Ultimate Endgame #3 Review

Ultimate Endgame #3 has a lot of work ahead of itself as the opening chapters of the Ultimate Universe event have been disappointing. Even with how omnipresent The Maker has become in his return the Ultimate Endgame event has yet to hit the level it should. There are many things missing to hit on this truly the end-all-be-all big event to decide the Ultimate Universe’s future. Will it be found with its third chapter? Let’s find out with Ultimate Endgame #3.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer: Deniz Camp

Artists: Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf

Colorists: Terry Dodson and Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Cory Petit

ULTIMATE ENDGAME #3 SOLICITATION

“THE END OF THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE DRAWS NEAR! Inside the Maker’s City, a desperate group of heroes battles the terrifying Children of Tomorrow and discover some surprising allies!

While outside the City, the Ultimates and other heroes of the Ultimate Universe must deal with the unspeakable power that has just been unleashed! With shocking twists, painful deaths and massive reveals, this epic is heating up fast. Don’t miss the ultimate super-hero event of the century!” – Marvel Comics

REVIEW

Ultimate Endgame #3 proves the little things that we take for granted in big events can make all the differences. Case in point, the involvement of characters other than the Ultimates and Spider-Man elevate the intensity of this event by multiple levels. That allows the things happening in and out of The Maker’s bubble to have a greater impact. It’s something that is missing from the previous two issues that makes the weakness less prominent than they were.

Ultimate X-Men Make the Difference

The Ultimate X-Men presence in Ultimate Endgame #3 makes all the difference in the tone this event takes. While we’ve had the Ultimates around, limiting the story to only focus on them made this comic book feel like an extension of their ongoing. That should not be how the main series of a big event should be positioned.

Which is why the Ultimate X-Men bringing a much-needed balance. Between Maystorm’s group and showing a glimpse of what Wolverine is doing, you see how this event spans the entire Ultimate Universe. It helps the scene with the Vision, Fantastic Force, and Shang-Chi that preceded it have a greater importance. It is taking all of the heroes we have seen up to this point to take on the threat that The Maker poses.

Their appearance makes you want to see what is going on outside The Maker’s city bubble. That leads to making the tie-ins we have be something you want to seek out rather than forced to read. It’s an element that Deniz Camp previously swung and missed on in the first two issues of Ultimate Endgame.

Ultimate Universe Hit by the Parker Luck

As a Spider-Man fan I should’ve known that Ultimate Spider-Man #24 was too happy of an ending for Peter Parker. That should’ve been the sign that something was going to go horribly wrong for Peter in Ultimate Endgame. And we see why as the Parker Luck finally shows up with The Maker turning the Venom Picotech suit into Carnage and seemingly kills Ultimate Spider-Man.

It is the ending that draws out the exact emotion Deniz Camp was looking for as it was the thing that made me hate The Maker as a villain. It is the crossing of the line that we needed to see The Maker cross on screen. There has just been too much back and forth without much consequence. Now we were actually shown The Maker at his villainous worst to help drive the second half of Ultimate Endgame.

Ultimate Tony Stark Continued Failure

While The Maker finally got his big villainous moment the character that Camp continues to drop the ball with is Ultimate Tony Stark. We see Ultimate Tony Stark from the future as Ultimate Kang try to explain things. But instead of being a sign of things turning around against The Maker all Ultimate Kang does is talk in circles about fate. Then when he is about to reveal something The Maker influences Ultimate Doctor Doom to take out Ultimate Kang.

If Ultimate Kang being a time waster wasn’t bad enough once Ultimate Tony Stark returns to normal he only shows up in time to help lead Ultimate Spider-Man to his death. There is no bigger waste of a lead character for a big event than Ultimate Tony Stark. Camp has done everything to show why are doomed to lose because they are following Ultimate Tony Stark’s lead. Unless something turns around in the final two issues right now Ultimate Endgame will continue to fail to live up to its true potential all because of the lead character Camp chose for this event.

Artwork Consistency Matters

The artwork by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf was the best it has been in this event with Ultimate Endgame #3. They’ve now gone away from trying to matching each other’s art styles in some way. Instead, they are leaning into each other strengths. That is a much better method given that the Dodsons and Scharf have very different art styles.

Now, having two art teams working on one comic book still hurts the overall flow when we switch between the two. But at the very least, having them working to have consistency in their styles helps the action hit harder than it did in the previous two issues.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ultimate Endgame #3 is the chapter that this big event needed. There are true consequences to the choices made by the heroes as The Maker shows why it was wrong for them to mess with him. While there are still core problems with story choices made by Deniz Camp at least the positives outweighed the negatives in this third chapter of Ultimate Endgame.

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

For more opinions on anime, comic book, movies, and sports you can follow Kevin on TikTok, Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X.