Posted in: Avengers, Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, X-Men | Tagged: dan buckley, Deniz camp, jonathan hickman, ultimate, ultimate universe

Deniz Camp Explains Why The Ultimate Universe Is Ending

Deniz Camp Explains Why The Ultimate Universe Is Ending... without the conspiracy theories.

A New York Comic Con report by Popverse, a site owned by the owners of NYCC, has caused a bit of a stir regarding Marvel's ending of the Ultimate Universe, announced at New York Comic Con in a private comic book retailers meeting, and leaked first by Bleeding Cool. 

The article is headlined "Ultimate Universe architect Jonathan Hickman didn't expect Marvel Comics to close the line down" and it cites Marvel Comics President Dan Buckley on the Marvel Next Big Thing panel talking about Jonathan Hickman, saying "We were at one of those creative retreats and I was sitting next to him, we're just talking, and he's like, 'Well, we're finishing our stories, then you could do that.' I said, 'No, you're done,'" Buckley remembered. "I was by myself with Jon, Jonathan's looking at me, he goes, 'What do you mean we're done?' I said, 'We're shutting it down.' He goes, 'Why are we shutting it down?' I said, 'It's the end, right?'"… Turns out that, even though Hickman had written a two-year-and-done storyline, he still didn't think Marvel would cancel the line after it was done. Buckley, however, felt that it was important to do so. "There's a lot of story being told here. You'll be able to take this journey — take the beginning, the middle, and the end — and digest it for years to come and be able to pass it on to people and say, 'This is the experiment, this type of storytelling, we're allowed to do this,'" Buckley explained, arguing that allowing this incarnation of the Ultimate Universe to stand apart from anything before or after was important as a statement of creative intent."

What the article doesn't mention is that Dan Buckley says that this impressed Jonathan Hickman. But it has been taken by some online that, in some way, Marvel is screwing over Jonathan Hickman over this decision, going against his wishes. Ultimates and Ultimate Incursion writer Deniz Camp wanted to set the record straight on social media, saying;

"It's not fake news, but it's a sensationalistic headline that misses a lot of the nuance. It implies people are getting pushed out, which I don't think is the case (from everything I've heard/everyone I've talked to). John just didn't think Marvel would be bold enough to do this. I'll go into it more later, but I hate that any of the behind the scenes stuff is eating into people's excitement about the story. John is very supportive of, and excited for, this, I know that for sure."

"Okay, the End of the Ultimate Universe (from my perspective): It's true that the original plan was not to "end" the universe. A lot of my run is setting up characters I hoped would go on past me, I think I've made that clear and obvious. BUT. John was ending his run at 24, that was always the case. He was done. Peach [Momoko] and Bryan [Edward Hill] were both ending their stories when the Maker got out as well. That was their decision. (according to what I've been told/my interactions with them) (And it makes sense. Think about it – Peach is writing and drawing every issue for 24 issues. That's insane. She works like 20 hours a day on that book, no joke. She's the hero of the line. She deserves a break, if she wants one). Wolverine was only meant to be 12; then it got extended to 16. The other creators were offered more issues to run alongside Endgame, but they declined (I saw that happen). The only person who planned on continuing was me."

"Initially, still very early, those books were going to end as those creators left, and Ultimates would have continued and new books launched (I was pushing for Hawkeye, Guardians was discussed, etc). This was all very vague. But then, Wil Moss came to me and said, hey, I think we're going to end it. End it end it. This was a long time ago, at least a year before now I think, but I'd have to check. Not because the books are "too woke" (if it were that, they'd interfere with the writing of it, which they haven't) or because the main line is jealous (this is silly, money is money to them), but because everything seemed to be coming to a natural conclusion."

"They felt that they had something special with the universe as it was, consistent creative visions that told their stories and had a clear beginning, middle and end. An accessible, creator-forward reimagination of the Marvel Universe. A version of the neverendingstory that ended. And that the purity of that vision, they though/think, could pay dividends for a long time after, if it didn't overstay the welcome, dilute it, or fumble the ending."

"Yes, I had plans for stuff coming after, continuing this world, and part of me was bummed about that, but in my heart I think I knew that they'd be "lesser". Moreover, for me, the Ultimate Universe has been a place for TRYING new things in comics. Radical things. Whether it's the real time pacing, or the radical interventions of Marvel characters, or the formal play that have characterized my run, that's what excited me about the Ultimate Universe. Excites me still. And this – really, truly ending the universe on a high note, having it be this contained thing, giving a story an END – that's radical for big 2 comics! It's something that, to the best of my knowledge, has never been done on this scale by Marvel or DC. That is exciting to me. I hope it is exciting to you!"

"But I don't mean to tell anyone how to feel about any of this. And I don't want to speak for anyone. Perhaps I've been misinformed, or feelings have changed – I don't know. But this is how it is from my perspective. It's been awful to see people hurt by this, which is why I wrote this thread, but very moving. Like I said, I don't want to tell anyone how to feel, but I also don't want them to feel bad for the wrong reasons… It's not dumb AT ALL. It means so much to me, and I"m sure to everyone, that people care about this. What I keep trying to get across is that feelings are complex — I'm sad it's ending to, as I'm sure Peach, John, etc are. It's good to care about things. It's beautiful."

"ANd I just want to encourage everyone to make whatever you want with this symbol and this message. It's a real honor to see it around, and very much in the spirit of the book that everyone is doing their own thing with it. (this is all very marvel UNapproved, as it should be!)"

Which is just the way I like it, Deniz!

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