The world's foremost superhuman strike force, the Ultimates trace their origins back to World War II super-operative Captain America, whom the US government empowered in part to oppose the Nazis' secret extraterrestrial Chitauri allies. Rogers appeared to die while helping destroy the Nazi/Chitauri war effort, and US scientists tried for decades to duplicate his powers. In recent years, the Super-Soldier Program's lead scientist Bruce Banner, reporting to General Ross, head of the S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence agency.
Later, new S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury pushed through a multi-billion expansion of the Super-Soldier Program, though Banner's temporary transformation into the monstrous Hulk resulted in his demotion to deputy under new head scientists Hank and Janet Pym, who did double-duty as size-changing super-operatives Giant-Man and Wasp. Altruistic armored billionaire inventor Tony Stark soon joined as Iron Man. Enigmatic left-wing powerhouse Thor refused membership at first, but Captain America himself was found alive and revived from a state of suspended animation to join the team. Together, Rogers, Stark and the Pyms became the Ultimates, headquartered in the high-tech Triskelion complex and backed by a huge support staff, a large conventional military force and black ops agents. Banner's semi-estranged girlfriend Betty Ross (daughter of General Ross) was hired as Director of Communications and helped the new team into celebrities while making Bruce's life miserable. The depressed Banner finally snapped and transformed into the Hulk again, embarking on a destructive rampage stopped by the Ultimates with the aid of Thor, who began working with the team thereafter.
The Hulk's true identity was concealed from the public, and the Ultimates became beloved national heroes. The group soon expanded: intelligence veterans Hawkeye and Black Widow and mutant ex-terrorists Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were promoted from the black ops division to the core team. Meanwhile, Hank Pym nearly killed his wife during a violent domestic dispute and was beaten into traction by Captain America, who later began dating the Wasp. Pym's former assistant Dr. Eamonn Brankin became the new scientific head of the program. Despite losing Giant-Man, the Ultimates saved the world from a Chitauri plot with the unwitting aid of the Hulk and became bigger icons than ever. They went on to apprehend Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Luther Manning, the X-Men and Norman Osborn's "Six."
Later allied with the European Super-Soldier Initiative, the Ultimates became more controversial as they began operating in foreign territory, notably the Middle East. Thor quit, and a traitor within the group outed Banner as the Hulk. Seemingly executed for the Hulk's crimes, Banner secretly survived with the aid of Hank Pym, who was soon fired from the Ultimates altogether. Meanwhile, apparently exposed as a madman, Thor was brutally arrested by the team. The global community grew wary as the Ultimates developed many more super-agents as their reserves, and anti-Ultimates sentiment accelerated when the team stripped a small "rogue" Middle Eastern nation of its nuclear capability. The traitor within the Ultimates responded by murdering Hawkeye's family, framing Captain America for the crime, and helping a foreign super-army invade America. Assisted by Hank Pym, the Liberators destroyed the Triskelion and occupied major American cities, slaughtering the reserves and capturing the remaining Ultimates in the process.
Members:
General Nick Fury
Iron Man
Thor
Hawkeye
Black Widow II
Spider-Woman
The Hulk
Supporting Cast:
Edwin Jarvis
Betty Ross
Happy Hogan
Pepper Potts
Bucky Barnes
Gail Barnes
Former Members:
Captain America
Yellowjacket II
The Wasp
Black Widow
Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch
Black Panther
Valkyrie
Zarda
Ka-Zar
Shanna the She-Devil
Giant-Man II
Affiliates:
S.H.I.E.L.D.
European Defense Initiative
Equipment:
The Triskelion
Captain America's Tank
Villians:
Loki
Magneto
General Kleiser
Green Goblin
Doctor Octopus
Electro
The Sandman
Kraven the Hunter
Mister Sinister
Lady Deathstrike
Longshot
Arnim Zola
Hobgoblin
Yellowjacket I
The Enchantress
Nuke
Villainous Groups:
The Liberators
The Brotherhood of Mutants
The Chitauri
The Six
Squadron Supreme
