen being speared in the back as an act of retaliation by Magneto, who claims Charles tried to attack him in his own mind. Magneto speaks of the mutant race's fate to ascend like gods over homo sapien and his belief that God willed this to be.
In the present day, the Watchers speak through Sue Storm and tell of a certain doom that awaits before picking a herald. While the Fantastic Four
wonder who this could be, Rick Jones is found by his family glowing in the backyard.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, released in June 2008
2008 in comics
-January:*January 9: Teen Titans: The Lost Annual, delayed since 2003, is published.*January 23: Hellblazer #240, marking the 20th anniversary of the series, is released.-February:...
. It falls under Marvel's Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
imprint. It was written by Brian Bendis and illustrated by Butch Guice. It was intended to be a "chapter in the development of Ultimatum
Ultimatum (Ultimate Marvel comics)
Ultimatum is a five-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics under its Ultimate Marvel imprint from November 2008 to July 2009...
, a crossover event scheduled to begin in September 2008.
Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
has stated in an interview with Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
: "What Ultimate Origin is going to do is sort of tell us how it all began. ... The Ultimate Universe
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
isn't very old, so this isn't a cosmic story. You're not going to see the birth of a planet. What you'll see is how the superhero community was introduced into the human population. So you'll learn the importance of things like the Super Soldier program, which has been hinted at in Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
and Ultimates
Ultimates
The Ultimates is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, and first appeared in The Ultimates #1 , as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint...
1 and 2. Now, Brian is going to connect the dots."
Plot summary
The story opens with a scene from Ultimate Marvel Team-Up 3, where Spider-ManUltimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
is confronting a deranged Bruce Banner, who tells Spider-Man in desperation that "it's all connected." General Ross arrives, and despite Spider-Man's attempts to defuse the situation, Banner transforms into the Hulk and escapes.
In 1942, at Battle of the Tenaru
Battle of the Tenaru
The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, took place August 21, 1942, on the island of Guadalcanal, and was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces...
, an American super-soldier (a normal GI dressed in a special uniform, looking much like Citizen V
Citizen V
Citizen V, is the codename of several fictional superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original Citizen V was an obscure hero from the Golden Age of Comic Books, but the character's identity was revived in the modern day in the pages of Thunderbolts. The various incarnations of the...
) rallies his men in the face of a Japanese onslaught. However, the soldier is shot and killed, his blood staining the American flag. A photograph of this image is released around the world, and then-President Roosevelt demands a true super-soldier from his advisors, rather than a normal soldier wearing a special uniform.
A year later, during the invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
, three soldiers, (American privates Fisk (the grandfather of The Kingpin) and Nicholas Fury
Ultimate Nick Fury
General Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. A reinterpretation of the character Nick Fury, one of the most notable differences between the two is that the mainstream Nick Fury is an Italian American colonel with graying brown hair, while this Nick Fury...
, and Canadian soldier James Howlett), attempt to loot a house. Military police arrive to arrest them, and all three are subdued. Fisk is grazed by a bullet, while Fury and Howlett, despite the latter's protests that he's Canadian, are shipped off to separate unknown locations.
Fury is selected to be the next test subject for Project Rebirth, as his bloodwork most closely matches that of subject 22, the most successful of the previous test subjects. He is injected with a serum that gives him super-strength, which he uses to free himself and the other prisoners, who then escape. The scientists who were working on him let him escape, deciding that they have all the information that they need for now. Elsewhere, Howlett awakens in a tank of water inside the Weapon X complex. He escapes the complex, but is shot as he nears freedom. Miraculously, Howlett's wound heals completely and he is recaptured. Dr. Cornelius, Weapon X's head scientist, explains that in attempting to create their own version of Captain America, Weapon X accidentally discovered a genome that, when genetically altered, grants the person carrying it various abilities based on their DNA. He calls these altered humans “mutants", (with Howlett as "Mutant Zero"), and states that mutants will be how humanity survives.
