As Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe continues to reveal its warped new version of Marvel lore, Captain America‘s Ultimates team are facing a Z-list villain who’s always deserved more time in the spotlight. This timeline’s version of the Avengers, the Ultimates are the ultimate underdog superheroes, battling against a secret world order that has the entire world in its grip. But while readers already met the Maker’s Council (the secretive cabal at the very top of the conspiracy) they’re about to be shocked by who the villains decided to put in the White House.

In an exclusive preview of Ultimates #2 from Comicbook.com, fans see Captain America leading Iron Lad, Wasp, and Giant-Man in an assault on the White House. In the textless pages, the Ultimates make their way to the Oval Office, only to discover that the vicious Doctor Midas, aka the Cosmic Man, has become the leader of the country.

In the new Ultimate Universe continuity, America was disbanded in 1969, splitting into the North American Union and the Society of South America, along with various regional forces. Previously, this area was secretly run by Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark’s father Howard. However, after being inducted into the secret Maker’s Council, Howard realized the full extent of their control over the world and rebelled, trapping their leader the Maker inside his own base for two years. Now, Tony has that amount of time to topple the Maker’s regime and prepare the world to face him on his return.

Captain America’s Ultimates Attack the White House

The Heroes are Wanted Terrorists in Marvel’s New Ultimate Universe Continuity

The Ultimates finds a ragtag group of heroes attempting to dismantle the Maker’s control, however it won’t be easy. The Hulk – who has taken over leadership of the Maker’s Council in their boss’ absence – attacked New York and framed Tony for the crime, turning the Ultimates into wanted terrorists. Now, the Ultimates are fighting to create a resistance out of the heroes who were forced to live normal lives thanks to the Maker’s meddling in their destiny, restoring powers to those who can be trusted to fight for justice. Tony has become the de facto leader of the group, with this world’s Doctor Doom, Captain America, Thor, Sif, the Wasp and Giant-Man uniting to fight for their freedom.

One of the big strengths of The Ultimates is its approach to storytelling and its clear communication of the ‘rules’ the team are living under. The creators have been very clear that the heroes have 18 months to save their world and prepare for the Maker’s return, putting them on a concrete timeline within which all their victories and losses have to happen. Each issue has also been designed as a standalone story – a singular mission in the Ultimates’ overall fight which will see them gain or lose ground in the larger conflict. Writer Deniz Camp told Comicbook.com:

Their basic mission is to overthrow the council and prepare the world for whatever is going to emerge from the Maker’s time-accelerated City in 18 months. To do that they plan to form an ‘Ultimates resistance network,’ the exact concept/mechanics behind which will be spelled out in the first issue. But what I can say is that every issue will be a complete, done-in-one story, and almost every issue is going to introduce a new version of a classic Marvel character. 18 months to build the Marvel Universe and free the world. No pressure.

Usually, even major comics have to keep this kind of timeline vague, since Marvel needs to be able to wrap them up quickly (or extend the story) depending on how well they sell. The Ultimates is therefore taking a refreshingly new approach – a series that already made it clear it won’t be playing for time or wrapping events up too early, and which is focused on telling clear, single-issue stories that expand this new universe and progress the efforts of the team in meaningful ways. It’s exactly what many comic fans have always dreamed of, with Midas’ arrival guaranteeing there will also be plenty of new takes on established Marvel lore.

The Ultimates Are Fighting for the Fate of the Entire World

The Ultimates’ Enemies Are So Powerful, Even the President Is Just the Start

While the epic Ultimate Invasion (Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch) introduced the Maker’s Council and their territories, the last few months have seen Marvel revealing more of the mechanisms the villains use to maintain control. Ultimate Black Panther (Stefano Caselli and David Curiel) has seen the evil Moon Knight attempting to crush dissidents in Wakanda, while Ultimate Spider-Man (Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto) has revealed a cadre of secret assassins (including Daredevil villain Bullseye) who quietly eradicate influential individuals who won’t go along with the Maker’s plans. Now, The Ultimates #2 will dive into the ‘leaders’ who publicly run the world while secretly answering to the Maker.

