| Ultimate Origins | |
|---|---|
 Cover toUltimate Origins #1 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | August — December 2008 |
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Brian Michael Bendis |
| Artist | Butch Guice |
Ultimate Origins is acomic booklimited series published byMarvel Comics, released in June 2008.[1] It falls under Marvel'sUltimate Marvel imprint. It is written byBrian Bendis and illustrated byButch Guice. It is intended to be a chapter in the development ofUltimatum, a crossover event that begun in September 2008.
Jeph Loeb stated in an interview withComic Book Resources: "WhatUltimate Origin is going to do is sort of tell us how it all began. ... TheUltimate Universe isn't very old, so this isn't a cosmic story. You're not going to see the birth of a planet. What you'll see is how the superhero community was introduced into the human population. So you'll learn the importance of things like the Super Soldier program, which has been hinted at inUltimate Spider-Man andUltimates 1 and 2. Now, Brian is going to connect the dots."[2]
The story opens with a scene fromUltimate Marvel Team-Up 3, whereSpider-Man confrontsBruce Banner, who is agitated and tells Spider-Man "it's all connected".Thunderbolt Ross arrives, and despite Spider-Man's attempts to defuse the situation, Banner transforms into the Hulk and escapes.
In flashbacks toWorld War II,Nick Fury andJames Howlett are experimented on and given superpowers. They respectively gain superhuman strength and a healing factor, with Howlett being dubbed "Mutant Zero".[3]
The story then alternates between the discovery of the artifact known as theWatcher byCarol Danvers ofProject Pegasus. A lame young man,Steve Rogers, is recruited byDum Dum Dugan into the Project Rebirth Super-Soldier Program. Through many different treatments, Rogers becomes a super-soldier and leaves his fiance Gail behind to start his life in World War II.
Later,Magneto visits theWeapon X complex and sets Wolverine free. When Magneto's mother, who works at the complex, tries to stop him, he murders her and proclaims that he hopes there "is a hell." Before his mother's death, she justifies her work with Weapon X by declaring that she only wanted to find a cure for Magneto and the others. Even later in Magneto's life, he reads a book published byCharles Xavier and is determined to meet him. Showing up in the class that Xavier teaches, they soon realize that Magneto is immune to Xavier'stelepathy. They discuss the theories involved with having "mutanity" accepted and relocate to theSavage Land.
Sometime later, Nick Fury is questioned by Thunderbolt Ross while lying in a hospital bed after apparently being saved from an unspecified wartime threat by Wolverine. Ross questions him about his previous involvement with the mutant known as Weapon X and the nature of Nick Fury's unique physiology. After Fury dismisses an offer to become the "new" Captain America (in replacement of the then-missing in action original), he wonders about his usefulness in other ways.
The story skips forward for a brief synopsis of Project Rebirth 2 and important characters, including Nick Fury,Franklin Storm, Bruce Banner,Hank Pym, andRichard Parker. During this time, Storm is contracted to work with theBaxter Building project as well as Project Rebirth. Their work with the facility uses a vial of Fury's blood. Fury's identity as the donor is concealed from all scientific participants, although Parker suspects the truth. When Banner seems to have had a breakthrough, he and Pym test it on themselves, starting with Banner. The trial goes awry and Banner as the Hulk destroys the building and severely injures Richard and Mary Parker. The sight of the infantPeter Parker in his mother's arms shocks Banner back to himself and he is subdued by Fury.
Later, Fury infiltrates the Weapon X project, and, after the shock of the environment sinks in, Fury realizes that nobody should ever know of human involvement in the mutant gene. He kills all of the scientists and their experimental subjects. The only mutant to survive isT'Challa, whom Fury feels a connection with due to their tragic pasts.
Charles Xavier is next seen being speared in the back as an act of retaliation by Magneto, who claims Charles tried to attack him in his own mind. Magneto speaks of the mutant race's fate to ascend like gods over humans and his belief that God willed this to be.
In the present day, the Watchers speak throughSue Storm and foretell certain doom that awaits before pickingRick Jones as their herald.
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Origins | Ultimate Origins #1-5 | January 2009 | 978-0785130352 |