Comic Book / The Ultimates 2

Want to conquer the US? Not under the Ultimates' watch!

The Ultimates 2 is a 2005 comic book by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, starring The Ultimates. It is a sequel to the original miniseries, The Ultimates (2002), by the same authors.

Despite SHIELD's attempts to keep it classified, the nature of the Hulk's rampage is now open to the public: the monster was actually Bruce Banner, who is kept prisoner, but alive, in a special cell below the Triskelion. The public outrage is huge, and Banner has to face justice for his actions as the Hulk. Thor leaves the team when the Ultimates liberate some prisoners from terrorists in Iraq, which he saw as the starting point of the Avengers being used to enforce the US international policy. And the people see him talking to the air, and a doctor explains that he was actually a former psychiatric patient that stole the hammer and other weapons from the European Union Super Soldier Initiative, which gives him his strength. Thor, however, was informed by Volstagg (if he was real, and not a hallucination) that Loki escaped from the Room Without Doors and has reality-warping powers. Things eventually end in an open conflict between Thor and the Ultimates, ending with his defeat and incarceration. And right after it... the Ultimates have to deal with growing problems in the Middle East. But which was it, then? Is Thor just a nuthead with stolen weapons and delusions of grandeur, or really a Norse god, attacked by a rival god? Both options can be plausible, and the narrative does not give an open answer. Not yet, at least.

Henry Pym tries to go on with his life, and it goes as poorly as to be expected; in the meantime, the Ultimates have liberated a country. Many countries do not like this at all, and create their own super team, the Liberators, to conquer the United States and depose Bush. Despite their initial victory in their surprise attack, the Ultimates counter-attack and defeat them, but things escalate even more from there.

Please note that those are the Ultimates from the Ultimate Marvel universe. The Ultimates (2015), from the regular Marvel universe, had a second volume also named "Ultimates 2"; their page has the tropes for volumes 1 and 2.

Tropes

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Dropping Captain America next to the prisoners would be too risky, the terrorists may execute them before Cap could do anything about it (he's quick, but he's not Quicksilver). So they dropped him in the river, and he would approach the place from the sewers.
• Action Prologue: The first scene of the first comic shows Captain America jumping from a helicopter. Without parachutes. And then he opens his way all across the city in Iraq, until he reaches and rescues a number of prisoners held captive by terrorists. But other than this, the comic was still setting up the story and there was no big action yet.
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Discussed by the lawyer that accused Bruce Banner. He compared Banner's rampage as Hulk with that of someone who commits crimes while under the influence of alcohol: they are still legally responsible for them, even if they don't remember them.
• Aliens Love Human Food: Volstagg was set to meet Thor at a restaurant, but he started eating before Thor's arrival. It had been five hundred years since he was on our planet, and Asgard does not have any delicacy comparable to grilled chicken.
• Always Someone Better: Pym thought he was such a genius when he created the Giant Man formula... but those new guys made an army of Giant Men, who can grow beyond the size that Pym could.
• Analogy Backfire: Bruce is waiting for the sentence and compared it with his time at college when he waited for the exams' results. Then he realized that is not a good analogy, because he always got the best results.
• Apologetic Attacker: Thor and Tony are friends, but Tony does not believe all that Loki nonsense. Both of them apologized before attacking.
• Are You Sure You Want to Do That?: The terrorists have Captain America at gunpoint. Captain freakin' America. He simply reminds them that they already know who he is and what can he do... so they all dropped their guns to the floor.
  Captain America: Clever boys.
• As You Know: Fury repeated to everyone the events that were on the news, so the readers can understand who is Captain rescuing those prisoners from.
• Ascended Fanboy: Captain Britain is so exited to meet Captain America in person. He used to have a poster of him on his wall as a teenager.
• Atrocious Alias: Pym himself realizes that the name "Ant-Man" would sound retarded.
• Ballroom Blitz: Thor is having a fine time in a disco, and an angry Captain America burts in demanding explanations. The identity of Hulk being Bruce Banner has been outed, and he thinks Thor did it. Thor asks the DJ to turn off the music for some minutes while they clarify that.
