The Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel discussion began with President Dan Buckley, Editor-in-Chief CB Cebulski, Editor-in-Chief Nick Lowe and Editor-in-Chief Will Moss, along with screenwriters Deniz Camp, Philip Kennedy Johnson, Chris Condon (who appeared in cosplay wearing an Ultimate Wolverine helmet), and surprise guest Joshua Williamson.
The panel covered a lot, from the shocking fate of the Ultimate Line to the announcement of a new Iron Man series written by Williamson to mark his return to Marvel. Fans also got their first look at a Doom-themed horror offering and a fresh preview of Infernal Hulk.
infernal hulk
The panel discussion began with a first look at the terrifying-looking Infernal Hulk #1-2, where writer Philip Kennedy Johnson promised the Hulk would be stronger than ever. Featuring art by Nick Klein.
“Until now Hulk has been Banner’s monster,” Johnson teased on the panel. “He’s the one that creeps behind Banner’s eyes. Starting with ‘Infernal Hulk,’ the Hulk is the monster of the Marvel Universe. He’s the Hulk of Marvel, not just Banner himself. It starts to tie in with the entire Marvel Universe. He becomes everyone’s problem. The monsters we’ve seen so far have been fun and exciting, but what we’re working on is truly cosmic in scope, where everything accelerates and the stakes are much higher.” ”
The biggest reveal, which few believed at first, was that the Ultimate Marvel Universe is coming to an end, culminating in a showdown with The Maker starting next year in Ultimate Endgame #1. The Ultimate line is one of Marvel’s strongest and most talked about lines every month, which makes this announcement all the more surprising.
ultimate endgame
To promote what’s happening in End of The Ultimates and Endgame, Deniz Camp shared a lot about what’s happening in the ending of the series.
“This is really the culmination of everything that John (Hickman) started with Ultimate Invasion and everything that’s been happening in my book and everyone’s books. It’s all converging here and it’s all coming to an end in a big way,” Camp said. “A lot of stories have a lot of conclusions, and you’re going to see some where the story doesn’t have a conclusion. Whatever it is, it’s going to be big and emotional. There’s life, there’s death, and new characters are introduced. New twists on old characters we’ve seen before in Niverse, and new twists on characters we haven’t seen before… It’s just wild. The city opens up. And things go crazy.”
Despite the promise that the main story of the Ultimate series is coming to an end, not all fans, let alone retailers, actually believe it will truly end. Deniz Camp once again clarified for the opposition:
“Nothing like this has ever been attempted before. We’re working on it with the elation that we can tell the story that we all wanted to tell, the way we wanted to tell it. This is something I’m really excited about. We’re not going to slow down and we’re going to work on it with a high, doing the best work we’ve ever done on these books.”
The final chapter of The Ultimates is called “Ultimate Uprising.” Details are unknown, but it will likely have a heartbreaking ending. In the “Ultimate Universe,” “Ultimate Spider-Man,” “X-Men,” “Black Panther,” and “Ultimate” all end with issue 24, and “Wolverine” ends with issue 16.
As previously reported, the first issue of Ultimate Endgame will feature a True Believer blind bag featuring original sketches of never-before-seen, unique 1/2 art pieces by Marvel’s greatest artists to date.
Other details about what’s included in these final issues of the Ultimate Universe:
Ultimate Spider-Man 22-24, things escalate quickly. The final three issues are a huge story in which the Sinister Six, Spider-Man, Mysterio, Green Goblin, the surprising allies Spider-Man made along the way, Black Cat, and Venom/Richard Parker all come together in surprising ways. Vibranium, the ultimate Black Panther, is inhabited by the dark spirit that our ancestors claim is a resource that does not belong to the Wakandans as they thought. Storm foresees this prophecy that this child of light is connected to her. In “Ultimate X-Men,” every character has their final moments. Ultimate sees the return of the Doom issue drawn by Phil Noto in #17. It’s Doom who makes things like Fantastic Four. There will be four panels per page, but similar to the critically acclaimed #4 issue, the format will be different. Finally, issue #18 is the kickoff to the end of this universe. #19 will be a Wasp-focused issue. #20 Nick Fury. “Ultimate Daredevil” is drawn by Javier Pulido, a famous Spanish cartoonist. Before the end, there will also be another issue focused on Thor, who is rooted in Norse mythology. Spinning out of Ultimate Wolverine issue #10, the Eurasian Republic is thrown into turmoil by civil war. The Eurasian Republic wants revenge because the people are unhappy and no one knows what happened to Omega Red.
After Ultimate’s talk, Marvel revealed more details about the aftermath of One World Under Doom. The 616 Universe is looking for a new Sorcerer Supreme in upcoming Sorcerer Supreme comics. There are also signs that Dungeons of Doom is following the horror trend, with Philip Kennedy Johnson and Ben Percy teaming up with Carlos Magno, Robert Gil, Justin Mason, and Georges Gentil for a horror anthology set in a gigantic fortress that houses Doom’s most dangerous nightmares. There will be Latveria freedom fighters, Wakandan spies, and multiple forces trying to make sure what’s inside this fortress doesn’t get out.
Finally, the panel ended with the appearance of DC’s Joshua Williamson, who revealed that he is writing a new Iron Man with art by Carmen Carnero. The premise is that Iron Man confronts Madame Masque and AIM (or Mask and Mask?), who are trying to recreate their own version of Tony Stark by kidnapping the world’s brightest people and putting them through the same trials that created Iron Man. Not necessarily to create an Iron Man suit…but to create a type of Tony in some way.
As shared in a previous expose, Williamson said:
“I’m a huge Iron Man fan. I’m a huge Iron Man fan…and I knew the time had come. I absolutely had to do this. Part of the tagline of the book is that Tony Stark is the most dangerous weapon in the Marvel Universe. When he went into the cave, Tony made an armor…but when you think about it, that armor wasn’t what he made in the cave. Tony made Tony.”
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage of NYCC ’25.
Something like this:
Like loading…
