Marvels panel dealing with the Ultimate side of things has wrapped. Hosted by Marvels Marketing Manager, John Dokes, with Ultimate office editors Nick Lowe and John Barber fielding questions, the panel itself was peppered with news, but leaned heavily towards attendees asking about their favorite characters or possible Ultimate versions of their favorite characters.
On with the bullet points, then
In the Ultimate Spider-Man Annual, Spider-Man gets a new girlfriend someone who has appeared in the series prior, but would be about the last person fans would expect to come back and be a girlfriend.
In showing the cover of Ultimate Fantastic Four #21, the panelists implied that they werent supposed to show the image, which appears to be an Ultimate version of Reed Richards looking at his 616 counterpart through a hi-tech looking glass. No further details were given on the possible story arc, entitled Crossover.
Also, in Mark Millar and Greg Lands Ultimate Fantastic Four story, the team is sent to stop time-traveling terrorists who have gone back in time, intent on squashing humankinds distant ancestor just as it crawls out of the ocean.
Brian K. Vaughns upcoming Magnetic North arc in Ultimate X-Men will be his last solo arc, and deal with the Ultimate version of Polaris and the return of Magneto. Why solo, you may ask? After Magnetic North, X-Men director Bryan Singers arc will kick off, and Vaughan will co-write it with the director.
Along the lines of will we ever see
questions, in regards to Ultimate Apocalypse, Barber said there will be a good chance before Brian Vaughan is done with his time on the series, implying that the character might show up during his and Singers time on the title.
On the business side of the Ultimate Universe, Dokes confirmed that there will be a corresponding Barnes & Noble edition of an Ultimate X-Men hardcover volume like the Ultimate Spider-Man volume published by B&N. While details were light, the Ultimate Spider-Man version collected the first 39 issues of the series, running 992 pages (and is now currently being remaindered for about $25 at stores).
In regards to Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, the Ultimate versions of these characters will show up in the Warriors arc of Ultimate Spider-Man, beginning in issue #79.