• Battle Discretion Shot: What will Steve Rogers do with a group of thieves that try to rob him, threatening him with a gun to the face? We leave that to your imagination but for now, here's a hippie van to distract you.
• Big Damn Heroes: The tides begin to turn in the Ultimates' favor when Bruce Banner suddenly returns and willingly Hulks out to smash the Crimson Dynamo's drones.
• Big Eater: So, what did Volstagg order in the restaurant, while waiting for Thor? A full grilled chicken, a big jam, sandwiches, fruits...
• Bilingual Bonus: The demonstration in Italy has people with a "niente sovrumani americani nel golfo". It means "no American superhuman in the gulf".
• Bland-Name Product: Tony Stark talk in an interview at the "CNC" channel.
• Bond One-Liner: "Sorry, chum. You are nuts and you are going down"
• Bouncer: A bouncer tries to keep Captain America out of the disco where Thor is relaxing. The place is full! Captain America does not care.
• Bread and Circuses: Thor warns people that the televised trial of Bruce Banner is just a distraction, that the real problem are the rumors that the Ultimates will be deployed in Syria and Iran.
• Broken Base: In-Universe, people were divided over Captain America rescuing those prisoners in Iraq. A TV program explained that yes, some people view him as a hero, but others thought that the Ultimates overstepped their mandate by operating beyond the US borders and dropping a Person of Mass Destruction in the middle of a volatile international conflict. Tony Stark pointed that all those prisoners were American citizens and that the operation was supported by the Red Cross and the Security Council of the UN. Thor, thinking that this was just the beginning of further displays of American imperialism, resigned from the team.
• Bullying a Dragon: A group of petty thieves attack Steve Rogers and Jan in the street, clearly not realizing who they are. So let us turn the view elsewhere...
• The Cameo: Matt Murdock made a brief appearance as the lawyer of Bruce Banner. He had appeared before in Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Ultimate Spider-Man.
• Cassandra Truth: Nobody takes it seriously when Thor starts talking about the harm his brother Loki is doing.
• Cessation of Existence: Bruce Banner does not believe in the afterlife. He's a scientist and accepts that there is no proof of any level of existence beyond the here-and-now.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Nelson & Murdock defend Bruce Banner, the most hated man in New York (which means, a lot of bad publicity for the firm), for free. Only because they felt it was the right thing to do.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Jane Foster is not going to leave Thor during his fight against the Ultimates. A military asked her what does she think she can do in a fight between superpowered people. She will pray, and let Thor know that some people still believe in him.
• Clark Kenting: Captain Britain and the other European Union super soldiers manage to sneak into New York City by wearing disguises. Captain Britain specifically put on a pair of glasses and a business suit, which he rips open to reveal his Union Jack logo.
• Comedic Sociopathy: Bruce Banner may be in the mood to crack jokes about his own imminent death, but the distraught Betty is too far gone to even understand the joke.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Janet complains about Steve not hanging out with people their own age, Steve points out that Bucky and Gail were a year behind him in school.
• Content Leak: In-Universe, the existence of Captain Italy (and, by extension, the Italian superhuman program) was leaked, and that caused protests.
• Continuity Nod
  • The first series mentioned that Cap is so manly that he regularly jumped from helicopters to the missions without parachutes, but he crashed the plane on the Nazi stronghold to make an opening instead. The opening salvo of this arc is Cap actually doing this.
  • Pym mentions that the Fantastic Four have a light-sensitive girl. The Fantastic Four had been introduced in Ultimate Fantastic Four the previous year.
• Covers Always Lie: Issue #3 has Hulk strapped to an Electric chair. Although he receives the death sentence, it is not that way. It makes for a strong visual image for a cover, but electricity alone would not be enough to kill the Hulk.
• Crazy-Prepared: Cap is a One-Man Army and made his mission alone, but Nick Fury sent the Ultimates to the operation anyway. Just in case.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Thor keeps warning to everybody willing to listen that the Ultimates will eventually be sent to invade countries in the Middle East. The Ultimates dismiss it as nonsenses, but at one point, guess what... there's a situation in the Middle East.
