Could Marvel Make the Ultimates Its Next Cinematic Super-Team?
The saga of the Infinity Stones came to an end with Avengers: Endgame, shifting the status quo and altering the Avengers’ roster forever. With prominent original members like Cap and Iron Man gone, and others like Thor bowing out, are the Avengers still the premiere team? Does the Marvel Cinematic Universe need more than one team going forward, and could they be joined by the Ultimates? The introduction of the multiversal team would allow Marvel to accommodate the new wave of characters and help share the load with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Now that threats beyond the limits of the Solar System have been established, it would benefit Earth to have a team looking to the multiverse next, if such a concept is ever really introduced to the MCU. If Marvel chose to gather the Ultimates, the MCU would have the Avengers for Earth-based stories, the Guardians for exploring the galaxy and the Ultimates would look towards the multiverse.
The MCU Multiverse is a concept recently touched on in Spider-Man: Far From Home, though it proved to be just one fabrication in the villain Mysterio’s web of illusory lies. Still, Marvel could introduce a multiverse in the future. There are, after all, members of the Ultimates that already exist in the MCU, so they’re just a few pieces away from being able to (forgive the pun) assemble!
Who are THE ULTIMATES?
The Ultimates are a team from Marvel Comics canon that were put together to deal with threats to the universe and beyond. There are a few teams who have gone by the Ultimates moniker, but this incarnation of the team would be the most intriguing and viable for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the MCU, there are currently three Ultimates already present in the form of Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Monica Rambeau. While we met Monica as a child in Captain Marvel, she could very well be an active superhero by now, given how much time has passed in-universe since the events of the film that introduced her.
Other notable members that don’t currently exist in the MCU are Blue Marvel and America Chavez. Blue Marvel is an extremely powerful superhero who spent a lot of time out of action due to the effects of racism and prejudice in America during his prime. Returning to action now and then when the world needs him, he found a worthy and consistent cause among both the Mighty Avengers and the Ultimates.
America Chavez is a member of the Young Avengers, A-Force and the Ultimates in the comics. She has a plethora of impressive powers, most notably the ability to hop between dimensions. Using star-shaped portals, Chavez can traverse the multiverse. Utilizing the combined resources and expertise of the group, they make a formidable powerhouse of a team.
If they can’t fill out the roster by introducing the yet-to-debut comic members, they certainly have a number of existing MCU characters who would fit right in with the team. War Machine, for example, would adapt well conceptually, owing to the fact that he has worked alongside space-based teams in the past, both in the comics and on-screen. He took to space well beside Nebula in Avengers: Endgame, and in the source material he operated space missions with Captain Marvel and an iteration of the Secret Avengers during Avengers vs. X-Men.
Where do they operate?
What makes the Ultimates so unique is the kind of problems they try and solve. Not only do they seek to resolve threats in the universe, but threats that transcend it. Shortly after the team’s formation, they sought to permanently solve the problem of Galactus. Rather than defeat Galactus in battle, they find a way to accelerate his very evolution, progressing him to a form that gives life, rather than devours it.
Having Galactus be the next cosmic threat would be a step above Thanos, given that Galactus occupies the unique space between cosmic villain and universal concept. He is necessary for the balance of the universe, despite his destructive nature.
The Ultimates would be a perfect team to facilitate another MCU saga wherein Galactus is the final threat. If they manage to remove the danger of Galactus in the same way they did in the comics, it would provide a unique end to a villain and a saga, setting it apart from the format that allowed the Avengers to take down Thanos.
The Ultimates also deal with issues beyond Galactus, allowing stories to escalate beyond even Galactus’ defeat. Another story the team found itself a part of saw Eternity itself mysteriously imprisoned. The levels of power and concepts at play when telling stories surrounding this team would explore narratives the MCU hasn’t ventured into yet, like realms beyond the Quantum and beings higher than Celestials. The Ultimates would be an extremely exciting cornerstone for the MCU.
