In this review of The Ultimates #13, Tony Stark’s plan for The Ultimates 3.0 is rolled out in ways you would not expect from the team of heroes.
THE ULTIMATES #13
Writer: DENIZ CAMP
Artist: JUAN FRIGERI
Variant Cover: DIKE RUAN
Variant Covers: FEDERICO VICENTINI, BENJAMIN SU, GREG LAND
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: June 18, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri bring the heat with The Ultimates #12, in what feels like a return to form. Gone are the tiresome rhyming captions or the boring talking heads. Not only are we back to action and exciting drawings, but to fast paced plotting, intrigue and character growth. If you signed up for metamodern superheroes addressing problems on both a grounded and high concept scale, you can find it here.
After last issue’s revelations that Doom had secretly resurrected the Ultimates during (after?) their fight with Hulk, Iron Lad is in full “go mode” in activating “Ultimates 3.0”. Couched as Iron Lad’s memos to his father, Tony explains how the team has begun reaching out to the civilian population, creating their own grass-roots resistance movement. Stark, Hawkeye and Captain America have been working at taking down a Red Skull stronghold, reeducating defeated enemies. Stark has been working on developing an information network through the Ultimates app. Human Torch asks Tony to finally send him on some kind of secret mission. Meanwhile, Tony and She-Hulk continue their reconnaissance on Monster Island as AIM and Banner encroach on the area.
Stark also tries contacting Thor, who declines his aid at this time. Lastly, Iron Lad visits Luke Cage’s prison-turned-stronghold, and after witnessing the reeducation work being done, encases the base in a time dome, inspired by the Maker. Stark regroups at the Triskelion, to mean six separate Tony Starks regroup. It’s revealed that in his experiments with time, Tony has begun splitting himself off from various moments in time to coexist simultaneously. Meanwhile, the apparent double-agent Wasp watches in horror at what Tony has become.
After a brief lull, Camp and Frigeri return with fast-paced plotting and a strong focus on superheroes as tools for social reform. Luke Cage’s effective politicking is a highlight, and eagle-eyed fans will enjoy spotting background characters like Danny Rand, Shang-Chi, and Phantom Reporter. The idea of “Ultimates 3.0” as a grassroots movement of everyday people feels like a fresh, prosocial update to the original Millar-Hitch team—replacing the military complex with the reformed and wrongly convicted.
The transformation of Tony Stark Iron Lad into Kang (which arguably began all the way back in Ultimate Invasion) is now in full swing. Camp and Frigeri play with comics mechanics by exploring the means some characters are able to appear in multiple places at once. The Ultimates #13 initially seems to be told in a montage of interconnected yet separate check-ins between Stark and various Ultimates members.
The reveal that everything in The Ultimates has been going on simultaneously is ingenious and way more shocking than the reveal from last month. Moreover, it makes me curious as to how living multiple lives between moments may cause fractures in Stark’s psyche. As socially conscious as Camp is, it’s this sci-fi hook that has boosted the book from “good” to “great”.
Camp and Frigeri have come back swinging on The Ultimates #13. They’ve managed to recapture the energy that made Ultimates such a revelation when it comes to superhero-team books. The heavy blend of class-conscious politics and medium-bending science fiction is what I’ve been missing, and I’m relieved that it’s all in here. While their darkest days remain ahead of them, it’s nice to have some uplifting moments here in the meantime. It’s issues like this that make me dread the “sixteen month” deadline issued at the inception of the Ultimate line.
