[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_ultimates2_issue1_3375.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Earth's Mightiest Heroes, only [[AdaptationalJerkass bigger jerks than usual]].]]

->''"The idea behind The Avengers is that the Marvel Universe's biggest players all get together and fight all the biggest supervillains they can't defeat individually, whereas ''Ultimates 2'' is an exploration of what happens when a bunch of ordinary people are turned into super-soldiers and being groomed to fight the real-life war on terror."''
-->-- '''Creator/MarkMillar'''

Marvel Comics' reimagining of ComicBook/TheAvengers as part of their new ComicBook/UltimateMarvel continuity, courtesy of Creator/MarkMillar and Creator/BryanHitch. As the above quote says, this series is not merely a retelling of the classic crossover superhero team, but goes the extra mile and reimagines the Avengers in this reality as a superhuman strike force team founded by ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} as an attempt to curb the rising threat of super terrorism and other [[PersonOfMassDestruction Persons of Mass Destruction]]. Originally launched in 2002, the first miniseries saw the iconic group go up against one of their own after Bruce Banner hulks out during a personal meltdown and later uncover an ancient alien conspiracy by a race called the Chituari, who have been plotting world domination as far back as World War II.

The Ultimates 2 deals with other countries taking issue with America using the Ultimates on their soil whether they ask for it or not, eventually culminating in a rival superpowered squad called "The Liberators" giving America a taste of their own medicine, as well as a mole personally orchestrating much of the events of the volume behind the scenes... with some help from a higher power.

The first two volumes of the Ultimates were well received and their take on classic characters and even storylines can be felt all over in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. ''The Ultimates 3'' was penned by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Joe Madureira. Due to Loeb not being familiar with the source material (leading to the Wasp being retconned to be white when she was previously established as being of Asian ethnicity, for example) and suffering personal problems at the time he wrote it, the 3rd volume of the Ultimates ''wasn't'' very well received and led to the universally reviled event known as ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}''. After that, the concept was rebooted into two series: ''Ultimate Avengers'' and ''New Ultimates''. Ultimate Avengers, by Millar and various artists was told over the course of 3 six issue arcs, centering on the returned Ultimate Nick Fury, Hawkeye along with featuring new Ultimate versions of Marvel characters and original creations for the team of Black Ops super heroes. ''New Ultimates'' by Loeb and Frank Cho told the story of most of the remaining original Ultimate team, including Captain America as they faced off against another threat.

The two teams would clash later on in the ''Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates'' crossover, which tied into the Ultimate line event "The Death of Spider-Man" leading to a line reboot that had The Ultimates get another series titled ''Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates'', as well as giving ''Ultimate Hawkeye'' his own mini-series by Creator/JonathanHickman, until after issue 12, where Sam Humphries took over as writer of the team. After issue 25, Joshua Hale Fialkov, writer of ''I, Vampire'' became the writer of the team for the remainder of the run.

Following ''[[ComicBook/CataclysmTheUltimatesLastStand Cataclysm]]'', the title was relaunched as part of the ComicBook/MarvelNOW initiative with a brand new cast and creative team. Written by Michel Fiffe and drawn by Amilcar Pinna, the book featured ComicBook/SpiderMan ([[AffirmativeActionLegacy Miles Morales]]), ComicBook/CloakAndDagger, Kitty Pryde, Bombshell, and the newest ComicBook/BlackWidow ([[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]]). The title ended in January 2015.

Following ''[[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Secret Wars]]'', [[ComicBook/TheUltimates2015 The Ultimates]] were revived as part of the ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel initiative in October 2015, though this iteration of the team didn't feature characters from Earth-1610, but rather: ComicBook/BlackPanther, [[ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel Blue Marvel]], ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}, ComicBook/MonicaRambeau, and ComicBook/AmericaChavez. Their first enemy? ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. Both teams would meet in ''Ultimates 2'' #100.

The comic's main series was made up of the following series:
[[index]]
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2002''. 13 issues, from March, 2002 to April, 2004.
*** ''Literature/TheUltimatesTomorrowMen'', sequel to the first miniseries in novel format (not canon)
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2''. 13 issues, from February, 2005 to February, 2007.
** ''The Ultimates saga'', one-shot in 2007.
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates3''. 5 issues, from February to November, 2008.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateComicsAvengers''. 18 issues (over 3 numbered mini series), August 2009 to January 2011.
** ''New Ultimates''. 5 issues, from March 2010 to February 2011.
** ''Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates''. 31 issues, from August 2011 to November 2013.
** ''[[ComicBook/CataclysmTheUltimatesLastStand Cataclysm]]: The Ultimates''. 3 issues, from November 2013 to January 2014.