The story then flip-flops between Captain Carol Danvers at Project Pegasus finding the artifact known as the Watcher and the events leading to the birth of Captain America
Ultimate Captain America
Ultimate Captain America is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He is an alternative version of the mainstream Marvel continuity Captain America that appears in Marvel's Ultimate line of books...
. Project Pegasus
Project Pegasus
Project Pegasus is a fictional scientific base in the Marvel Comics universe which has been the location of a variety of stories for superheroes and supervillains, most notably in the title Marvel Two-in-One...
is shown as a government-issued warehouse for objects with mysterious origins and, usually, mass destructive value.
Steven Rogers, with a bad limp, is recruited by Dum Dum Dugan into the Super-Soldier Program; Project Rebirth. Through many different treatments, Steven Rogers is reborn as the ultimate super-soldier and leaves his fiance Gail behind to start his life in World War II.
Later, a teenaged Erik Lehnsherr visits the Weapon X complex and sets Wolverine free, letting him know that his name is James. When Magneto's mother, who works at the complex, tries to stop him, he murders her and proclaims that he hopes there "is a hell." Before his mother's death, she justifies her work with Weapon X by declaring that she only wanted to find a cure for Erik and the others.
Even later in Erik's life, he reads a book published by Charles Xavier and is determined to meet him. Showing up in the class that Xavier teaches, they soon realize that Charles's telepathic powers do not work on Magneto. They discuss the theories involved with having "mutanity" accepted and eventually relocate to the Savage Land
Savage Land
The Savage Land is a hidden prehistoric land within the fictional Marvel Comics Universe. It is a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica. It was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in X-Men #10...
, where Magneto's Brotherhood is waiting to be trained by the two.
Sometime later, Nick Fury is questioned by General Ross while lying in a hospital bed after seemingly being saved by Wolverine during an earlier war. General Ross feverishly questions him about his previous involvement with the mutant known as Weapon X and the nature of Nick Fury's unique physiology. After Fury dismisses his use as the "new" Captain America, he wonders about his usefulness in other ways.
The story skips forward for the brief description of Project Rebirth 2, including Fury later becomes involved with Project Rebirth 2, which includes the involvement of Dr. Franklin Storm, Bruce Banner, Dr. Hank Pym, and Dr. Richard Parker. During this time, Dr. Storm is contracted to work with the Baxter Building
Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building in Manhattan whose five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
project as well as Project Rebirth. Their work with the facility is helped along by the use of a vial of Fury's blood of which, none of the scientists know the truth of where the blood came from, (except Parker who suspected it). When Banner seems to have had a breakthrough, he and Dr. Pym decide to try it on themselves, starting with Banner. The trial goes horribly wrong and Banner, now as the Hulk, destroys the building, and wounds both Richard and Mary Parker, leaving their infant son Peter an orphan.
The sight of the infant son in his mother's arms shocks Banner back to himself and is quickly subdued by Fury. Taking the infant in to his arms, he whispers that it is good that Peter is young, because he won't remember a thing.
Later, Fury infiltrates the Weapon X project, and, after the shock of the environment sinks in, Fury realizes that neither man nor mutant should ever know of man's involvement in the mutant gene. This conclusion is acted upon when he kills all of the scientists and their experiments. The only mutant to make it out alive is T'Challa, whom Fury feels a connection with due to their tragic pasts.
Charles Xavier is next seen being speared in the back as an act of retaliation by Magneto, who claims Charles tried to attack him in his own mind. Magneto speaks of the mutant race's fate to ascend like gods over homo sapien and his belief that God willed this to be.
In the present day, the Watchers speak through Sue Storm and tell of a certain doom that awaits before picking a herald. While the Fantastic Four
Ultimate Fantastic Four
Ultimate Fantastic Four is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Fantastic Four comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
wonder who this could be, Rick Jones is found by his family glowing in the backyard.
External links
- Review of Ultimate Origins #1, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
- Two reviews, Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...