Posted in: Avengers, Comics, Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, X-Men | Tagged: Deniz camp, ultimate, ultimates

Marvel Introduces Ultimate Defenders, Super Heroes Without Politics

Marvel introduces the Ultimate Defenders, Super Heroes without politics in The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp and X (Spoilers)

Published Wed, 25 Feb 2026 08:52:09 -0600

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Wed, 25 Feb 2026 08:54:12 -0600

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Article Summary

Marvel introduces the Ultimate Defenders, heroes marketed as apolitical alternatives to classic teams.
The Ultimates #21 critiques superhero comics' tendency to avoid real change and embrace corporate interests.
Deniz Camp uses parody and satire to highlight the illusion of progress in the Marvel Universe.
Questions raised about superheroes’ roles, empty symbolism, and the politics comics try to hide from readers.

Ultimate Spoilers! Ultimate Spoilers! Ultimate Spoilers! Ultimate Spoilers! Ultimate Spoilers! The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp, Pere Perez is published today by Marvel Comics. As what once was the United States Of America, run by The Maker and his Council has fallen, and The Ultimates organisation, such that it is, tries to rebuild and repair. And naturally, it all seems rather familiar, as it's time for a Great Reset,

Marvel Introduces Ultimate Defenders, Super Heroes Without Politics — The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp, Pere Perez

And Worker Committees take over multinational conglomerates and state services in a very Soviet fashion, with logos so freshly painted that they are dripping. And we have the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 under scrutiny. And talking of Soviet-style language…

The finest of motives, but people are people and they are heading for a fall. Especially with language like that, revolutionary councils, worker committees, and the way it has been sold over the years, not everyone's going to be up for that…

The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp, Pere Perez

Should have called them Communists. But fear not! Because this Brave New World still has marketing elite in it…

And they have something to sell. An alternative to all this left-wing propaganda, when all people want are superheroes without the politics…

Welcome to The Ultimate Defenders, who stand for nothing aside from vague generalities, even as they are sponsored by the same corporations that The Ultimates collectives have been taking over. The kind that you will find in most Marvel Comics superhero publications.

No wonder Marvel Comics is bringing the Ultimate Universe to an end if this series continues to bite the hand that feeds it, and points out the biggest issue with superhero comics to the reading public.

Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, is Ballistic in this world, a far more precise and modern term, which makes you think of a current military rather than something so old-fashioned. Andn Norse Gods that tie into white supremacy? I hear James Tynion is writing a comic about that too. And Brian Azzarello already did, a bit. But will that audience be happy with a gender flipped character?

And as we all know, manga and anime are completely and utterly apolitical and would never do anything to relfect real world politics or social concerns…

It's also worth remembering what Captain Britain was like before Dave Thorpe, Alan Davis and Alan Moore… Black Knight with a flag. And managing not to even consider a colonial past or present.

Someone's got to sell all those healthcare products of dubious value for your gut macrobiology, remember. Give the people what they want…

And ending that page with the quote of quotes.

Straight from the lips of Stan Lee. Or rather, a paraphase of something attributed to Stan Lee by Steve Englehart, who told the Comics Journal in 1981 about leaving Marvel in 1974. "There's that famous meeting that happened before the quitting time when Stan said, "I don't want progress; I want the illusion of progress now. We don't want people dying and coming out of the strips, we don't want new girlfriends, we want to try to keep it the same." The Death of Gwen Stacy had led to the kind of complaints that Marvel now gets about Mary Jane Watson. Alan Moore, in 1983, thought differently, saying, "Who says readers don't want change? Did they do a survey or something? Why wasn't I consulted? If readers are that averse to change, then how come Marvel ever got to be so popular in the first place, back when constant change and innovation was the order of the day? Frankly, it beats it beats the hell out of me." And with this issue of The Ultimates, Marvel Comics does The Boys and goes after pretty much everything Marvel Comics has done, including Stan Lee. Which means, as DC Comics did, they have to cancel it pretty darn quickly. The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp, Pere Perez is published today by Marvel Comics. Get it while you can.

The Ultimates #21 by Deniz Camp, Pere Perez
LUKE CAGE AND THE NEW AVENGERS! The New Avengers, led by Luke Cage, take on the Maker's Council! Prisoners turned super-powered heroes thanks to the heroic catalysts reclaimed from the Maker…in an all-out brawl across the globe!

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