** ''ComicBook/AllNewUltimates''. Ongoing series from April 2014 to January 2015.
** ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates2015 The Ultimates]]''. Ongoing series beginning October 2015. Serves as a complete reboot involving the Earth-616 version of the team.
[[/index]]
----
!!Tropes in the Ultimates include:
* AccidentalAdultery: Bucky marries ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's fiancée during the latter's long stint as a HumanPopsicle. Considering that Cap emerges still physically in his twenties to find Bucky and his former fiancée as senior citizens, a [[MayDecemberRomance resumed romance]] was unlikely in any case.
* AchillesInHisTent
** Initially, Thor refuses to join the Ultimates. When Hulk starts his rampage, Thor says that he will help if Bush increases the foreign aid budget. They take it as a refusal, and start the fight without him. But part way through, there's thunder and Thor shows up to stomp the Hulk under his hammer. Seems Bush had just increased the budget for foreign aid.
** [[spoiler:Captain America after the events of Death of Spider-Man.]]
* AdaptationalJerkass: See examples [[AdaptationalJerkass/UltimateMarvel here]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: See examples [[AdaptationalVillainy/UltimateMarvel here]]
* AlasPoorVillain:
** [[spoiler: The Red Skull, of all the people, gets this in his send-off. It turns out all he wanted was to use the Cosmic Cube to go back in time, prevent Cap from freezing, and then his parents (Steve and his then sweetheart, Gail) could marry and raise him themselves since he utterly loathed his life as a {{Tykebomb}}.]] To his credit, he knew the evils he had committed, but by then, it was too late for him.
** The Colonel too, but [[AntiVillain he wasn't really a villain]].
* AmericaSavesTheDay: Deconstructed. The team is American, but other countries start worrying about the Ultimates being used in ''their'' countries, whether they like it or not. There's also several European Super-Soldier initiatives [[spoiler:including Thor, who is really a Norwegian nutjob who stole the prototype tech for his country's hero. Except in the end he [[PhysicalGod really isn't]]. It comes to a head when it's revealed Gregory Stark has been using superhumans to...support rebellions for overthrowing the countries of antagonistic governments to be replaced by American-friendly democratic ones, mimicking RealLife tactics employed by the US in certain areas.]]
* AnimatedAdaptation: The Direct to DVD ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' was based off this series. It had a sequel that introduced Black Panther, but it was completely unlike the actual way Black Panther would be eventually used in the Ultimate universe.
* AntiVillain:
** Frank Simpson (Known in the 616 as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Nuke]]) has shades of this. Made as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's replacement for UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar he was exposed to the less than glorious part of the war, with Agent Orange, killing children and women not just soldiers. He turned rogue for a reason.
** The Colonel, who (despite being the leader of the villainous Liberators) is arguably one of the most sympathetic characters in the entire series. His death is surprisingly respectful and almost touching.
* ArmsDealer: Ghost in ''Armor Wars''.
* AttackDrone: Crimson Dynamo employs these. Post-Ultimatum, Tony has them as well, named [[MeaningfulName Wasps]].
* BackFromTheDead:
** [[spoiler: Captain America]] because of Thor's sacrifice. [[spoiler: Thor later as well]]. Subverted with [[spoiler: Valkyrie who SEEMS like she's pulling this but instead has to fulfill the mythological version.]]
** [[spoiler: Tony Stark via BrainUploading and then using the Infinity Gems to restore his body.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: In ''Ultimate Comics: Avengers 3'', a Giant Man named Scotty appears, making it seem like we've just been introduced to the Ultimate version of Scott Lang. However, the next issue reveals this is ''David'' Scotty and the real Scott Lang is named and properly introduced in the next story arc.
* BigBad: Herr Kleiser in ''The Ultimates''; Loki in ''The Ultimates 2'' and ''New Ultimates''; The Maker in the 2011 series.
* BigDamnHeroes: The climax of vol. 2. The Liberators have been defeated, so there's only Loki left, and he's way out of everyone's weight class, sneering at the heroes being unable to stop him. Then the Scarlet Witch steps up and declares "unless I stop you." Loki still sneers that she can't do anything. Unless, perhaps, she uses her powers to increase the chances of someone showing up to kick his ass. Cue Thor restored to all his godly powers.
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: Red Skull's origin. Raised on a secret military base, he seemed like a bright, enthusiastic and well-adjusted young man... until he turned sixteen, massacred every man in the base, cut his face off and ran out to commit as much mayhem as possible for the giggles.
* BluntYes: As Blackwell is being transformed into a Ghost Rider in exchange for his soul he asks if the Devil's plan was always to betray his loyal servants to recruit Johnny Blaze, he giddily replies, "From the moment I met you, idiot."
* BoxedCrook: The Spider-Man clone, who comes across like a Hannibal Lecter knock-off. Trading personal information that makes people uneasy for his assistance.
