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TheMightyHeptagon
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The universally panned ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' is usually cited as the point where the Ultimate line definitively JumpedTheShark, largely because the writers went overboard with gruesomely killing off beloved characters and [[ShootTheShaggyDog making their efforts meaningless]]; even looking past the deaths of many popular characters, the levels of violence (which included mass murder and cannibalism) and the unrelenting grim tone just struck most people as ''unpleasant''. But years before that, Creator/MarkMillar's ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' also divided many readers with a few questionable plot and characterization choices that put a noticeably cynical spin on ''ComicBook/TheAvengers''. In particular: several Avengers had their character flaws dialed up to such extreme levels that they were hard for some readers to sympathize with, and they spent so much time fighting each other that they [[WithFriendsLikeThese seemed to openly hate each other]] at times. Even if you liked Millar's writing, it was hard to get emotionally invested in the characters when ComicBook/{{the Hulk}} was a mass-murdering cannibal, [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] was a serial abuser who nearly killed his wife at least once, [[spoiler:ComicBook/BlackWidow was a turncoat who betrayed her teammates and committed high treason]], ComicBook/{{Thor}} was implied to be a delusional cult leader, and even ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was something of a PoliticallyIncorrectHero. Not to mention that the first two installments featured the team turning on ComicBook/{{Thor}} and the Hulk and ''[[WithFriendsLikeThese beating them to a pulp]]'' with surprisingly little hesitation.
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The universally panned \'\'ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}\'\' is usually cited as the point where the Ultimate line definitively JumpedTheShark, largely because the writers went overboard with gruesomely killing off beloved characters and [[ShootTheShaggyDog making their efforts meaningless]]; even looking past the deaths of many popular characters, the levels of violence (which included mass murder and cannibalism) and the unrelenting cynical tone just struck most people as \'\'unpleasant\'\'. But years before that, Creator/MarkMillar\'s \'\'ComicBook/TheUltimates\'\' also divided many readers with a few questionable plot and characterization choices that put a noticeably cynical spin on \'\'ComicBook/TheAvengers\'\'. In particular: several Avengers had their character flaws dialed up to such extreme levels that they were hard for some readers to sympathize with, and they spent so much time fighting each other that they [[WithFriendsLikeThese seemed to openly hate each other]] at times. Even if you liked Millar\'s writing, it was hard to get emotionally invested in the characters when ComicBook/{{the Hulk}} was a mass-murdering cannibal, [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] was a serial abuser who nearly killed his wife at least once, [[spoiler:ComicBook/BlackWidow was a turncoat who betrayed her teammates and committed high treason]], ComicBook/{{Thor}} was implied to be a delusional cult leader, and even ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was something of a PoliticallyIncorrectHero. Not to mention that the first two installments featured the team turning on ComicBook/{{Thor}} and the Hulk and \'\'[[WithFriendsLikeThese beating them to a pulp]]\'\' with surprisingly little hesitation.
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But even ''that'' can be traced back to Millar's much less divisive run on ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', which also portrayed many of the X-Men as decidedly less sympathetic than their original incarnations; ComicBook/{{Colossus}} went from a mild-mannered farmboy to an arms dealer for [[TheMafiya the Russian Mob]], ComicBook/{{Storm}} went from a respected tribal priestess to a delinquent street thief, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} went from a gruff JerkWithAHeartOfGold ShellShockedVeteran to a [[ProfessionalKiller professional assassin]] who joined the team to kill Professor Xavier, and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} notably lost his sympathetic backstory as a Holocaust survivor. The difference was that ''Ultimate X-Men'' at least remembered to give the characters a decent number of PetTheDog moments to make them easier to root for, and they had enough triumphs that the story never felt excessively grim. Case in point: the first volume of ''Ultimate X-Men'' ends with the X-Men being hailed as heroes after saving Washington, D.C. from a [[HumongousMecha Sentinel]] attack, while the first volume of ''The Ultimates'' ends with Hank Pym putting his wife in a coma after the Hulk murders over 800 people.
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But even \'\'that\'\' can be traced back to Millar\'s much less divisive run on \'\'ComicBook/UltimateXMen\'\', which also portrayed many of the X-Men as decidedly less sympathetic than their original incarnations; ComicBook/{{Colossus}} went from a mild-mannered farmboy to an arms dealer for [[TheMafiya the Russian Mob]], ComicBook/{{Storm}} went from a respected tribal priestess to a delinquent street thief, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} went from a gruff JerkWithAHeartOfGold ShellShockedVeteran to a [[ProfessionalKiller professional assassin]] who joined the team to kill Professor Xavier, and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} notably lost his sympathetic backstory as a Holocaust survivor. The difference was that \'\'Ultimate X-Men\'\' at least remembered to give the characters a decent number of PetTheDog moments to make them easier to root for, and they had enough triumphs that the story never felt excessively grim. Case in point: the first volume of \'\'Ultimate X-Men\'\' ends with the X-Men being hailed as heroes after saving Washington, D.C. from a [[HumongousMecha Sentinel]] attack, while the first volume of \'\'The Ultimates\'\' ends with Hank Pym putting his wife in a coma after the Hulk murders over 800 people.