• Death Glare: This is all it took for the terrorists to drop their guns, even when they had Captain America at gunpoint. You may kill him, or he may quickly disarm yoou and disfigure you for the trouble. Wanna take your chances?
• Defrosting Ice Queen: In the original series Betty treated Bruce Banner like dirt, but saw him under a new light when she realized that he did all the Hulk thing because of her. In this series she's still cold, even refusing Fury's suggestion to take a temporary leave when Bruce is outed and sent to trial. But as days go on, the trial is concluding and there seems to be absolutely no way Bruce will get out of it alive... more than defrosted, she has melted.
• Desk Sweep of Rage: Bruce gets angry with Betty for a moment, blaming her for what's happening, and vents it with the things on his desk.
• Dirty Old Man: Pym has sex with Valkyrie, a girl who is just 19 (and lying that he would introduce her to Spider-Man, whom he had never even met). Worse, he admits that he refuses to feel guilty, because "she was using me as much as I was using her".
• Distaff Counterpart: Downplayed. Valkyrie's costume has those circles similar to Thor's ones, and introduces herself as a "female Thor". Who has no weather powers. Who can not fly. Who does not have a magic hammer. Who does not have super strength. But hey, she can bench-press two-fifty, and she's a martial arts expert! (and by the episode's end, even that was a lie). Note that this was all before she got actual powers.
• Dramatic Shattering: The Dom Perignon bottle falls to the ground and shatters, to signal that the whole thing of the judge acquitting Banner was just a ruse.
• Easily Forgiven: Subverted. Nick Fury claims that the judge acquitted Bruce Banner when the Ultimates uncovered his role against the Chitauri invasion... but no. He was found guilty, his later actions do not make up for the first one, and the ruse was only to secure Banner for execution before he could turn into Hulk.
• Everybody Knew Already: Everybody is surprised by Gunnar's reveal that Thor was actually a madman that stole hardware that gives him powers. Everybody except Fury, who knew it from the start.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: Captain America and Hawkeye attacked Thor with flamethrowers.
• Flat "What": Bruce banner adjusted himself to the idea that the case was lost, that there was no way he would get away, that he would be found guilty no matter what is said or done... and when Fury told him he had been acquitted, he had no words.
• Foregone Conclusion: Double subverted with Banner's sentence. Everybody was sure it would be a "guilty" verdict, including Banner himself. Then Nick Fury shows up with a Dom Perignon, to celebrate that Banner was acquitted. Then it turns out he was found guilty, and the ruse was simply to avoid him becoming the Hulk before his execution.
• Gentle Giant: Banner is his cell is so drugged up that he once turned into Hulk... and simply watched TV until he turned back to Banner.
• Gilligan Cut: Nick Fury suspects that the Banner files were leaked by Thor, but they can't prove it and the Thor case is complex, so no rushed action against him, please; and we're talking to you, Captain America! "What? I strike you as the kinda guy who goes looking for a fight?" Guess what happens on the very next page...
• The Gloves Come Off: Quicksilver tries to attack Thor a couple of times, and he easily dispatched him. But when he hears that he threw Captain Britain on Wanda, and that he hurt her... kid gloves are off!
• Good News, Bad News: Nick Fury comes to see Bruce Banner after the trial. Good News is that Bruce has been acquitted, bad news is that the Dom Perignon was a bit expensive. Isn't that great? He's unconscious. Take him, gentlemen...
• Hates Small Talk: When Pym shows up to meet Banner, the guardian mentions that Cap and the Wasp are in the news. He replies that "newspapers are for idiots".
• Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: Volstagg, when he shows up to have a brief talk with Thor at a restaurant. It had been five hundred years since he visited the planet, so yes, he was a tourist there.
• Hopeless with Tech
  • Captain America accused Thor of leaking the files about Bruce Banner. Thor pointed in his defense that he's not used to technology and has problems with basic e-mail; leaking files is a whole world beyond his capabilities.
