Quesada promises Ultimate changes

Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada has promised major divergences between mainstream Marvel continuity and the revamped Ultimate Universe.

Writing on his Cup O' Joe blog, Quesada promised big changes for the Ultimate Comics imprint.

"The Ultimate [Universe] is going to start looking radically different than the Marvel U, and all the creators involved are having a blast with the possibilities offered them though this wide open canvas.

"As for previously told MU stories reinterpreted in the UU, I think we've done a pretty good job using the high concepts of some of those classics while giving them a modern twist, and there are a large number of fans that have a lot of fun reading these new takes."

Marvel's Ultimate titles are set in a different continuity which allows writers to invent new origins and histories for the brand's characters.

The nine-year-old Ultimate Marvel imprint was recently relaunched as Ultimate Comics following the events of the Ultimatum crossover.

Quesada added that the X-Men had ceased to exist post-Ultimatum.

"There's just one word to describe mutants in the Ultimate universe - dead and scarce," he said. "Okay, that's two words."