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne start as a couple, albeit pretty rocky, but she leaves him when he attacks her and starts a relationship with Captain America instead. Their relationship, however, proves to be so rocky that she eventually returns with Hank.
* BrickJoke: Early on, Quicksilver claims to have saved Hawkeye and Black Widow multiple times during a mission, which no-one believes because it's [[{{Jerkass}} Quicksilver]]. During Vol 2., it turns out Quicksilver moves so fast no-one ever notices what he's doing, and during a splash page in the final fight, he's seen doing exactly that.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: "Kang", that woman that aids the Maker, is [[spoiler:a Sue Storm from the future]]
* CanonForeigner: ''Literature/TheUltimatesTomorrowMen'' was a sequel to the first miniseries in literary form, and it introduced the "Tomorrow Men", time-travelers from the future. They were never referenced in the comic books, and the second miniseries resolves the ongoing plot lines in different ways from the book, wich thus became a CanonDiscontinuity.
* CanonImmigrant: See examples [[CanonImmigrant/UltimateMarvel here]].
* TheChessmaster: Unsurprisingly the Devil easily toys with the humans who make deals with him, always exploiting their weakness and in Johnny Blaze's case heroism for his own benefit.
* ComicBookFantasyCasting: As mentioned elsewhere on this page, Nick Fury was deliberately modeled after Samuel Jackson and Nick Fury says in comic that Hollywood would most likely cast Jackson to play him. Six years later, Jackson plays Nick Fury in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
** Behind-the-scenes interviews also show other "casting" choices for each Ultimate. Creator/BradPitt as Cap (which is lampshaded in-universe), Creator/JohnnyDepp as Tony, Creator/SteveBuscemi as Bruce Banner, Creator/BruceWillis as Hawkeye, Creator/ZhangZiyi as Janet, Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Hank, and UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} as Thor.
** Loki is noted to be modeled after Creator/NeilGaiman.
* CompositeCharacter: See examples [[CompositeCharacter/UltimateMarvel here]]
* CrazyPrepared
** Nick Fury. As he states, he's got a black belt in thinking ahead. It's why he has Wasp on the team, because you never know when you'll need a mutant on-team. He makes it a point to get as much dirt on anyone as he can as leverage that he can use whenever he wishes. He also has "cameras in places you wouldn't believe", including several in Hawkeye's house he never told anyone else about.
** Tony Stark, who can remotely control the nanites he gives Natasha, just in case.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ComicBook/TheAvengers are idealistic superheroes who fight the foes no single super hero could withstand, and they do it ForGreatJustice. The Ultimates, on the other hand, are ruthless superheroes groomed to fight the War on Terror.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: Quicksilver at one point uses an envelope to have Sue Storm ''pass out from pain''. He equates it to the feeling you have when you lick an envelope and you get a paper cut.
* DecompressedComic
* DeconReconSwitch: The series starts off as a deconstruction of the Avengers operating in the 21st Century, how, as a team of assassins and scientists, they would naturally be in the employ of a government organization while also [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerating]] some personality traits to emphasize how none of the members are actually KnightInShiningArmor superheroes. Then comes ''Ultimates 2'', where the team discovers the disastrous consequences of being a government-sanctioned team of superhumans and decide to become independent from SHIELD. From then on, the Ultimates become independent superheroes... until ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' left them in shambles, and the heroes went back to working for SHIELD in ''New Ultimates''.
* DividedStatesOfAmerica: Following the [[ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001 Sentinels rampaging in the Southwestern states]], along with the destruction of Washington D.C. and most of the government, Texas and later other states start to declare independence from the union. Something that President Steve Rogers will not take lightly.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
** Fury's [[SuperEmpowering empowering]] in ''Ultimate Origins'' is eerily reminiscent of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
** The Chitauri, ShapeShifting reptiles clearly culled from popular conspiracy theories, especially those of [[ConspiracyTheorist David Icke]] -- who was a key influence on Ultimate Thor.
* DramaticUnmask:
** In ''3'', Black Panther turns out to be Captain America cosplaying as Black Panther when the Juggernaut manages to punch his cowl off.
** Turns out, [[spoiler: Kang is actually a future version of Sue Storm.]]
* DwindlingParty: Between various deaths and defections (and the occasional defection ''then'' death), by the time ''Secret Wars'' rolls around of the original team the only ones left are Hawkeye and Iron Man.
* DysfunctionJunction:
** Who are the Ultimates? A soldier of WWII who suddenly found himself in a future world where nothing is like he remembers. A genius, billionaire, playboy, alcoholic philanthropist who is secretly dying of brain cancer. A new-age guru who claims to be a Norse god reincarnated (or is he?). A wifebeater with an inferiority complex. A closeted mutant who usually gets into toxic relations. A scientist broken down by his inability to crack the super soldier formula after so many years of study, and with a dominating girlfriend. Two master assassins. Two mutant siblings treated like dirtbags by everyone, including their own father. Unsurprisingly, loads of drama ensued.
