You could say readers are stunned. Picture this: Marvel’s best-selling comics line of the past two years, the Ultimate Universe, is getting the axe, and it’s all happening in April 2026. You’re probably asking yourself—how does the most successful reboot Marvel ever attempted end so quickly? As with anything involving Jonathan Hickman and comic book economics, the truth is a lot wilder than the press releases let on.
NYCC Bombshell: The Ultimate Universe Is Done
New York Comic Con 2025 didn’t just drop spoilers; it dropped a bomb. Marvel executives announced that every ongoing title in the Ultimate line—Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Black Panther, The Ultimates, and Ultimate Wolverine—will be shut down between December and April. This isn’t a reboot, not a relaunch, not a tie-in event to set up something new. It’s a hard ending.
Dan Buckley, CB Cebulski, Dennis Camp, and Jonathan Hickman confirmed the decision live, leaving creators and fans in shock. Across X, Reddit, and Discord, you could smell the disbelief. Here’s a line that says it all: “You think we’re lying, but we’re not.”
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Massive Success, Massive Loss
Flashback: June 2023, Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch launched Ultimate Invasion. Over the next ten months, the new Ultimate Universe exploded. Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man, a married-with-kids Peter Parker, regularly outsold Marvel’s flagship Amazing Spider-Man on both single issues and trade sales. Double, sometimes triple, the numbers. Volume 2 of Ultimate Spider-Man was the best-selling Western trade paperback in March 2025, beating Image’s Invincible and Everything Batman.
Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko set new records for manga-inspired American comics and prompted New York shops to double orders for issue #1. Every single new launch in the line hit the monthly Top 10, with Hickman’s run often grabbing 8 out of the Top 10 slots in one month. Even merchandise, digital sales, and variant covers sold out repeatedly.
| Month (2024-2025) | Ultimate Spider-Man Sales (Units) | Amazing Spider-Man Sales (Units) |
|---|---|---|
| January 2024 | 180,000 | 87,200 |
| March 2025 | 221,000 | 76,300 |
| May 2025 | 156,000 | 83,100 |
| August 2025 | 199,000 | 89,600 |
Ultimate Spider-Man outsold Amazing by 50-150% nearly every month.
Every Title Ending: The Complete Timeline (Who’s Left Standing)
The Ultimate Universe launched in June 2023 and will be entirely shut down in the first half of 2026. Here’s the confirmed end schedule:
- Ultimate Spider-Man #24: December 2025
- Ultimate Black Panther #24: January 2026
- Ultimate X-Men #24: February 2026
- The Ultimates #24 and Ultimate Wolverine #16: April 2026
- Ultimate Endgame #5: April 2026 (final issue of the multi-title event)
What does this mean for the characters and creators? Marvel won’t solicit further issues in advance. Hickman, Momoko, and Camp finish their runs exactly as pitched. No new volumes, no continuing stories, no relaunch. This is what’s called a “true ending” in comics. Something that, outside of Watchmen or Sandman, almost never happens in American superhero publishing.
Jonathan Hickman’s Two-Year Master Plan (The Maker’s Countdown)
The core plot? A ticking clock. Marvel built the narrative around the Maker—a Reed Richards variant who rewrote history and created a world without heroes. Tony Stark imprisoned The Maker in a “pocket dimension” for exactly 24 months. Every Ultimates issue ended with an ominous countdown warning readers how many months remained.
As December 2025 approaches, Hickman’s contractually planned narrative wraps on schedule. The Maker escapes, triggering Ultimate Endgame (December to April). All five titles converge—the first time readers see every character face down the villain who created their universe. Heroes fall, some die for good, and the world faces annihilation.
Deniz Camp Speaks Out: What Really Happened
Deniz Camp, writer of The Ultimates, pulled back the curtain on X: “It’s true the original plan was NOT to ‘end’ the universe. A lot of my run sets up characters I hoped would go on past me.” Hickman’s run always had an endpoint, but Marvel leadership saw a chance to make a statement—close the entire Ultimate Universe as a contained work.
The creators had a say. Peach Momoko and Bryan Hill (Ultimate X-Men) chose not to continue past their original stories. Hickman wanted a crisply told narrative, not “fifteen years of continuity bloat” like the 2000s Ultimate line. Camp, however, wanted to keep going. “I saw them turn down extra issues to run alongside Endgame. I’m disappointed but proud—this is radical for Big Two comics.”
Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men Journey: Rise and End
Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men has been a creative outlier since day one. Instead of retelling classic mutant stories, Momoko leans deeply into Japanese folklore, horror, and radical reformulations of mutant political activism. Critics consider it a “refreshing reinvention for Marvel” and a standout book on the monthly sales charts. And yet, Momoko worked herself to exhaustion, drawing and scripting every single issue for 24 months. She announced “I’m sad too, but excited for new things.”
