Ultimate Marvel changed everything. Launched in 2000, the comics imprint from the major superhero publisher reimagined iconic characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men as if they had been freshly invented at the dawn of the 21st century. The goal was to energize readers who might be intimidated by decades of publication history, and it succeeded. In particular, artist Bryan Hitch's work with writer Mark Millar onThe Ultimates made the Avengers cool andprovided a useful blueprint for the eventual Marvel Cinematic Universe (from inventing the Chitauri aliens to drawing Nick Fury to look like Samuel L. Jackson). More than a decade later, writerJonathan Hickman brought the Ultimate Marvel universe to an end withSecret Wars.

Now, EW can exclusively reveal that Hickman and Hitch are teaming up for a new comic series,Ultimate Invasion, which will feature elements from the Ultimate Marvel universe. The Maker (an alternate version of Reed Richards) and Miles Morales (perhaps Ultimate Marvel's most important original character, though he wasn't created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli until 2011) are both set to play major roles in the story.

"I think it's fair to say that both Bryan and I have already put in our time doing Ultimate books, so when Marvel laid this project in front of us, we both knew there needed to be a good reason to revisit the idea of 'Ultimate Comics' beyond telling a cool story or just getting to work together, which is something we've been trying to do for years," Hickman tells EW. "So with that in mind, it couldn't be replicating or revisiting what Bryan did in the originalUltimates — creating a streamlined, modernized version that would eventually become the spine of the MCU — and it certainly couldn't be what I did, which was a final chapter of a pre-existing universe."

For his part, Hitch says, "It's been more than 20 years since I started work on The Ultimates, a project that would have a big impact on my own career and beyond, so when Marvel came to me with the idea of revisiting the Ultimate Universe with the man who so brilliantly and spectacularly destroyed the last one, I was both feet in! Jonathan is a terrific writer of big, sprawling epics and we've talked about working together more than once so for this new Ultimate Universe adventure to unite us is very exciting. I get to bring two decades of new experience as an artist and storyteller to this. It's new, different and familiar. It's big budget, high-concept, widescreen storytelling. I feel right at home."

Hickman continues, "we also thought the very idea of Ultimate Comics needed to be inverted from what the original universe was. We wanted this to be something that could really only exist in the comic space: A new way of thinking about, and enjoying, a new version of the Marvel Universe. I'm pretty happy to say that it feels like we've accomplished those things and we're very excited for everyone to get to read it."

The Maker, Hickman says, is "pretty much the perfect vehicle to get us from point A to point B."

Like Hitch, Hickman's Marvel work has had a strong impact on the MCU.The Illuminati inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness come from hisNew Avengers run with artists like Steve Epting, as do the incursions mentioned in both that film andAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Given the involvement of former Illuminati members like Black Panther, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Iron Man, and Namor in Hitch's exclusive preview art above, it seems likely that the group (who once took it upon themselves to reckon with the incursion problem, to the chagrin of their fellow superheroes) will at least partially re-form inUltimate Invasion.

After theSecret Wars comic wrapped in 2015, Hickman took a break from Marvel comics for a few years as he focused more on independent projects likeEast of West with Nick Dragotta. But Hickman returned to Marvel with a bang in 2019, reinvigorating the X-Men inthe monumentalHouse of X/Powers of X event series and overseeing a new generation of mutant stories (whose influence on the MCU still has yet to be revealed, with producerKevin Feige staying cageyin EW's recent interview even aftermaking a cameo in a Hickman-pennedX-Men issue in 2021).

When Hickman departed X-Men comics with 2021'sInferno event,he told EW that Marvel had "an expectation for me to write bigger books that have a wider reach than" regular monthly ongoing comics. His tease thatUltimate Invasion will involve "a new way of thinking about and enjoying" Marvel comics seems to fit that bill.

Longtime readers of Hickman's work may notice a striking similarity between the character designs for the Maker and the post-House of X Charles Xavier. Both characters now sport sleek bodysuits and face-obscuring helmets. Asked for comment on this similarity, Hickman says only, "well, they do look cool."

Ultimate Invasion is set to hit stands this June. Above, check out exclusive preview pages by Hitch that are set to appear in the Free Comic Book Day preview in May.

Related content:

• Long Live theHouse of X: Marvel's X-Men creators discuss the Krakoa era
• House of X andPowers of X are the best comics of 2019
• House of X writer Jonathan Hickman explains the thinking behind those data pages