** The Avengers manage to be worse. They've got a sociopathic assassins with a death wish, a scientist-turned-terrorist with a nightmarish past, a disgruntled former friend of Tony Stark's, Tony's asshole older brother, a nerdy clone of the Hulk everyone picks on, the Punisher and Nick Fury's bad-tempered ex-wife.
* EnemyMine: Nick Fury tries to pull this with Xorn and Zorn on the City. It doesn't work, Xorn extends them an olive branch. [[spoiler: Reed burns that bridge, and incurs the wrath of Zorn, who attacks him with a black hole]].
* ExactWords: The Red Skull has some fun with a stolen Cosmic Cube, telling A.I.M. to "eat themselves". As the Avengers find out when they reach him, that's ''exactly'' what they tried to do.
* ExecutiveExcess: Deconstructed by Tony Stark. He goes from a WorkHardPlayHard highly functioning businessman to spending most of his time partying, drinking and sleeping with various women. However, he's discovered that he has an inoperable and terminal brain tumor, and the debauchery is his way of distracting himself from dealing with that fact.
* ExpandedUniverse: The second film of ''WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers'' and the {{Novelization}} ''The Tomorrow Men'' take place after the first arc. The second volume and later events in the wider universe contradicted events, characters and reveals from those stories.
* FaceHeelTurn:
** ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} started off as a baddie, but joined The Ultimates fairly quickly. This lasted until the death of his sister, the ComicBook/ScarletWitch, at which point he went back to villainy, ending up a member of the Dark Ultimates.
** Though never particularly heroic or stable, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] joined him as a member of the Dark Ultimates as well.
** Reed Richards, first seen in the ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'', became a villain as well after [[FakingTheDead faking his own death]]. He became one of the [[BigBad Big Bads]] of the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe, and was intent on [[WellIntentionedExtremist forcibly remaking the world into a utopia]]. He was transferred to the main Marvel universe during ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015''.
** Nerd Hulk was bitten by vampires, and joined them as a result.
** Black Widow turned into TheMole for the Liberators, helping to disrupt the team from the inside. That, if she didn't join the Ultimates with that goal from the start...
** Gregory Stark had a drive to be always better than his little brother Tony. He made more scientific inventions, he has a bigger fortune, everything. Sponsoring his own superhero team, the Ultimate Avengers, was just another step in his never-ending conflict with him. He took it a bit too far when he tried to take down SHIELD and promote superhuman revolutions at third-world countries.
* FakeAssassination: One of the annuals has Nick Fury putting a hit out on himself in order to flush out an assassin who's been in retirement for years.
* FireForgedFriends: Cap, Thor and Iron Man. This started in a private meeting that Stark organized to celebrate their first victory; it was meant for the whole team but Pym attacked Jan before leaving and Bruce was of course under lock and key. It got its climax when Cap stands against a ColonyDrop, and Thor and Iron Man join him to stand against it together.
* FromBadToWorse: In the 2011 [[Creator/JonathanHickman Hickman]] series. Hoo, boy. Asgard has been destroyed by Reed Richards and the City, with all the souls of the gods now existing solely in Thor's head. The S.E.A.R. has been taken over by the superhuman Celestials and Eternals. Germany has been completely absorbed by the City. A nuclear crisis is brewing in South America. Nick Fury just cannot catch a break.
* GambitPileup: Fury pretty much says flat out in the first Annual that that's the way his world is.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: The first arc is about Captain America, the first supersoldier, who "died" in WWII along with the mystery of his creation (as there were NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup), and how the US kept trying to recreate him since then. In the second arc the US has the Ultimates at their disposal, leading to a FantasyConflictCounterpart with the Cold War over the creation and use of superhumans.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Tony proposes to Black Widow by getting everyone in her hometown of St. Petersburg to line up in a field to spell out "marry me". Apparently it took a lot of money, and the occasional offer of coffee. She says "yes".
* HiveMind: The Chitauri [[{{Mooks}} worker caste]] (Officers have a bit more free will as a result of [[ImAHumanitarian absorbing]] alien minds). Also, Ultimate Galactus.
* HopeSpot: Bruce Banner has faced trial for the 852 people he killed as Hulk, and waits for the verdict. [[spoiler:Fury shows up and says that he was acquitted, since the other Ultimates testified on his behalf about how he saved the world. Fury gives him champagne so they can celebrate. But then... Bruce blacks out from the drugged champagne, and they take him and put him on an abandoned aircraft carrier next to a one-megaton nuclear bomb. Of course, if Fury had given the news directly, he risked Banner turning into Hulk right then and there.]]
