This is the story that supposedly tells the secrets about the Ultimate universe. Bendis said that some parts of this story were agreed on since the beginning of Ultimate Marvel, and they would tie all super-powered beings together.
We already saw that many of the Marvel scientists were connected to the super soldier serum project, but here they also tie the mutants to it. This is probably the biggest shock of the series, something that totally destroys the evolution theory about mutants. The history between Fury and Logan was also hinted at, and it’s explained fully here.
In the present we see the Watcher who is there just to warn humanity of the upcoming event. This is basically just a tease for Ultimatum.
I do like some of the connections between the various Ultimate characters, but there are a lot of retcons. Some of them are passable (Nick Fury having super strength), but others were totally unacceptable: Magneto being immune to Xavier’s powers totally contradicts Millar’s run. But the worst retcon was Peter’s parents dying while he was still an infant. Sure it strengthens the relationship between Fury and Peter, but it contradicts Bendis’s own story about the creation of the symbiote.
Butch Guice’s art is more traditional than the usual Ultimate style, but it fits the flashbacks perfectly.
After 2 months of reading I am finally caught up to the beginning of Ultimatum, which I will read once it’s all done. I like Ultimate Spider-Man the best, X-Men was fun with Millar and ok to good with the rest. UFF wasn’t really to my liking, while I loved the Ultimates. There are many mini-series that I haven’t read, I don’t think I’ll read them any time soon. I just hope the relaunch of this line later this year will focus on the best titles and creators.