Articles by Devin Meenan

Technology

Why Marvel's Ultimate Universe Is Ending In 2026

Bleeding Cool has reported that Hickman took up architecting the new "Ultimate" Universe on the condition of a limited run. In BC's words, Hickman didn't want "a repeat of the Krakoa situation." What does that mean? In 2019, Hickman took over writing the X-Men. His kick-off mini-series "House of X" (drawn by Pepe Larraz) and "Powers of X" (drawn by R.B. Silva) didn't just start a new story, they also built a whole new setting for other X-Men writers. Professor X and Magneto founded a new mutant homeland on the living island of Krakoa; the mutants created a new language, blackmailed their way into the geo-political order, and the lines between hero and villain dissolved as all mutants are welcomed on Krakoa. Different writers explored unique niches of an overarching story, with Hickman serving as the "showrunner." Hickman only saw Krakoa as "Act 1, " though ... until he polled his writers and realized they wanted Krakoa to continue (per Entertainment Weekly). So, Hickman left "X-Men" before Krakoa ended anyway in 2024. But while his departure was amicable, Hickman still regrets not getting to finish the X-Men story he intended to write. It makes total sense that he wouldn't want to experience that again. The new "Ultimate Universe" will also avoid the fate of the 2000s "Ultimate Marvel," which kept going for 15 years and became as labyrinthine as the original Marvel Universe. The ending is bittersweet ("I'm sad too," Momoko admitted on Twitter/X), but it could actually give the "Ultimate Universe" longevity. Each series had a single creative vision from beginning to end. Thus, in years to come, readers will be able to read the whole thing relatively easily, which isn't true for most Marvel comic books.

Technology

Gen V Season 2's Ultimate Villain Is A Sinister Take On Marvel's Professor X

This article contains spoilers for "Gen V" through season 2, episode 7, "Hell Week." I called it! "Gen V" season 2 episode 4, "Bags," revealed two important details about the villainous Godolkin University Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater). One: His superpower is telepathy, even though the blood-controlling Marie (Jaz Sinclair) sensed no Compound V inside of him. Two: Cipher was caring for a burned man in a hyperbaric chamber. That man was implied to be Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater), the assumed dead founder of God U and the Odessa project that birthed Homelander (Antony Starr) and Marie. After "Bags," I predicted that Cipher (whose name refers to a system of hiding numbers/letters/symbols underneath different ones) would be revealed as Godolkin's puppet. There is no "Cipher," just Godolkin psychically speaking and acting through him. This season's penultimate episode, "Hell Week," revealed I was exactly right. Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), a supe whose magnetic powers can disrupt Cipher's telepathy, knocks him unconscious. At the same time, Marie uses her blood powers to heal Godolkin's burned body, thinking he'll know how to stop Cipher. Except, as she and her friends realize, Godolkin is Cipher. Who is Linklater's character, then? Just an average guy named Doug, who Godolkin abducted and has been using like a parasite controlling a host body. There's no V in Doug's blood because he doesn't have psychic powers, Godolkin does. The latter was burned to near death in a lab accident started by Compound V, but he took some himself to survive. Everything Cipher has done or said this season, like tutoring Marie in her blood control or starting a "seminar" death match to weed out the strongest God U students? It was really Godolkin. That's why Cipher had sex with Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) while Godolkin watched and vicariously experienced it, Godolkin's self-loathing for being "useless" is why he had Cipher yell in his face, etc. Godolkin's contempt for the weak is also the root of his master plan. He wants to retake control of his school and cull God U's student population. The first student he meets can only turn his big toes into opposable thumbs, so Godolkin kills him. ("We want gods to walk this Earth, not circus freaks.") Stop me if you've heard this one before: There's a psychic teacher with a disability who runs a school for supes. If that sounds familiar, that's because Godolkin is a parody of Marvel Comics' Professor Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men. Professor X is paralyzed and used a wheelchair, so he can't physically fight with his students. His psychic powers leave him far from helpless, though. One of Xavier's signature moves is telepathically summoning his students to him: "To me, my X-Men."