* HumanWeapon: ''Ultimates 2'' has the rest of the world fearing that the US Government would start utilizing them in politically-motivated conflicts after Cap saved some hostages in the Middle East. Which is exactly what they do, crippling a nuclear program in Afghanistan.
* HumiliationConga: Vol 2 issue 6 has Hank Pym suffering through one. First, Nick Fury's stopped taking his calls, he's kicked off the Triskelion, and starts hanging out with a bunch of super-hero wannabes. Their first night out goes really badly, ending with Hank's naked ass getting caught on camera and splashed over the papers. Just to add insult to injury, his new would-be girlfriend asks if he could dress up as Captain America (who previously beat Hank to a pulp) for her. Though given it's Ultimate Hank Pym, he has it coming.
* HypotheticalCasting: InUniverse. At one point, on a slow day they sit around talking about who would play them in the movie of their lives. Naturally, ComicBook/NickFury says Creator/SamuelLJackson (on whom Ultimate Nick Fury was based). Unfortunately, Bruce Banner walks in just as Hank Pym starts suggesting who'd play him in very unflattering terms (Steve Buscemi, just for the record), and this causes Bruce to have something of a breakdown.
* IHaveNoIdeaWhatImDoing: Scott Lang learns the hard way that the Ultimates and the Avengers are just making it up as they go along as their street brawl eventually spirals out of control into miscalculated attacks and serious injuries.
-->'''Scott Lang:''' This is a disaster. You see them fighting on TV, it's like they're professionals. But they aren't. They just make this up as they go along. It's terrifying.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial
** The Ultimate version of ''ComicBook/TheDefenders'' is made up of non-powered versions of Valkyrie, Luke Cage, Son Of Satan and Whiz-Kid, as well as Hellcat and Nighthawk who were BadassNormal in the main universe, but not here. They claim to be experienced crimefighters, but are shown to just be this trope, and are thrilled when Hank Pym wants to join despite his pathetic fall from grace, just for the sake of having a member with actual powers. They're eventually given powers by Loki to help him steal Mjolnir.
** Bruce Banner had finally got rid of the Hulk problem, but injected the serum into himself, on purpose, fully knowing the consequences, because he wanted to be big again.
** Freddie Prinze Jr. wants one of the Iron Man suits, or to be the test guy for Banner's supersoldier formula. Whatever, if he can be a super hero!
** The "Mimic" who, inspired by Captain America's visit to his base, agreed to a super soldier program to be like him.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Hawkeye, as usual. Black Widow as well, thanks to her cybernetic implants.
* IntangibleMan: The Ghost, just like his 616 counterpart. Except [[spoiler:he's got Iron Man armour]].
* InTheStyleOf: ComicBook/TheAuthority, another series that Millar and Hitch worked on.
* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: The Liberators invade the U.S., level the Statue of Liberty, and plan to execute major government figures.
* IslandBase: The Triskelion.
* KillItWithFire: When the team goes to confront Thor, they bring flamethrowers. All it does it burn his hair.
* KinkyRolePlaying: After he's kicked out of the Avengers for abusing the Wasp, Henry Pym is forced to join the C-list Defenders team. He gets into a brief relationship with Valkyrie, who has a fetish for making him cosplay as Thor.
* KneelBeforeZod: Herr Kleiser has nearly defeated Captain America, and he wants him to say "I surrender, Herr Kleiser. Make it quick." Instead of that, it gives Cap the conviction to have an HeroicSecondWind, turn the tables on him, and gain the upper hand. He points to the "A" on his mask and asks: "Surrender? SURRENDER?!! [[BadassBoast YOU THINK THIS LETTER ON MY HEAD STANDS FOR 'FRANCE'?]]"
* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Thor is an idealistic warrior; he's a messiah after all. Captain America is a pragmatic fighter and, as long as the cause is justified, doesn't fear getting his hands dirty. Iron Man is an inventor who relies in his powered armor and his genius, lacking the battle prowess of his peers.
* LegacyCharacter: See examples [[LegacyCharacter/UltimateMarvel here]]
* LensmanArmsRace: This is a major plot point in The Ultimates, crossed with GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke. After the public debut of the Ultimates, various foreign nations begin trying put together their own teams of superhumans, such as Alpha Flight, the EU program and the Liberators. The final arc by Mark Millar has the Ultimates racing to stop military dictatorships like North Korea from developing their own superhumans.
* LetsYouAndHimFight:
** Thor versus everyone in ''Vol. 2'', thanks in part to a little help from Loki.
** The whole plot of ''Ultimates Versus Avengers''.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: Captain America is fighting with [[spoiler:Red Skull]], who whispers something (that he's his son) to his ear. This surprises him enough to gain the upper hand.