While the heroes started out with a deadline of two years, an attack carried out by the Maker’s Council in Ultimate Universe (Jonathan Hickman, Stefano Caselli and Peach Momoko) forced the Ultimates to jump forward in time to escape, leaving them just 18 months to fight back and change the world. With foes like Hulk, Captain Britain and Sunfire arrayed against them, it’s an almost impossible task, and even that is only the beginning.

While the Maker will be trapped for two years from the perspective of everyone outside his base, the Maker designed his personal lab so that time passes far faster inside, allowing him to experiment with human evolution. When the Maker returns, centuries or even millennia will have passed for him, during which time he’ll have been working on the tech and superhuman servants to retake the world.

Midas Is the President in Marvel’s New Ultimate Universe

This Deep Cut Marvel Character Shows That Despite a New Canon, Marvel Isn’t Ignoring Longtime Fans

The Ultimates don’t stand a chance against the Maker until they’ve disassembled the Maker’s Council, and it seems they plan to start by targeting their puppet president – Doctor Midas. Midas first appeared in Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones’ 2000 comic Marvel Boy, though he also played a major role in 2014’s Original Sins event. A secretive billionaire, Midas lives by the credo that every situation can be turned to his advantage. Originally seen wearing what appeared to be Tony Stark’s original Mark 1 Iron Man armor, Midas exposed himself to cosmic radiation for years, attempting to gain the combined powers of the Fantastic Four.

Initially, Midas’ only superhuman ability was to turn whatever he touched to gold, however he was eventually successful, combining Mister Fantastic’s stretching, Invisible Woman’s force fields, Human Torch’s flame, and the Thing’s rocky body. Since then, he’s enhanced himself with telepathy, a major healing factor and even Cosmic Awareness – an intangible connection to the universe’s greatest mysteries shared by characters like Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock. At one time, Midas was banished to the Dark Dimension, but true to form was able to turn this to his advantage, returning to attack Earth with an army of the dimension’s native Mindless Ones.

Midas is somethimes helped and sometimes opposed by his daughter Oubliette Midas, aka Extertimatrix, a child he stole and raised as his own daughter. In the past, Oubliette has declared herself “the Lara Croft of evil,” having been trained to hunt and kill a variety of mysterious creatures, from vampires to aliens. In a world where Marvel Boy didn’t help Oubliette turn against her evil ‘father,’ it’s likely she still works for him in some capacity. One of the most impressive facts about Midas and Oubliette is that they were able to remain secret from Earth’s heroes despite their immense power and influence, making it the perfect twist for Midas to have aligned with the Maker and risen so high in his corrupt and warped world.

Ultimates Is Showcasing Marvel’s Ambitious Approach to Its New Continuity

Earth-6160 Is a Place Where Anything Can Happen – The Exact Energy the Ultimate Universe Embodies

Marvel Boy is far from being one of Marvel’s most famous comics, and yet it’s beloved by hardcore fans as a title incredibly rich in ideas, and its characters have never died out, with the titular Marvel Boy going on to join both the Young Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite this, the series’ villain is an incredibly deep cut to act as one of the Ultimates’ very first enemies, even as he perfectly embodies the twisted, self-serving nature of the world the Maker has created. The choice to reinvent Midas as a major obstacle to the Ultimates is a sign that anything can happen in this new continuity, and that Marvel has no plans to serve up the same old characters in the same old ways.

One of the major advantages of using a villain who has appeared in so few stories is that the Ultimate Universe isn’t fighting against a lot of accumulated Marvel continuity – the exact reason the Ultimate Universe exists in the first place. As Captain America fights to bring down the president, it’s clear Marvel is taking big swings with the Ultimate Universe and offering fans a story they won’t find anywhere else.

The Ultimates #2 is coming from Marvel Comics July 10.

Source: Timothy Adams, Comicbook.com