Summary

• Inspired by the Ultimates comic, the Avengers’ battle against the Chitauri in the Avengers film features realistic and dramatic superhero action.
• The Ultimates team, led by Captain America, fought against invading Chitauri aliens and saved the Earth from destruction.
• Bryan Hitch’s illustrations and Mark Millar’s ​​storytelling in Ultimates brought epic superhero action and worldwide hero status.

This is “Nothing is Better,” a feature that puts a spotlight on classic older comics. This time, we return to the final storyline of the original volume of The Ultimates, where they faced off against the alien invasion of the Chitauri.

In 2012, the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to a dramatic conclusion with the release of The Avengersa film that combines the various heroes featured in the previous MCU films, such as Iron-Man, Thor, Incredible HulkAnd Captain America: The First Avenger. The film centers on the Avengers defending Earth from an invasion by the alien race known as the Chitauri, with the attack on New York City taking center stage…

The film was a blockbuster success and contributed to the success of the MCU for years to come. However, it’s interesting to note that there was a comic book story that heavily influenced this fight, although it wasn’t so much a direct inspiration but more of a proof of concept that fans would be very excited about a realistic and dramatic fight involving the Avengers, or in this case it would be a team called the Ultimates.

Who were the Ultimates?

The ultimatums (by writer Mark Millar, artist Bryan Hitch, inker Paul Neary, and colorist Paul Mounts) was part of the alternate Ultimate Universe and was essentially a postmodern take on the Avengers, with all the characters afflicted with all sorts of neuroses, while Bryan Hitch’s realistic drawings helped show what it would be like if there were actually superheroes in the world. Captain America was recovered from cryosleep at the end of the first issue and installed as the leader of a superhero team consisting of Iron Man, Giant Man, and Wasp.

Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, was also involved (with a look based on Samuel L. Jackson, which turned out to be quite a happy coincidence). The book was notable for its widescreen action, courtesy of Bryan Hitch (who used the same style he used to such great effect in The authority), and the soap opera drama that runs throughout the series, such as when Giant Man physically abuses his wife, the Wasp, and is kicked off the team. When Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk and runs amok in New York, the team is forced to go against one of its own for the first time! It was at this point that Thor joined the team, albeit in a strange way.

Who were the Chitauri?

The Chitauri were an alien race composed of shapeshifters who slowly infiltrated a planet and, through the use of high-level rulers, managed to bring about worldwide change. One of their first attempts to conquer Earth was by supporting Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.

Captain America fought in a flashback against one of their agents in Ultimate #10…

Captain America foiled the Nazis’ plans to win the war by inventing an atomic bomb carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile was launched at the White House, but Captain America managed to climb atop the missile and destroy its guidance system, causing it to crash harmlessly into the Arctic Ocean. Tragically, however, he crashed with the missile and froze in a state of limbo.

Many decades later, Captain America was resurrected. The Ultimates were funded by the international peacekeeping force SHIELD and consisted of a few heroes who gained their powers primarily by trying to recreate the serum that gave Captain America his abilities. In the decades since World War II, the Chitauri had slowly hatched a new plan to take over Earth. To achieve their goal, they infiltrated many key areas of SHIELD. Nick Fury, the head of SHIELD, suspected this and had a secret group of agents directly under his command root out some of the SHIELD spies.

This was well implemented in a sequence in Ultimate #10, when the wasp realized that her nurses were obviously aliens who wanted to kill her…

Fury’s plan and Wasp’s discovery forced the Chitauri to accelerate their plans, luring a large group of SHIELD agents and the Ultimates to a small Micronesian island. Once there, the Chitauri dropped a nuclear bomb on the island, seemingly wiping out the Ultimates.

How did the final battle against the Chitauri go?

In Ultimate #11, the Chitauri reveal themselves to the world and Hitch shows in a wonderful way HOW scary it would be if an alien invasion force suddenly hovered over the earth…

Fortunately, the Ultimates and a number of SHIELD agents were saved through the efforts of Iron Man and Thor, but many more SHIELD agents were killed.

Thinking the Ultimates were dead, the Chitauri infiltrated the Ultimates’ headquarters, took it over, and captured the Wasp. The Ultimates then launched their counteroffensive…

In the battle that follows, Thor shows off his amazing powers and Hitch demonstrates how great he is in large-scale operations…

The Ultimates cleverly used the Hulk to their advantage by sending an angry Hulk against the Chitauri…

Captain America encountered one of the Chitauri he had fought against in World War II. This villain, known as Mr. Kleiser, was a leader of the Chitauri. Captain America decided to fight him head-on, even though the alien was clearly more powerful than him. Captain America held his own against him very well, but in the end the Hulk showed up and finished off Kleiser by eating him.

The Chitauri planned to destroy Earth, but luckily Thor teleported the bomb to another dimension to save the day. The Ultimates had now publicly saved Earth from an alien invasion and established themselves as heroes around the world.

Some parts have aged poorly (the whole “you mean that letter stands for A?” part), but overall, Millar built a slow-developing invasion story that became a full-blown epic, and Hitch, Neary, and Mounts handled it all BEAUTIFULLY, showing that this kind of superhero story COULD be done in a way that would appeal to a modern audience… and they did!

Okay, guys, this feature is a little less receptive to suggestions (since it’s really about things that appeal to me, you know?), but hey, feel free to send suggestions for future parts to [email protected] anyway! Maybe we’ll have the same opinion and I’ll use your idea!