  • Laura has been sending messages to Clint, but he didn't notice because he hardly understands how cell phones work. Keep in mind that the comic was made in 2005, cell phones were still relatively new.
• Humiliation Conga: Issue #6 humiliates Pym from start to finish. He joins the Defenders, a new superhero team who are just losers without actual powers, Nick Fury refuses both him and his inventions (even if given for free), Captain America (current boyfriend of his ex) orders him to leave, the Defenders' first big superhero operation is a disaster that ends with Pym's ass in the newspapers (literally!), and finally the Ultimates had been working on a huge international operation while he was trying to stop that pair of thieves.
• I Did What I Had to Do
  • Nick Fury promised that the Ultimates would only be used domestically, but he broke that little promise. If he didn't the nine prisoners of the terrorists would soon become nine little body bags lined up at Dulles Airport.
  • Captain America never liked the Banner cover-up, but Fury does not regret it: it was the only way out of the mess they got themselves into. Plus, it allowed them to have the whole Ultimates outfit running.
  • Fury told Banner that he had been acquitted and proposed a toast, but he actually got a death sentence and the toast was actually to knock him unconscious. If he didn't do it that way, Banner might turn into the Hulk when he received the news.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Bruce Banner studied the Super Soldier serum for so many years because he wanted to be the new Captain America. He never intended things to end the way they did.
• I Know You're Watching Me: After easily dispatching Quicksilver, Thor rages against the heavens that they let his followers leave, that he won't go anywhere. He knew that SHIELD was watching him somehow. SHIELD, who also wanted to prevent civilian casualties, accepted his terms.
• I Surrender, Suckers: Thor attacked Black Widow, and she said that she was in pain, that the attack probably made her lost her 3-months pregnancy... all a lie to make Thor drop his guard and get close.
• I Want to Be a Real Man: Even as manly as he already is, Steve Rogers always goes for more. For example, by signing to a gym that looks like a prison workout room: he says that real men train there, not those wimps with their iPods, MTV screens, and isotonic drinks.
• Ignored Vital News Reports: Captain America and the Wasp are having a social night with Bucky, Gail and other WWII veterans. Clint is sleeping at home. Bruce Banner is eating a sandwich. Then the atomic bomb in the history of news reporting takes place: leaked SHIELD files prove that Banner was the Hulk, that SHIELD knew it from the start and that he's being protected to prevent a public outcry.
• Improbable Weapon User: Hawkeye uses his fingernails as weapons to escape his prison.
• In the Back: Thor defended against Black Widow in her Iron Man suit by summoning Mjolnir to him, attacking her in the back.
• Internal Deconstruction: The series takes a turn to pick apart why a modernized, government-run version of the Avengers would not work out in the long run. The Ultimates are repeatedly criticized for overstepping their boundaries and interfering in international matters at the behest of the United States government. As tensions rise, all of it culminates in the other governments finally having enough of America's actions and sending in their own team of super soldiers to take over the country. To make it even more obvious, the Colonel's motivations for leading the charge are directly compared to Captain America's, making Cap realize how little business he, the Ultimates, and SHIELD had in policing the world. The volume even ends on the implications that in the ruins of the Ultimates, the team is going to reform into an incarnation much closer to the mainstream Avengers. Until New Ultimates happened, that is.
• Invisible to Normals: Only Thor can see Loki with him in the cell at the Triskelion. He can change reality at will and nobody else can see him, but he's standing right there! Or is he? Perhaps everybody is right, and this is all just in Thor's deluded mind...
• Is This a Joke?: Gunnar explains that Thor stole hardware and the hammer, and that that's the source of his power. Stark's first reaction is to ask if that is a joke.
• It Always Rains at Funerals: The funeral for Bruce Banner is held inside a chapel. Outside, however, it's raining.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: The terrorists who had prisoners realized that they had no chance against Captain America, and surrendered.
• Ladykiller in Love: Tony Stark finally settled down, falling in love with the Black Widow. He even proposed to her. Her betrayal left him heartbroken... for a couple of seconds, before he resumed his old habits.
• Laser Sight: We see one of those on Thor's forehead after his defeat. Hawkeye has him aimed, and just waits for a word to fire.
