Ultimate Universe: Difference between revisions

A kind of [[Retool|"reboot"]] designed to create an [[Adaptation Distillation]] effect in the same medium as the original. Said adaptation will usually incorporate bits of plot and design from each previous incarnation, but is overall a standalone world/story that can be understood by newcomers. A more specific and very deliberate form of [[Alternate Continuity]].

 

 

Named for the [[Marvel Comics]] "[[Ultimate Marvel]]" line, which sought to update and streamline decades of continuity with a reboot but without canceling out the original storyline. Most superheroes under the "Ultimate" umbrella brand are given reboots of their own, but on a smaller scale -- [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'s [[I Love Nuclear Power|'radioactive spider']] origin story was replaced with an [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke|updated 'genetically engineered spider']] version.

The "Ultimate" line, it should be noted, was intended to present Marvel's flagship characters to a new, modern audience; the rationale behind the quasi-reboot was that new readers to those series would be lost when confronted with nearly 30 years of backstory (though after ten years and running, [[Ultimate Marvel]] is developing quite a backstory of its own).

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

 

* ''Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040'' is a deep reboot of the classic anime [[OAV]] series ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]''. However, so many changes were made, from character designs to backstory to the overall plot, complete with a pseudo-[[Gainax Ending]], that most fans of the original series were rather unimpressed with the end product.

** You can generally tell which series are examples by how big the focus is on their respective GUNPLA line. Seed and 00 have entire separate lines dedicated to them, making them stand out even more as reboot series.

** There was also ''For The Barrel'', an obscure [[Light Novel]]-styled story featured in Newtype magazine with radically redesigned characters and mecha.

* Naoki Urasawa, creator of ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'', did this for ''[[Astro Boy (manga)|Astro Boy]]'' with ''[[Pluto]]''. One reviewer explicitly compares it to Ultimate Marvel (see page quote). The [[Astro Boy (anime)|2003 animated series]] also arguably qualifies, as it took many of the unrelated storylines from the largely continuity-free classic manga and wove them together into a cohesive story-arc.

* The ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' OVAs have two: ''[[Tenchi Universe]]'', which has all the main characters and more or less a basic outlining of their backgrounds, plus an another character and the same [[Big Bad]] and ''[[Tenchi in Tokyo]]'', with pretty much the main characters in the latter.

* [[Negima]] neo, which is [[Recursive Adaptation|based on the anime based on the manga]].

* This is Hideaki Anno's stated intention with ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]''.

== Comic Books ==

 

* The [[DC Comics]] "All-Star" line, which had the ''[[All-Star Superman]]'' and ''[[All Star Batman and Robin]]'' miniseries (with future projects based on [[Wonder Woman]], [[Batgirl]], and possibly [[The Flash]]), is a form of this. The series aren't supposed to take place in any particular continuity (although ''All-Star Batman and Robin'' does supposedly take place in same continuity as Frank Miller's other Batman stories), and are supposed to be a concentration of what makes those characters special. As well, ''Justice'' is basically ''All-Star [[Superfriends]]'', even if it couldn't legally be called that.

** The two upcoming series of trade-paperbacks "Batman: Earth One" and [[Superman Earth One|"Superman: Earth One"]] are following the Ultimate Marvel formula more closely than the All-Star line, intending to be a modern reboot in a new continuity rather than mini-series written outside of continuity.

* Devil's Due productions attempted this with ''[[G.I. Joe]] Reloaded''.

* IDW Publishing's ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' material, but this can be said of damn near all modern ''Transformers'' material.

* ''[[PKNA]]'', which ran from 1996 to 2001, got this treatment in the form of the less-acclaimed ''PK'', that ended in 2005.

 

== Film ==

 

** This is lampshaded within the canon of the film itself.

* The proposed reboot of the [[Mortal Kombat]] looks to do this. This is a proof of concept short, hoping to double as a teaser trailer if greenlit. View it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_MqZn7E-mk&feature=autofb here].

 

* ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' does this with EVERY universe and storyline from previous titles, making one streamlined plot out of all [[Original Generation|original characters]]. This is especially interesting, as the games are already a [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] [[Adaptation Distillation]] of many diverse [[Humongous Mecha]] anime.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Dumbing of Age]]'' is basically a reboot of ''[[Roomies]]'', minus the [[Mundane Fantastic]] that eventually took over the strip and plus the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|hundreds of characters]] created since then.

* ''[[The Japanese Beetle]]'' went through this in 2003, retelling stories from its 1998 origin in more modern style. [[Word of God]] later admitted that this was exactly what he was going for.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

* ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]'' may be this in regards to the [[G.I. Joe]] franchise.

* The 2012 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' TV Series has plot details that imply this is the case (Hamato Yoshi being Splinter, and "The Kraang", a race of beings that mix together many rogues.).

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Continuity Tropes]]