Ultimo (Marvel Comics)
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Ultimo | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Cameo: Tales of Suspense #76 (April 1966) Full: Tales of Suspense #77 (May 1966) |
Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Gene Colan (artist) |
In-story information | |
Species | Robot |
Team affiliations | Mandarin's Minions |
Notable aliases | The Living Holocaust Doomsday Machine |
Abilities |
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Ultimo
Publication history
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2012) |
Ultimo made a cameo appearance in Tales of Suspense #76 (April 1966) and its first full appearance was in Tales of Suspense #77 (May 1966), and was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.[1]
Comic Book Resources rated Ultimo at #10 on their list of "Marvel's 10 Most Powerful Giants," referring to him as "a doomsday weapon created by a long-destroyed alien culture."[2]
Fictional character biography
Origin
Ultimo is a gigantic ancient android. His origins are unclear, but it is commonly believed that he was forged by an alien species that has since been destroyed by their own creation, which they called (in their language) "The doomsday device," marking Ultimo as a living weapon of mutually assured destruction. Ultimo himself once confirmed that his "masters" had not contacted him in "thousands of years", suggesting that he was unaware of his possible involvement in their demise.
The first time (chronologically speaking) he is depicted in print, Ultimo is already traveling through space when he attacks the planet Rajak after perceiving it as a threat, ultimately killing all its people. The only survivors, a group of Rajakian merchants who were off planet at the time, attempted to destroy him but had to flee before his might. Ultimately, they managed to lure him into an asteroid belt; the android was unable to effectively protect himself from constant bombardment from multiple moving projectiles and was eventually disabled. The surviving Rajakians chose not to interact with him any further, instead allowing him to crash-land on an unknown planet — Earth. This happened around the 1840s.[3]
First appearance
The
Ultimo is then sent by the Mandarin to assist the
Ultimo versus Iron Legion
Ultimo battled the "
Ultimate Devastation
Years later, the robot is the property of Stark-Fujikawa which had bought the Stark company when Tony was believed dead (after the events of "the Crossing"). Having performed extensive research of the hulking, inert robot, Stark-Fujikawa's engineers managed to access its control programs, and now the company intends to use the enormous energy reserves stored inside Ultimo to provide cheap electricity to the entire Western USA.[10]
The ship built on top of the dormant doomsday device is attacked by Goldenblade and Sapper — ironically, representatives of the doomed Rajaki race, seeking to steal energy to resurrect those Rajaki that still survive as data patterns aboard the crashed vessel - who accidentally wake up Ultimo, and the robot immediately sets out to destroy the ship. Unfortunately, the city of
Initiative
Ultimo reappeared, apparently fully restored, facing the
Ultimo virus
Ultimo gets converted into an "Ultimo virus" capable of bestowing enhanced strength, speed, regeneration and optic blast abilities to its victims, which included Dr. Glenda Sandoval (Rhodey's former love interest) and Ares.[13] It is revealed that the virus was engineered from Ultimo himself by the Human Engineering Life Laboratories, which was acting on the commission of the Stark Solutions corporation, which had been contracted by H.A.M.M.E.R. to study Ultimo's potential as a weapon. Having destroyed Ultimo's body, War Machine sets out to destroy Ultimo's brain, which had been split up into three discrete units stored at separate locations. Two of the units are destroyed by War Machine's allies, but the third is ingested (in the form of a crystalline liquid) by Stark Solutions' CEO Morgan Stark who is transformed into a giant, humanoid (quicksilver-like) Ultimo and possessed of the Doomsday Machine's programming to destroy all life, fighting War Machine. However, Ultimo's third component is destroyed when War Machine uses Ultimo's own weapons technology - which were obtained when the robot's body was destroyed - against the robot. Morgan then self-destructs, scattering Ultimo's liquid body all over the landscape and merging with the plant life.[14] Ultimo/Morgan planned to convert all of the vegetation on Earth into metal which would suffocate all life within two weeks. War Machine renders Ultimo docile by forcing Norman Osborn into showing memories of respective happiest moments. However, Osborn then took advantage of this to take Ultimo for himself.[15] Ultimo (having had his core programming erased) turned into a giant, floating ball of liquid metal that was essentially awaiting instructions. Before Osborn could take possession of the robot, War Machine interfered and then requested Cybermancer Suzi Endo to take Ultimo to "raise" the blank slate it now is, hopefully instilling other values into the artificial intelligence besides universal genocide.[16] But on War Machine's request, drops of Ultimo infected the nefarious "Bainesville Ten" group to see recordings of every person who was raped, tortured or killed from their own orders.[17]
Iron Man 2020
During the "
Powers and abilities
As a gigantic artificial construction, Ultimo is incredibly strong and nearly indestructible. Despite his bulk, he is very fast, being able to walk at about 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). He can absorb and store immense amounts of heat energy. He can fire beams of concussive force or beams capable of disintegrating matter from his eyes, the power of which varies with his own energy level (but at full power can easily vaporize several dozen tons of rock in a single blast). He can, over time, significantly increase his size (and presumably strength and durability): when he first appeared, he was 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, but after his years-long lava bath underneath the Earth's crust, he had grown to 60 feet (18 m). After Stark-Fujikawa's engineers accessed his systems, he is made to grow to "over a hundred feet" (he stretched along the entire length of the hull of a medium-sized research vessel).[volume & issue needed]
Ultimo has also shown he can adapt his defenses. While he once was deactivated by a lightning bolt,[volume & issue needed] this later proved ineffective.[volume & issue needed]
Finally, he seems capable of repairing himself even when deactivated and completely disassembled.