• Let Me Get This Straight...
  • "Okay, what are we talking about here, Nick? A hundred and fifty-foot drop from a Blackhawk into the Euphrates?"
  • "Captain America here just accused me of leaking those Bruce Banner papers to the press and I think he's come to beat me up. Is that an accurate assessment, Captain?"
• Mad Bomber: Issue #4 starts with one. A guy with a bomb against the Ultimates? He's out cold before you even understand what's going on.
• Marquee Alter Ego: Despite being at a really high altitude, up the clouds, Stark and Natasha open their face plates for his marriage proposal, so that we can see their face expressions.
• Masquerade Enforcer: As a Norse god, Loki has full-blown reality-warping powers, and uses them to aid the Liberators in attacking America and the Ultimates. However, when asked by his allies why he does not use his powers openly, he says that doing so would enable Odin would find him. When Loki finally does openly use his powers, Odin sends an army of warriors of Asgard against him, removes most of Loki's powers, and enables Thor to banish Loki back to Asgard for punishment.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is Thor a real Norse god in the flesh, sent by Odin to save humanity, and being attacked by a rival god with reality-warping powers? Or is he a madman with delusions of grandeur who stole some weapons that give him powers? The narrative makes both options plausible. The final answer would only come at the climax of the story. He's the real deal.
• Meaningful Background Event
  • Thor and Volstagg are talking about Loki's reality-warping powers, and the maitre asks Thor why is he talking alone. Has Volstagg vanished, or did Thor just imagined the whole thing? Right before that, a man with a confident smile walks by in the background. He has black hair and green clothes, like Loki
  • Later on, Thor interrupts a case of Police Brutality in Italy against a demonstration that protested the superhuman program. Loki could be seen among the multitude before Thor shows up.
• The Meddling Kids Are Useless: Iron Man is sent to rescue a submarine, but when he arrives to the place the European Super-Soldier Initiative is already conducting the rescue.
• Mood Whiplash: Nick Fury arrives with the good news that Banner has been acquitted and proposes a toast. They are happy and celebrating... until Banner falls down unconscious, as it was all a ruse.
  Nick Fury: I'm sorry, Bruce. Proceed as planned, gentlemen.
• Moral Guardians: It's hard for Jan to take Steve to the cinema. When they leave, he's always complaining that people curse like sailors and that women take all their clothes off. But he doesn't say that about R-Rated films, that's his opinion about any film this side of Sponge Bob.
• Mouth of Sauron: Volstagg is a good-side example, sending messages of Odin to Thor, while Odin remains unseen during the whole story.
• Mysterious Employer: Odin has sent Thor to Earth to be a messiah. Or is Thor nuts and simply made that up? In any case, we never see Odin on-panel. It's either what Thor says he told him, and sends messages through Volstagg (a messenger that nobody else could see, and that Thor could have just imagined).
• Mythology Gag: Issue 3 is named Trial of the Incredible Hulk.
• Naked People Are Funny: In-Universe, Cap and Bucky met with other elders, and they laughed about a time that Cap's costume was hidden and he had to fight Nazis in his underwear.
• Never My Fault: Subverted. Bruce is talking with Betty, and suddenly starts yelling that it's all her fault, that none of the Hulk thing would have happened if she had treated him better. Then he collects himself and retires that: he accepts that yes, it is his fault, and his psychological problems started a long time before Betty entered the scene.
• Not Helping Your Case: When the Ultimates arrive to take Thor in, he keeps saying that it's all because of Loki, when he could have easily setlled the discussion by teleporting them to some other realm with fantastic creatures.
• Not Me This Time: No, Loki was not the one who outed Banner to the press. There's a traitor on the team!
• Oh, Crap!: The big secret about the Hulk is now in the open. SHIELD files were leaked every major news station, detailing that Hulk was actually Robert Bruce Banner, that SHIELD knew it from the start and concealed it, and that he's currently living at a comfortable prison below the Triskelion. The face of Banner when he hears the news is priceless.
