Yes, it is official. Marvel Animation Age is usually right on the money. Then again, so is Comics Continuum when it gets a rare scoop.
Clearly, this was a very sudden decision, since back at the start of the year, after PLANET HULK debuted on DVD, Josh Fine was still talking up the second season like it was happening. So whatever happened to kill W&TXM happened very recently. Like maybe March recently.
BTW, if Disney is so obsessed over getting all of Marvel animation under their umbrella and network, I imagine IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES (also on NickToons) and MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD (Cartoon Network) may be next on the chopping block. I would also imagine that the DTV's with Lion's Gate will not be renewed, and that THOR: TALES OF ASGARD next year will be the last, unless Disney is willing to have Marvel eat a loss on it, since it is already well into production.
The Ultimate line itself is dead and irrelevant.
Is Ultimate Spider-man even around anymore?
Ultimate X-men got cancelled. Why would they even want to make a show around that series? Also, Evolution and WaTXM even took some cues from the Ultimate line, so I mean, if that's what this is I mean it was already done.
Chances are Marvel won't ever officially announce it being over or cancelled since that's what happened with Spectacular.
I'm so devastated I almost want to start writing fan fiction.
Ultimate Spider-Man was relaunched last year as "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man", but it's sales continue to dwindle. It is the best selling ongoing series the Ultimate line has left, at least over the long haul. And even it barely sells in the Top 35 anymore. ASM vastly outsells it.
Ultimate X-Men was canceled, and some of their cast (Iceman & Shadowcat) have moved into the cast at USM full time. There also is ULTIMATE X, which is supposed to fill the gap left by Ultimate X-Men (since a lot of X-Men, like Wolverine and Cyclops, died in Ultimatum; Ultimate X stars Logan's blond son), but the sales have not been blockbuster. There is Ultimates 3 or 4, which is behind schedule, and Ultimates New Ultimates by Mark Millar and another artist, which debuted well, but is hardly at ULTIMATES 2 numbers. I agree, the Ultimate line is mostly irrelevant and is in a "zombie" phase right now. By that I mean there is no creative reason for it to continue, and it offers nothing to the reading public behind some ego vehicles for creators. However, they all sell far too well to outright cancel. The only Ultimate title that was canned and has not returned, besides ULTIMATE TEAM UP, was ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, which had slipped to the Top 55-60 in sales (which, while bad for Ultimate, in terms of general comics was still well enough to have kept around if they wanted; I mean it wasn't Moon Knight, selling 19k an issue). I think Ultimate Mr. Fantastic was iced in Ultimatum, too. ULTIMATUM was an Ultimate event crossover meant to both "end" the universe and inspire new launches, but it was so bad a story that many readers did not return.
After 10 years, it really is time for Marvel to call it a day on Ultimate, but so long as some titles sell in the Top 45, and so long as some hot writers like Mark Millar, Brian Bendis and Jeph Loeb want to write for the imprint, it will survive. The Ultimate line did provide inspiration for some character designs for video games and cartoons; Toad in W&TXM looked exactly as Kubert designed him for Ultimate X-Men.
If you think about it, Disney pulled a cruel, creative coup with TSSM. They obviously outbid CW 4KIDS for the second season, hence why they aired it. But that also helped kill ratings, and put Disney in the perfect decision to kill it in favor of their own Spidey show. It is akin to rescuing a drowning man from sea, only to stab him as he climbs aboard your boat. WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, though, by all purposes was a ratings success, so now this seems even more like Disney being a control freak. Clearly, Joe Quesada's statements in Jan. that Disney would let Marvel do their own thing is hogwash. If it isn't, then their execs are more erratic and impatient than ever.
X-MEN EVOLUTION, at 4 seasons and 52 episodes, sadly remains Marvel's most successful cartoon of the 21st century. And even that is denied proper DVD release by corporate shenanigans (although Marvel can apparently release it for free over the Internet). People may spit at the memory of Kid's WB as a network, but at least that network allowed Marvel their one TV success of the decade (as well as commissioned TSSM).
There really was no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. While I won't lie and say that WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN was a perfect, flawless show and that the debut season had fundamental flaws, MANY debut seasons could claim similar traits. It really does show, though, that TV cartoon writers cannot assume they will have another season. This is the SECOND time IN A ROW that the same X-Men show writers assumed they'd have another season to write Colossus, and the SECOND TIME IN A ROW they have been proven wrong. If, for the inevitable Disney owned X-Men show, the writers AGAIN shaft Colossus and go, "we'll wait until Season 2", I seriously will pull out hair from my scalp.
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