Ultimo has no capacity for self-motivated activity, and is dependent on programming or the commands of its programmer. Ultimo has a standing order for the combat use of its superhuman powers or, as it was rather graphically put: "If it moves, it dies. If it resists, it dies first."[9]
Other versions
- A modified version of Ultimo exists in the comic book version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a creation of Hydra. This version is created from technology that was recovered from Ultron's destroyed sentries after Avengers: Age of Ultron.[21]
In other media
Television
- Ultimo appears in the "Iron Man" segment of The Marvel Super Heroes.[citation needed]
- Ultimo appears in Iron Man, voiced by Ed Gilbert.[citation needed] Similarly to the comics, this version was originally in an inactive volcano before the Mandarin and MODOK find Ultimo and bring it under their control until Force Works defeat it. In a later episode, the Hacker gains control of Ultimo in a failed attempt at seeking revenge on Stark Industries, only for the latter to be defeated by Julia Carpenter and Hawkeye.
- Ultimo makes a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four as part of a show-within-the-show.[citation needed]
- Ultimo appears in Gene Khan and Tony Stark claim the ring, but activate Ultimo, who attacks them as part of its test. Tony eventually realizes what the test means and passes by relinquishing his weapons and suit, deactivating the android. In the two-part series finale, "The Makluan Invasion", the Makluan Overlord sends an upgraded version of Ultimo to attack Earth's heroes. During the fight, the Gray Hulkarrives to help them fight it off before Iron Man destroys Ultimo from the inside.
- Ultimo makes a cameo appearance in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Iron Man is Born".[citation needed]
- Ultimo appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Building the Perfect Weapon" as a servant of the Leader.[22]
Video games
- Ultimo appears as a mini-boss in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.[citation needed] This version serves the Mandarin.
- Ultimo appears in the Iron Man 2 film tie-in game, voiced by Andrew Chaikin.[23] This version is a large battle suit created by A.I.M. operative Kearson DeWitt, who created it by stealing and modifying an old version of J.A.R.V.I.S. and combining it with his PROTEAN project.
- Ultimo appears in wizard mode.[citation needed]
- Ultimo appears as a boss in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, voiced by Jim Meskimen.[24] Prior to the game, Iron Man defeated Ultimo and wiped its mind before storing it in a warehouse in New Jersey. In the present, Ultron uses the Mind Stone to possess Ultimo and wreak havoc on New York City until they are defeated by Scott Lang / Giant-Man and the Vision.
Notes
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ Allan, Scoot (2020-01-31). "Marvel's 10 Most Powerful Giants, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
- ^ Iron Man (vol. 3) #24
- ^ Tales of Suspense #76-78
- ^ The Avengers Annual #1
- ^ Iron Man #69-70
- ^ Iron Man #95-96
- ^ Iron Man #298-299
- ^ a b Iron Man #300
- ^ Iron Man (vol. 3) #23
- ^ Iron Man (vol. 3) #25
- ^ Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)
- ^ War Machine (vol. 2) #3
- ^ War Machine (vol. 2) #8
- ^ War Machine vol. 2 #9
- ^ War Machine (vol. 2) #10
- ^ War Machine (vol. 2) #12
- ^ 2020 Force Works #2. Marvel Comics.
- ^ 2020 Force Works #3. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Iron Man 2020 (vol. 2) #6. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Captain America: Road to War #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ "Building The Perfect Weapon". Avengers: Ultron Revolution. Season 3. Episode 21. November 13, 2016. Disney XD.
- ^ "Andrew Chaikin". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ "MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: THE BLACK ORDER". behindthevoiceactors.com.
External links
- Ultimo at Marvel.com