• One-Man Army: The full Ultimates are not needed to rescue prisoners in Iraq. Just Cap will do.
• "Open!" Says Me: The terrorists all grouped at the door, to keep it closed. Cap smashed his way through it anyway.
• Pet the Dog: Bruce Banner lies unconscious, about to be executed, but Tony Stark left a rosary in his hand.
• Phlebotinum Analogy: The prosecution keeps comparing the super soldier serum that turned Banner into Hulk with mundane drugs like alcohol that also make people unaware of their actions, but they are still legally responsible for them. Murdock insists that the analogy is a misleading one, but the judge considers it valid.
• Police Brutality: The anti-superhuman demonstration in Italy was met with repression from the police. Thor intervened to help the demonstrators.
• Pre-Climax Climax: Betty wanted to have sex with Bruce before he was executed, but he declined it. Betty forgot it, but Bruce is being filmed all the time, and all the world is watching.
• Profanity Police: Captain America saved some soldiers from a tree that was about to crush them. One of them reacts with Symbol Swearing. "You kiss your mom with that mouth, soldier?"
• Properly Paranoid: The nanites Tony injected into Natasha are under his command, so he's able to quickly use them to incapacitate her when she betrays him. Five thousand failed relationships can make a man cynical, you know.
• Proscenium Reveal: Bruce Banner and Charles Xavier are having a conversation in a beach. What the...? Isn't Banner jailed under the Triskelion? As you should have suspected, it was all a mental trick of Xavier, taking Banner for some minutes to a comfortable setting he remembers. The two of them are still inside the building.
• Pulled from Your Day Off: Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are enjoying a nice, relaxed boat journey in Venice, and they are called back: the truth about Hulk is out, and the team needs to discuss what to do now. Blasted Americans! Don't they see it's their day off?
• Puppet King: Thor does not call the president of the US by name anymore. He considers him a mere figurehead of the powers in the shadows that decide the actual policies.
• Real After All: This is the series that confirms that Thor is actually telling the truth about Asgard and his mission to Earth. All instances of him looking crazy were Loki's machinations to make him look bad to the Ultimates, SHIELD and the civillains of the world.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The last second before the explosion, Banner woke up with green eyes.
• Rewatch Bonus: Upon the first reading, it seems that Natasha is crying Tears of Joy at the Grand Romantic Gesture Tony pulled off by having the entire population of her home city spell out a marriage proposal. Upon a reread after The Reveal, it's become more obvious that Natasha could very well actually be furious at Tony forcing her countrymen to do something so laborious, but hiding it behind a crying smile to make the ruse last longer.
• The Scrounger: After his fall from grace, Pym tried to sell inventions to Nick Fury. Fury is tired of saying "no" and Pym don't getting the clue that "no" means "no".
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Someone in the Italian demonstration tried to be exempted from the police brutality saying "Please! I'm an American citizen!".
• Series Continuity Error
  • When the news is out, Thor discovers that Hulk was Bruce Banner alongside everybody else, in a TV news. However, Thor, Tony and Captain America discussed the cover-up in the meeting they had after the fight.
  • Jan described their meeting with the European Defense as their first team-up. However, the Ultimates already had a team-up with the Ultimate X Men in Ultimate War.
• Servile Snarker: Jarvis. But only with Stark, he's openly hostile to his new girlfriend, the Black Widow.
• Sexual Euphemism: Javis will have to put up with Black Widow because she gives Tony Stark something that Jarvis will never deliver. Jarvis, a Servile Snarker, asks "What's that, darling? Hungarian goulash?".
• Shoot the Television: Thor, who had left the Ultimates, watches in the televisions of a TV store the news that Hulk was Bruce Banner, something he ignored. He destroyed all the TV sets in a fit of rage.
• Shout-Out:
  • Bruce jokingly mimics Hannibal Lecter when Hank comes to visit him.