* MagicPants
** Subverted by Hulk. His pants often don't survive battle. Cue SceneryCensor. In volume 1 he steals the pants from a dead fat guy.
** Henry Pym and the Wasp have clothes specially treated for the size changing, but will end up nude if they are wearing something else.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The series began with an unclear origin for the powers of Thor. Is he a real God from Asgard, attacked by a rival god with reality-warping powers? Or just a madman with delusions of grandeur, who stole high-tech weapons produced in Europe? In the first two story arcs, both options seemed plausible to the reader. The final answer only came at the end of the second arc.
* MonumentalDamage: Some super powered soldiers push over the Art/StatueOfLiberty. Later, some superheroes pull it back up again. Averted in the same story where [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Ultimate Cap]] and [[EvilCounterpart The Colonel]] duke it out along The Wall (the Vietnam War Memorial) and it is not damaged.
* MuggingTheMonster: Early in vol. 2, a bunch of thugs try mugging Captain America, which'd be stupid enough even if they hadn't noticed he's built like a linebacker. Steve, for his part, seems more confused than anything else.
* MythologyGag:
** Nick Fury has a FullBodyDisguise that is identical to his standard Franchise/MarvelUniverse appearance. He seemingly later uses it [[spoiler:under the guise of "Scorpio" to work for Hydra. The name Scorpio itself being a nod to the original Nick Fury's sometimes evil twin brother using that title several times. ]]
** The Enchantress put the female members of the team (Valkyrie, Zarda and Carol Danvers) under her spell, and makes them betray the male members. A similar premise was used by Roy Thomas in the 1970s, in the original "Lady Liberators" story, but fortunately this time the story does not end saying that women should StayInTheKitchen.
* NearVillainVictory:
** In the first arc, the Chitauri infiltrate the psi division of SHIELD, send them on a wild goose chase and detonate a bomb to kill the Ultimates. The Wasp is overpowered, and the Chitauri are ready to launch their program to destroy the human free will. But then, [[spoiler:it turns out that Iron Man managed to shield the Ultimates and a portion of the SHIELD agents from the explosion, and the Chitauri main fleet shows up to order them to pack and leave, because of intergalactic reasons.]]
** In the second arc, the Liberators capture and defeat the Ultimates, but then fall down one by one once they counter attack. Then Loki unleashed his godlike powers, and none of the Ultimates can stand against it... [[spoiler:except Thor, who brings the armies of Asgard with him to defeat Loki.]]
* NoodleIncident: At the end of ''Avengers 1'', Nick Fury remarks that Gregory Stark "broke" Jim Rhodes. This is never elaborated upon.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: In the first issue of ''Avengers'', Tony has wandered off from Ultimates duty to play "chess" with some ladies in a bondage club. However, Tony's in such a funk he's not paying attention to the game or the ladies.
* NuclearOption:
** When Bruce Banner is sentenced for the deaths he caused as the Hulk, he is drugged, taken to a ship in the ocean, and they drop an atomic bomb on him. Nothing short of that can truly kill the Hulk.
** Also, they send everything they've got against the city, a futuristic dome created by [[ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour The Maker]] and which had already destroyed Berlin. But they resisted it, and the Maker blows up all of Washington DC as a counter attack.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Monica Chang, aka Black Widow II, taking on a Giant-Man squad after getting pinned underneath one's hand, next time we see her she is standing on on of them before leaping into the battle with the remaining troops sent against her [[spoiler: by SHIELD]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Nick Fury and Captain America are both from WWII. The super soldier serum kept them young well into the XXI century.
* PhysicalMysticalTechnological: Captain America is a SuperSoldier with super strength. Thor hails from norse mythology, and Iron Man has a PoweredArmor.
* PietaPlagiarism: Thor cradling [[spoiler: his son]]
* PiggybackingOnHitler: Herr Kleiser was Captain America's chief nemesis during the Second World War, but was actually [[spoiler:an alien known as a Chitauri (aka a Skrull) that ate the real Kleiser and impersonated him, backing Hitler by giving the Nazis advanced weaponry. Really, this was just a scheme to soften the Earth up for a full-scale invasion.]]
* PoliceBrutality: During Vol 2, some Italian police are breaking up a protest with extreme prejudice. Then Thor breaks ''them''. Which doesn't help everyone's perception of him as a dangerous lunatic.
* PresentDay: The comic makes it very clear that UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush is the President of the United States. Along with commentary on UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, various talk shows having characters make appearances on them (such as Creator/DavidLetterman, who would retire not long after his appearance here), and references to celebrities who were popular at the time (like Creator/FreddiePrinzeJr), the first two Creator/MarkMillar penned volumes are unmistakenly set in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]].
