Sure, bring the Ultimate Universe to life.

Fans who have been keeping up with the Ultimate Universe know that the imprint is being overseen by Jonathan Hickman, who wrote the 2023 limited series Ultimate Invasion. This series saw the evil credit to writer Donny Cates (Venom, Hulk).

In an Off- interview with Hickman by host David Harper, Hickman revealed that he was brought in to replace Cates after he had to step away due to health issues.

Jonathan Hickman Confirms Donny Cates Was Meant to Write Ultimate Spider-Man

Fans Nearly Got an Entirely Different Ultimate Marvel Experience

In 2023, Marvel Comics released Ultimate Invasion, a four-issues miniseries that saw the Maker escape his incredibly secure prison. He stole information about Marvel heroes and their origins and ventured out to a new universe much like the previous Ultimate Universe. Here, the Maker used the Immortus Engine to recreate the world to suit his desires, namely removing every hero from the world by intercepting their origins. In Spider-Man’s case, the Maker personally stopped Peter from ever getting bitten and developing superpowers.

Ultimate Invasion was simply the beginning of the new Ultimate Universe, and it led to a new line of comics set in the overhauled world. Like Ultimate Invasion, Ultimate Spider-Man was written by Jonathan Hickman. The series followed a Peter Parker in his 30s who was married to Mary Jane Watson and had two children. However, in an effort to bring the heroes of the world back, Iron Lad offered Peter a chance to be bitten by the spider so he could seize his destiny. Peter went for it and he became his world’s Spider-Man.

...Cates’ health issues forced him to drop his work on comics and Hickman stepped in to work on Ultimate Invasion.

However, according to Hickman, he wasn’t even supposed to write Ultimate Spider-Man. Hickman was interviewed on Off-, where he revealed that Donny Cates was originally tapped to develop the new Ultimate Universe, both with Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Spider-Man. However, Cates’ health issues forced him to drop his work on comics and Hickman stepped in to work on Ultimate Invasion. Chip Zdarsky was also briefly considered for Ultimate Spider-Man, but he turned it down, leading to Hickman to work on the Marvel Universe’s newest incarnation of the wall-crawler.

Cates' Ultimate Spider-Man Remains a Real 'What If...?' for Fans

How Different Would the Fan-Favorite Series Be If Things Worked Out with Cates?

It's no surprise that Donny Cates was almost handed the responsibility of shepherding Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe. He found major success with his run on Venom and was rapidly becoming the most in-demand item at Marvel Comics. It’s a real shame his health problems forced him to step down because fans will unfortunately never know what exactly he had planned for Ultimate Invasion or Ultimate Spider-Man. Hickman does hint that what fans see now is more or less what Cates envisioned (likely why he was given a special credit in Ultimate Invasion).

Given Cates’ knack for pulling off big, ambitious ideas, he very well could have done a great job with the Ultimate reboot.

Given Cates’ knack for pulling off big, ambitious ideas, he very well could have done a great job with the Ultimate reboot. But health comes first, and it was better that he took the time to recover. Things worked out under Hickman’s direction and there’s nothing saying that Cates can’t ever come back one day (he even announced he was returning to comics this year). Hopefully, fans will get to see Donny Cates on Ultimate Spider-Man so he can show the world what he had in mind.