Ultimate X-Men

Ultimate X-Men is a Marvel Comics series that has been released since 2001 and revolves around the X-Men . The series is not set in the ordinary Marvel Comics universe, which has existed since 1961, but in its own "Ultimate Marvel" universe, in which all characters have been reinterpreted from scratch. Because you could get into the series without prior knowledge, new fans should be attracted. The main difference between the Ultimate X-Men and their "old" counterparts are the more realistic plots that have been adapted for the 21st century. As with the original interpretation of the X-Men, the "Ultimate X-Men" mutants also have to deal with racism , terror and super villains.

history

Mark Millar

At the beginning of the 21st century, Marvel Comics films like X-Men (2000) and Spider-Man (2002) were huge hits and attracted a lot of new fans. Marvel Comics director Joe Quesada then decided to create a new universe next to the Marvel universe (known as "Earth-616"), which had existed since 1961. In this continuity called "Ultimate Marvel", all figures have been reinterpreted and their previous history, e.g. Partly adapted to the 21st century, so that new readers could get started without any prior knowledge.

For the "Ultimate X-Men" Quesada hired the Scottish author Mark Millar , who became known for independent works such as The Authority and Wanted , which was filmed in 2008 . Millar reinvented the X-Men team and, as founding members, led the paraplegic Professor X as head of the X-Men team around Cyclops , Jean Gray , Storm , Wolverine , Beast , Iceman and Colossus . Later, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat added. As in the movie X-Men, the archenemy of the X-Men was the "brotherhood" mutant terror cell around the super villain Magneto.

Millar attached great importance to action-oriented, controversial storylines, in which the X-Men often got into moral gray areas and deviated strongly from the mainstream version. He took the opportunity to see the figures e.g. Sometimes strong to overtake. In his reinterpretation, Wolverine is an unscrupulous killer who only becomes a hero late, Storm is a tough rocker bride from Harlem instead of a weather goddess, Jean Gray is much more self-confident, and Colossus is finally homosexual . Magneto and his brotherhood contain many references to current terrorist groups such as the IRA (Millar is British) and Al-Qaeda .

Bendis and Vaughan

After Millar got out in issue 40, he was first followed by Brian Michael Bendis of the brother title "Ultimate Spider-Man". Bendis, whose stories are much more psychological than those of the action-heavy and cynical Millar, brought in quieter plots in which the characters became immersed. During his time, characters such as Rogue , Angel and Dazzler were introduced. But Bendis also reinvented various things, so that Dazzler is a Riot Grrrl punk singer instead of a 1970s disco singer .

After Bendis resigned in issue 45, he was succeeded by Brian K. Vaughan ( Y: The Last Man ). Vaughan, known for his pop culture-heavy plots, introduced many new characters such as Gambit, Apocalypse, Northstar, Mr. Sinister, Spiral, Arcade or Mojo. Some of the original stories that are not very contemporary (e.g. Gambit is a robber prince in Earth-616, just a day thief in Ultimate Marvel; Mojo has been modernized from an alien to a businessman; Arcade from a mad scientist to a mercenary). Vaughan received high critical acclaim for his often creative reinterpretations.

Robert Kirkman

The current author is Robert Kirkman . A noticeable change took place under him: if the stories were previously free of aliens, time travel, dimensional portals and similar elements of "high science fiction", these elements were all introduced under him. The criticism is currently divided.