  • Tired of Steve complaining about people cursing in movies and women showing off too much skin (even in films that are quite safe by modern standards), Jan protests that she does not want to fall down to watch The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
  • Natasha considered the name "Iron Maiden" for her Iron Man armor, but thought it was silly and stuck to "Black Widow"
• Skewed Priorities
  • The Ultimates meet the European Defense Initiative, and their mission is to stop Thor, because he stole his armor and hammer from there. Jan cannot believe it... "Way to ruin our first team-up, Nick".
  • Some trains had a railway accident, and the Ultimates are helping with the evacuation. Pym, now a civilian, passes by and he's upset. Is he concerned about the poor victims of the accident? No: he is jealous of the new Giant-Men, who can grow to even gigher sizes than him, and thinks that he should be the one in there.
• Snakes Are Sinister: Loki turns into a snake while teasing Thor in his cell.
• Spiteful Spit: Captain America got several spits after accusing Thor at the disco.
• The Spock: Bruce Banner may be executed, but Betty Ross stays cold and professional about it. She has a job, and will keep doing it anyway. Initially, at least.
• Stress Vomit: After being defeated and deprived of his powers, Thor vomits... and the Wasp, who had been Swallowed Whole, is free once more.
• Stripperiffic: Hellcat and Valkyrie, but specially Valkyrie. Hellcat uses normal trousers and a tiny top, but Valkyrie uses a really impractical suit that's just there to show her off.
• Swallowed Whole: The Wasp tried to repeat with Thor the attack she used against Hulk (get inside his ear in small size and attack it). But Thor noticed, and swallowed her as she passed in front of his mouth.
• Take Back Your Gift: Pym has been removed from the team, and won't be accepted back. Not as Ant-Man either, or any other superhero identity he may invent. And no, Fury does not want his robots either. Not even if they are for free.
• Teeth Flying: Issue #4 starts with Captain America giving such a punch to a guy.
  Captain America: Yes, we know you have a bomb, sir.
• There Are No Coincidences: Thor made frequent rants that Loki was plotting to make him look like a madman and then use the Ultimates in the Middle East conflict. He was defeated and jailed, and when everything was said and done... there's a situation in the Middle East.
• Vagueness Is Coming: Volstagg came to Earth to warn Thor that Loki had escaped from the Room Without Doors, wants revenge on Thor, and can now subtly alter reality.
• Vomit Chain Reaction: Thor had Swallowed Whole the Wasp during the fight, and released her when he vomited at the end. The experience was so unpleasant that the Wasp herself vomited after it. She will need a shower after this. Several showers. For a couple of months, at least.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: The Ultimates do not have to bust drug operations, pull out fires or help with hostage situations, their job is national defense. But they do it anyway because it's their free time.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Tony Stark makes Natasha Romanova her own version of the Iron Man suit for her birthday, then takes her on a test flight over her home city, St. Petersburg, Russia, where it's revealed he's paid the city's entire population to stand in a field spelling out his proposal.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Power Man does not wear a shirt, ever.
• What the Hell, Hero?
  • Captain America never liked the Banner cover-up, but played along with it. But when it is outed and they make a meeting to discuss what to do, he voiced his dislike for it once again.
  • The Ultimates attacked Thor when he was with his followers. Thor requested that they gave them time to flee, without being trapped in a superhuman battle. Fury agreed, he did not want civilian casualties any more than Thor.
• Who's Watching the Store?: Clint arrives home, and protests that there is a security detail that should be there 24 hours a day, Monday to Monday. Laura had sent them to help the neighbor get the cat out of the dryer.
• With Friends Like These...: The funeral for Bruce Banner reads a text he wrote in his last days, and he called the Ultimates the best friends he had in his whole life. The Wasp couldn't help but pity the poor guy: she had barely talked to him for 10 minutes in total, if she gets to be such a friend then he must have had a really lonely and miserable life.
• You Monster!: Betty is crying her eyes out, and does not understand why did they had to lie to Bruce that way. Fury pointed that it had to be that way, if he openly told him that he got the death sentence he may have turned into the Hulk, and what would happen then?
• You Wouldn't Hit a Guy with Glasses: There a journalist that writes that Janet Van Dyne is an adulteress. Steve Rogers would like to smash his pretty face... but he dares not, because the guy has glasses.

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