10 Marvel Franchises That Could Replace The Avengers
7. Ultimates
Marvel Comics
Though the original Ultimates were created by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch as a modern analogue to Marvel's mainstream Avengers, the namesake has been used by other groups since. The most famous (and lauded) usage came in 2015, when writer Al Ewing and artist Kenneth Rocafort rebooted the Ultimates as a cosmic-centric group situated in Marvel's mainstream 616 continuity.
Sporting a team comprised of Captain Marvel, Miss America, Spectrum, Black Panther and Blue Marvel, Ewing's book distinguished itself immediately from the competition by making clear its scale and ambition in its opening issue, with the team setting out to take on the Destroyer of Worlds himself, Galactus - a feat that many had tried but never accomplished.
Ultimates was short-lived but revered from start to finish, and in making good on the MCU's cosmic commitments, it represents the perfect hybrid between the Avengers and Guardians. The MCU interpretation could even include characters from both groups, but it would be great to see the group feature the same cast as the actual comic - America Chavez and Monica Rambeau particularly.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