As for the ending—it won’t be an event rehash. Ultimate X-Men’s finale will deliver closure for new fan-favorites (Maystorm, Armor), and tie up the Children of the Atom plot with a mutant registration act, street protests, and one last confrontation at Hi no Kuni. Expect major character deaths and no sequel teases.
Ultimate Endgame: The Maker Returns
December 31, 2025, marks the beginning of Ultimate Endgame. The Maker, after 24 months of in-universe imprisonment, escapes. He unleashes chaos, seeking to destroy or remake reality altogether. Deniz Camp, Jonas Scharf, and Terry Dodson headline the event—the climax of a storyline that started with Ultimate Invasion. All five Ultimate mainline titles converge in a multi-front battle. Massive deaths, dramatic stakes, and true consequences.
What makes this event unique? It’s NOT just a sales push. Marvel promised real endings to plots, real change, and no “psych!” moments. The last issue guarantees the Maker’s story ends. No characters are safe. The only question is who will make it out alive.
Origin Boxes: The Ultimate Universe Leaves Its Mark on Earth-616
Ultimate Endgame introduces a new game-changer—the Origin Boxes. These mysterious artifacts, scattered thanks to Miles Morales, launch a new era for Marvel continuity.
Origin Boxes contain the catalysts needed to grant famous superpowers to whoever opens them. Want Wolverine’s healing? Captain Marvel’s cosmic power? Iron Lad entrusted Miles with Origin Boxes, which end up in Earth-616. These will determine Marvel’s next wave of superhumans, starting in 2026.
| Artifact | Powers Granted | Universe Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Origin Box (Red) | Adamantium Skeleton | Earth-6160, Earth-616 |
| Origin Box (Blue) | Spider-Powers | Earth-6160 |
| Origin Box (Green) | Terrigen Mists | Earth-6160, Earth-616 |
| Origin Box (Yellow) | Super-Soldier Serum | Earth-6160 |
Miles Morales will be responsible for spreading these across his universe, sparking chaos and setting up new Legacy Characters. Misty Knight and the Aberrant Crimes Division, per recent panels, are likely forming a task force to investigate and control the new wave of superhumans.
Why Marvel Made This Decision: Creative Control and Business Masterstroke
You ask—why end Marvel’s best-selling universe at its peak? The real answer is creative control. Marvel recognized the drawbacks of never-ending reboots (the 2000s Ultimate Universe ran for 15 messy years before collapsing into confusion and declining finance). This time, leadership wanted a “contained, masterfully told narrative”—something you could easily recommend, binge-read, or put on a shelf like Watchmen, not tie together endless event comics.
Financially, the plan is equally shrewd. Each trade paperback now becomes a high-value, collectible item with a complete story. Marvel sets up a new wave of #1 relaunches (spring 2026) across mainline titles, using Origin Boxes for new characters. The sales data bears it out: contained stories are selling better than lengthy ongoing runs.
DC’s Absolute Universe vs Marvel’s Ultimate Line: Rivalry Dead?
The timing couldn’t be more dramatic. DC is ramping up their Absolute Universe just as Marvel shutters its competitor. Camp, now writing Absolute Martian Manhunter, called it “a rivalry heating up,” only for Marvel to walk away. Many fans think the abrupt end was a missed opportunity, leaving DC to dominate the prestige, limited-run universe format. But the silver lining: contained universes rarely lose value. Ultimate Universe sales are projected to spike in the final months before closure, just as Absolute Batman did in 2024.
What This Means For Collectors and Investment (Should You Buy Now?)
Not every comic event is this clear-cut. The Ultimate Universe is ending when excitement is highest. Your window for grabbing key books before prices spike is closing quickly. Marvel’s announcement triggered a rush on Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimates variant covers.
Key issues to watch:
- Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (Jonathan Hickman)
- Ultimate X-Men #1 (Peach Momoko)
- Ultimate Endgame #1-5
- Ultimates #24 (Deniz Camp’s last issue)
Don’t be surprised if these books jump in value over 2026 and 2027, as new readers discover the contained universe through digital, trade, and hardback editions. First printings, key variant covers, and signed editions are at a premium already.
Here’s your table converted into a properly formatted version:
| Comic Title | Estimated Value (Oct 2025) |
|---|---|
| Ultimate Spider-Man #1 | $23 – $41 |
| Ultimate X-Men #1 | $19 – $37 |
| Ultimate Endgame #1 | $14 – $27 |
Would you like me to format it for HTML, WordPress Gutenberg, or Markdown (for your blog posts)?
Marvel’s Ultimate Universe ending is the biggest real shakeup in comics publishing this decade. It comes by choice, not desperation or declining sales—and it’s a signal of how much the business, creative direction, and ambition of superhero storytelling have evolved by 2026.
If you want to collect, read, or discuss Marvel’s most creative universe, you’ve got just a few months left.