When Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch launched Earth-6160 with Ultimate Invasion, the Maker described it as “a world still malleable, brimming with potential. A reality as flexible as I am.” Those words proved to be prophetic, as Ultimate Endgame #5 finds the Maker intending to end his “grand experiment” by erasing all of the heroes who chose to oppose him. In the process, he refers to Earth-616 and its inhabitants as “a mistake”, which reflects his fury at being denied. But it turns out the Maker should have heeded his own words, as other characters – particularly Iron Lad – find that they can bend this reality to their whim.
If Ultimate Invasion was Hickman delivering meta-commentary on storytelling, then Ultimate Endgame #5 is Deniz Camp showcasing how stories can live and grow beyond what their creators intended. While the Maker may have intended to make a world without heroes, those heroes rose up. Despite the fact that he’s using a combination of his powers and the Immortus Engine to reach through time and space, Iron Lad has that same power and utilizes it in a truly surprising way. And despite the world’s heroes being scattered across the globe, they’re united in one singular goal: to truly free the world.
Camp even reveals why Earth-6160 is a standout in the multiverse, once again touching upon plot points he set into motion at the beginning of The Ultimates. It’s also a chance for him, and by extension, Tony, to remind people that just because a story ends it doesn’t mean that the impact it made ends. The bold swings that happened in the Ultimate Universe aren’t just exclusive to Earth-6160; they took place in the original Ultimate Universe, when Hickman and other creators forged the X-Men’s Age of Krakoa, and even when Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko started to first forge the original Marvel Universe. To paraphrase another iconic comic, nothing ever truly ends.
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In addition to its mightily metafictional story, Ultimate Endgame #5 also sees Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf working together as a singular unit to craft a story that stretches through time and space. The Dodsons open the story with Kang staring at the edge of time, witnessing events he already saw in motion. It then bleeds into Scharf’s work, which delves into a full horror story as the Maker’s presence starts to engulf everything in its path. Wriggling tendrils stretch through time and space, tearing heroes in half; it leads to a moment where the art is rendered in black and white, making it feel like the Maker is “erasing” the very comic you’re reading.
The Dodsons wrap up Ultimate Endgame #5 by introducing plenty of surprising reveals and a final image that is truly beautiful, both in the way it’s drawn and what it represents. In the end, Earth-6160 is ending as it began, with a brilliant mind taking the reins of creation and shaping a new story. This time, it’s not the madness of the Maker that will shape the story but rather the heroism that Iron Lad inspired.
Ultimate Endgame #5 is the perfect end for the Ultimate Universe, delivering a profound story about the power of stories and wrapping up an epic that’s been two years in the making. Whether you’ve been on the ride since Ultimate Invasion or you’re just coming to the party, this is a comic you need to read.
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