Marvel Comics Confirms That The ULTIMATE UNIVERSE Will End In 2026

Ahead of Ultimate Endgame's launch later this year, Marvel Comics has confirmed that the Ultimate Universe will end in 2026, bringing a close to the titles starring Spider-Man, Wolverine, and more...

News

By JoshWilding - Oct 09, 2025 06:10 AM EST

Filed Under: Marvel Comics

Source: Bleeding Cool

We've known for a while that Ultimate Endgame is fast approaching, and as it turns out, that really will be the end of the new Ultimate Universe. Launched in 2023 with Jonathan Hickman at the helm, this alternate reality was created by the original Ultimate Reed Richards, The Maker.

He removed many of the superheroes' origins from the timeline, creating a twisted world that's since started fighting back against him with the emergence of Spider-Man, Captain America, and a version of Iron Man who seems to have more in common with Kang than Tony Stark.

The Maker has spent the past two years trapped inside Latveria, and when he finally emerges—2000 years later for the villain—all hell looks set to break loose.

At New York Comic Con yesterday, Marvel Comics confirmed that the Ultimate Universe will end in April 2026. The line, which features Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Wolverine, and The Ultimates, is a huge seller for Marvel Comics.

That makes this news somewhat surprising, though it has already been confirmed that Hickman and Marco Checchetto's Ultimate Spider-Man, for example, ends with December's issue #24.

Like DC Comics' Absolute line, the Ultimate titles are outselling the mainstream universe titles. With that in mind, we'd bet on an Ultimate Universe relaunch, which, following The Maker's final defeat, will obviously once again look vastly different.

Still, there's always a chance that this was only ever going to be a two-year project telling a self-contained story. If that happens, then perhaps we can expect another new Ultimate Universe to be created somewhere down the line.

Ultimate Spider-Man, in particular, has been a huge seller for Marvel Comics because it's allowed Peter Parker to grow up and have a wife and family. Would the publisher really abandon that? We find it hard to believe...

ENDGAME HAS ARRIVED!

The moment that has been building since the beginning of the new Ultimate Universe! Spinning out of Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s ULTIMATES comes the culmination of ULTIMATE INVASION... Two (thousand) years have passed in the Ultimate Universe, but inside the City, the Maker has had thousands of years to prepare for his return! With the barrier around the City finally gone, heroes all across the Ultimate Universe must mobilize to defeat the Maker before it’s game over. For everyone. Meanwhile, the rest of the world wages World War III...

ULTIMATE ENDGAME #1 (OF 5)
Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art by TERRY DODSON & JONAS SCHARF
Cover by MARK BROOKS
On Sale 12/31

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6 Comments

TheVandalore - 10/9/2025, 6:40 AM

Deja Vu

whatthetruck - 10/9/2025, 6:44 AM

@TheVandalore - I think that only applies when you've seen it twice.
Might 5 or 6 times for me at this point.

Apophis71 - 10/9/2025, 9:17 AM

@TheVandalore - Double edged sword of most the major characters having 60yrs+ history, stuff is gonna increasingly seem repetive even in the main universe, the amount of history increasingly detering some new readers and restricting creative freedom so you get limited run alt universe stuff for more creative freedom and an easier entry point for new readers every now and then...

No matter HOW good or innovative a creator is, everything they write/draw is still all based on what went before in print, RL or personal history ultimately which is why some say there can never be any true new stories, just differing spin on what went before.

Typicaly they will want to pull everything and everyone back to the primary timeline again in terms of writers/artists/resources and readers eventualy else the alt universe ends up with the same issues of the main and dilutes your talent pool and readership too much. The question thus ends up being if/what character wise gets brought over from the alt timeline to the main one, if anything does. That or if that specific alt universe ever gets referenced/returned to again. Do they simply kill off that timeline, give it a 'happy ending' of sorts or do a crisis on infinate Earths/Secret War type event to merge timelines together into a rebooted main.

I never minded them trying out new ideas in alt universes even if never interested in reading any specific ones. Even if no crossovers it tended to help find what works or doesn't WITHOUT negatively impacting Earth prime but then helped to inject what did work into the original versions to prevent them becoming stale and dated similar to how short term use of legacies can if the main is temp sidelined one way or another. Doesn't always work but...

NonPlayerC - 10/9/2025, 10:07 AM

@Apophis71 - Im more of an originalist, it's fun to have a side ultimate universe now and again to switch things up but I dont ever take them very seriously. You are right though, as Shakespeare said there are only really 7 stories. We just change the setting and characters, but that's how we fall in love with the stories. The ability of a writer to make you connect, relate, and be fascinated by the characters and setting is what makes or breaks it, so even when it feels repetitive it may or may not be better than what came before. Having these long running characters is a disadvantage in storytelling but an advantage in advertising, so definitely a double edged sword. I think it's best in comics when they let a character die or take a back seat for more than a decade like they did with characters like Barry Allen and jean gray. It was an event when Barry came back after 23 years. It's so tempting to bring them back too early if sales aren't where they want to be.

TheDpool - 10/9/2025, 7:31 AM

Hoping the relaunch is more like continuing this continuity but merging the original Ultimate universe with it, making that this universes past.

CorndogBurglar - 10/9/2025, 9:53 AM

Of course. Lets stop making the books people actually like. Ultimate Spider-Man has been the best Spidey has been in a VERY long time. Honestly, the only one I haven't liked is Ultimate X-Men.

But sure, let's stop and POSSIBLY relaunch another new Ultimate Universe that may not even be as good.

This is why Marvel fails.

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Marvel Comics Confirms That The ULTIMATE UNIVERSE Will End In 2026

Ahead of Ultimate Endgame's launch later this year, Marvel Comics has confirmed that the Ultimate Universe will end in 2026, bringing a close to the titles starring Spider-Man, Wolverine, and more...

The King Of The Monsters Joins Forces With Knull In Upcoming GODZILLA: INFINITY ROAR Comic Book Event

Marvel Comics Unleashes New Covers, Interior Artwork, And Story Details For HULK: SMASH EVERYTHING Series

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.