Marvel's Ultimates #5 Introduces A Classic Avenger – With A Very Welcome Twist [Exclusive Preview]
Marvel Comics' new "Ultimate" universe is now knee-deep in its publication, but that shouldn't scare new readers into missing out on "Ultimates" by Deniz Camp.
Set in a version of the Marvel Universe ("Earth-6160") where everything went wrong because of the evil Maker, "Ultimates" follows some familiar heroes trying to build the superhero team the world deserves. Many of these new "Ultimate" heroes have familiar names, but very different backgrounds. Last month's "Ultimates" #4 depicted how this Reed Richards, robbed of his family and future by the Maker, became a heroic Doctor Doom, not Mister Fantastic. The soon-to-publish "Ultimates" #5 (drawn by Juan Frigeri) is making ground-up changes to Hawkeye.
"Ultimates" is the most radical book Marvel's publishing right now — and Camp knows what he's doing. His breakout hit at Image Comics, "20th Century Men," reimagined the Soviet-Afghan War in a world where superpowers had superhero soldiers. Camp has brought that same critique of the American Empire to "Ultimates," even if the United States doesn't really exist in this world anymore (long story — just know you can blame the Maker).
In "Ultimates" #2, Captain America had to reckon with how the ethos of America isn't freedom, it's profit. "Ultimates" #3 reimagined She-Hulk; she's not Jennifer Walters, but a Pacific Islander named Lejori Zakaria. This She-Hulk is a Gamma mutate because the U.S. military chose her people's land to test Gamma bombs and wrote off the indigenous population as disposable.
Marvel has shared an exclusive preview of the first four pages of "Ultimates" #5 with /Film. The issue looks similar to "Ultimates" #3 because Ultimate Hawkeye is a Native-American man, not blond-haired, blue-eyed Clint Barton. It's a fitting change; the name "Hawkeye" comes from James Fenimore Cooper's often-adapted novel "The Last of the Mohicans," a colonialist text all about the displacement of Native Americans. Plus, Marvel needs Native heroes besides Maya Lopez/Echo.
Ultimate Hawkeye has a familiar purple-blue costume with a bow-and-arrow, but he wears his hair in a braid and mohawk with feathers, visual signifiers that emphasize his Native heritage. The cover of "Ultimates" #5 shows Hawkeye reflected by Captain America's shield; he looks boxed in around the shield's heart, for Native genocide is the original sin of that white star.
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The synopsis of the issue reads:
"ULTIMATE HAWKEYE TARGETS CAPTAIN AMERICA! Hawkeye No More? Not for long! A new challenger approaches when an unknown civilian picks up a discarded bow and arrow — and refuses to let the Ultimates reclaim the stolen Stark Tech! Captain America tries to settle the dispute, leading to an action-packed brawl of arrows versus shields! Meanwhile, the Ultimate Hellfire Club is up to something..."
It's Captain America vs Hawkeye in Ultimates #5
"Ultimates" #5 begins on the Triskelion, the team's space station base. Iron Lad/Tony Stark catches Captain America up on some recent events; recurring attacks on the company Roxxon, with arrow bolts left behind at the site. The attacks have been ongoing for the past five months, and I think you already know who the culprit is. ("Ultimates" and "Ultimate Spider-Man" both move in real-time, with each issue jumping ahead a month to correspond to the publishing time-lapse.)
Roxxon is Marvel's go-to evil oil company, with a name obviously evoking the real Exxon. Since Hawkeye clearly has a grudge against them, will "Ultimates" #5 focus on how pollution damages communities? Especially since Native Americans are one of the demographics most harmed by environmental racism. "Ultimates" #5 might wind up a Marvel spin on "How to Blow Up a Pipeline," a heist film where the leads are heroic eco-terrorists. (Read our review from 2022 here.)
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Back in "Ultimates" #1, Tony and Doom sent out packages to every surviving person in the world who would have been a superhero if not for the Maker. Unfortunately, only Peter Parker accepted; 6160 Clint Barton was seen throwing the Hawkeye suit in the trash and not even looking back (in a frame evoking "Spider-Man: No More!"). Issue #5 returns to this; it turns out someone picked up the Hawkeye suit (and Stark-designed arrows inside). Captain America is willing to give this new Hawkeye a chance, but Tony is skeptical; he doesn't want his inventions potentially being abused.
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Page no. 4 jumps ahead to Captain America and Hawkeye facing off at a Roxxon refinery (noted to be close to the Missouri River, again suggesting a pollution theme). Hawkeye, holding his bow up to an unarmed Cap, asks "So they sent a cowboy, huh?" That's a pointed word choice. Think of "Watchmen," when the Comedian compares Captain Metropolis' continued crime-fighting crusade to "playing Cowboys and Indians." In America, those two terms were long used as synonymous with hero and heavy. Western films lionized white frontiersmen and demonized Natives as subhuman savages. Some of the most destructive U.S. Presidents ever, like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, cultivated a "cowboy" persona to win over the masses who long for a John Wayne-esque hero.
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Putting an Indigenous hero against the personification of America is a gutsy move — I can't even think of how Cap comes out of this one looking like the good guy.
"Ultimates" #5 releases at physical and digital retailers on October 9, 2024.