* PresidentSuperhero: '''President Captain America''', in Sam Humphries's run.
* ThePsychoRangers
** The Liberators from volume 2 are an Axis of Evil counterpart to the title team. The Colonel being the Iranian counterpart to Captain America, Abomination the Chinese Hulk, Crimson Dynamo the Chinese Iron Man, Perun the Russian Thor, Hurricane the North Korean Quicksilver, and Swarm the Syrian Wasp.
** There were later the Dark Ultimates, the Ultimate counterpart of the above-mentioned Dark Avengers. Reed Richards acts as the team's leader and Iron Man parallel, while the Hulk acts their counterpart to Thor. The rest of the team however (Kang, the Human Torch, and Quicksilver) don't match up as exact analogues to the Ultimates.
* PsychoSerum: Banner's Hulk Serum. Later, at the brink of despair, he takes it up another notch by combining it with the SuperSoldier serum.
* RaceLift: Among the Ultimates, Nick Fury is black, modeled after Creator/SamuelLJackson, and the Wasp is Asian. In the Liberators, Crimson Dynamo and Abomination are Chinese, Hurricane is Korean and Swarm is Syrian. And the third version of ComicBook/TheVision is black.
* RealAfterAll: [[spoiler:Thor really IS the Myth/{{Norse|Mythology}} God of Thunder]].
* RecapEpisode: "The Ultimates saga" has Tony Stark hack into Nick Fury's files about the Ultimates. They provide a full recap of the events of ''The Ultimates'' one and two, before the release of Ultimates 3.
* {{Reconstruction}}: The team was initially a deconstruction of the way the Avengers would be if they existed in the real world. The most notable thing about them is that they would be a military operation run by the US, not independent superheroes doing whatever they want. That, however, turned out to be their status at the end of the second arc.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath
** [[spoiler:Henry Pym]] dies in ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'', saving the Triskelion from the Multiple Men.
** [[spoiler: Quicksilver]] is killed by Kang after he realizes how monstrous her plan really is and tries to stop her.
* RedshirtArmy:
** 20,000 SHIELD elite troops go into the bag when the Chitauri nuke their own base in Micronesia. Also, most of the Ultimate Reserves are killed in the beginning of the Liberators attack.
** The Liberators have a massive army of generic FlyingBrick troops, with the explanation that the source of their powers means they're not long for this world anyhow.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. [[spoiler: Plus points, that they did it with the TropeNamer itself. Because what happens, when you are the most brilliant mind in the planet, full of [[WellIntentionedExtremist good intentions]], and the world just would not change, if you play according to the rules? You will go nuts, that is what happens. You definitely go nuts, buddy!]]
* ReplacementGoldfish: After Jarvis gets shot, Tony replaces him with a new guy who's name he quickly forgets and calls Jarvis. Later still he's replaced (without noted reason) by an half-Asian woman. Whom he also names Jarvis.
* {{Retcanon}}: Around the time of ''Film/IronMan3'', Tony started dressing up like Iron Patriot. The Iron Patriot armor was later destroyed, allowing him to return to the Iron Man identity.
* RewatchBonus: Early in ''vol 2'', Thor has a conversation with Volstagg ([[AmbiguousSituation or does he?]]) in a restaraunt, as Volstagg warns him Loki's already up to something, messing with perceptions as they speak. In the background, a figure that looks like Creator/NeilGaiman can be seen. Just a harmless little artistic joke? Several issues later, the Ultimates meet kindly European scientist Gunnar Golmen, who looks ''just'' like Neil Gaiman and is terribly worried about his schizophrenic brother Thor.
* RoboticReveal: The Ultron units in Volume 3 replaced the Ultimates.
* SequelAdaptationIconicVillain: CanonForeigner Herr Kleiser was the villain of the first ''Ultimates''. ''Ultimates 2'' pitted the team against Loki, the villain the Avengers formed to fight in the original Marvel Universe.
* SeriesContinuityError: In the first volume, Thor mentions fighting Loki. However, Volume 2 and ''Ultimate Comics: Thor'' show that Loki had long been imprisoned in the Room with No Doors and only just escaped in ''Ultimates 2''. This implies that Thor was joking with Nick Fury.
* ShooOutTheNewGuy
** Creator/JephLoeb's run managed to have no less than three of these: ComicBook/BlackPanther, Ka-zar, and Shanna. All were introduced and removed in the same arc, without even doing anything significant to the plot, due to backlash from before the story was even published.
** Creator/JonathanHickman's run had the same problem. He positioned ComicBook/SpiderWoman and the new ComicBook/CaptainBritain as though they would be major characters, but they were promptly written out without any explanation.
** Scott Lang joined the team at the end of Millar's Avengers vs. New Ultimates series, but was quickly forgotten about.
** Sam Humphries later introduced the Ultimate version of Stature from the ComicBook/YoungAvengers, and even wrote a scene where she was offered membership in the team. His run ended shortly after this, so she never got a chance to join the Ultimates.
* ShoutOut: [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]], ComicBook/LoisLane and ComicBook/JimmyOlsen appear, unnamed, as part of a 60 Minutes interview staff.
** Jarvis also hangs out with a butler's club in his spare time - and a guy named Alfred is mentioned to be amongst the members.
** ''In Ultimate Armor Wars'': one of the heads on the wall is of Nayland Smith, a main character in the Literature/FuManchu books.
** Reed Richards has a ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' poster on his bedroom wall.
* SingleStrokeBattle: Nerd Hulk beats [[spoiler: Whistler in an old Iron Man suit]] in ''one punch''.
* SlaveToPR: The team itself. As a government supersoldier program with a tremendous budget they were constantly threatened by public scrutiny and for a while had to justify their budget in spite of the lack of an immediate threat. This lead to a major plot point that stretched through two volumes [[spoiler: when Bruce Banner hulked out and the Ultimates stopped him, SHIELD covered up the connection between Banner and Hulk turning a story about the team cleaning up its own mess into their first public success.]]
* SuperSoldier: The basic premise of the series revolves around Captain America, the first and only super soldier, the US attempts to recreate him and the consequences of a world where a team of super soldiers is a reality.
* TakeThat:
** During ''Avengers 3'', Blade has a daydream about a might-as-well-not-be-veiled-at-all versions of Edward and Bella from ''Twilight'' talking before trying to murder Edward, making clear his opinion on the matter pretty dang clear.
-->'''Blade:''' God, I hate you people. I've hated you since the first trailer.
** During ''Ultimates Vs. Avengers'', Millar has the characters criticize Loeb's writing of Thor by mentioning Tony paid serious money to charity in exchange for Thor not using Ye Olde English ever again.
** Also during ''Ultimates vs. Avengers'', Nick Fury laughs while watching a cartoon inaccurately telling Iron Man's origin story as [[ComicBook/UltimateIronMan a humanoid brain]] with a HealingFactor.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Nobody seems to do anything about Hawkeye's obvious PTSD.
* TheToothHurts: At the end of ''Avengers 2'', Hawkeye punches out one of Frank Castle's teeth... which, just by ''pure coincidence'', just happens to be the one containing a tracking device, allowing Frank to escape SHIELD.
* {{Tomorrowland}}: The Maker created The City in Europe, a dangerous version of one of these.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
** Ultron, surprising absolutely no one -- except, once again, Henry Pym.
** Zorn and Xorn, twin super mutants who were created by the South East Asian Republic, S.E.A.R, as part of a project aimed at wiping out mutants and later took over the entire nation and turned it into a mutant haven for any that wish to join them.
* UniversallyBelovedLeader: Tired of the protocols, Captain America wants to step down from the presidency of the US. Stark tries to talk him out of it, saying that he's "the most popular president since... well, ''ever''".
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Bruce was already well on his way to losing it, but it was overhearing his colleagues mocking him that drove him to re-inject himself with the serum that turned him into the Hulk.
* WesternTerrorists: Hydra, initially introduced as a small RightWingMilitiaFanatic group, [[spoiler: after Modi's defeat they have since began stealing S.H.I.E.L.D. tech and apparently under the guise of a man called Scorpio]].
* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "Do you really think I came alone?" by Thor before revealing an army of Norse army from Asgard indisputably proving that Thor ''is'' the god of thunder.]]
* WhamShot: During Vol. 2, [[spoiler:Black Widow]] pulling a gun on Tony, followed a moment later by proving it's not a bluff by shooting Jarvis through the head.
* WhoShotJFK: It was [[spoiler: Red Skull.]]
* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: The team discusses who would play them in a film adaptation.
* WhyWontYouDie: Heroic example, Cap says it about Kleiser.
* YearInsideHourOutside: The City that Reed Richards designs is one big ball of paradox, while it exists in the present, within its walls generations pass while Reed was expanding it with the outer edges closer to normal time. While inside its walls, time moved at an accelerated rate the closer one got to the Core, so as one moved within the City's limits the further into the future it traveled until the City stopped expanding. Which it wound up taking out Germany and a good chunk of Europe when they reach its current size.
* YinYangClash: When the Liberators have been defeated, Loki reveals his true power as a DiabolusExMachina, an OutsideContextProblem that the Ultimates are not powerful enough to deal with. But then Thor shows up with the Asgardian armies, a DeusExMachina that makes swift work of Loki's armies.
* YouAreWhoYouEat: This is how Chitauri shape shifting works.
* ZergRush: The vampires attack on the Triskellion.

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