The Ultimates 2
From Ultimarvel
"Big"
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inker: Andrew Currie
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publication Date: April 2002
• Nick Fury is having lunch with Bruce Banner at a restaurant in New York City. It overlooks a wrecked warehouse on the NYC bay. Fury asks Bruce if he has had enough recovery time since the Hulk incident. Bruce responds that he is fine and that there hasn’t been a trace of any Hulk cells in his blood for 12 weeks.
• Fury acknowledges his new job as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and demonstrates how tight the security measures of his job are. He informs Bruce that the president has authorized $150 billion dollars to fund the research on the Super Solider project.
• Fury explains to Bruce that crime and terrorism are becoming super-crime and super-terrorism. The President has authorized 5 super-powered individuals to be created for the project. Bruce Banner becomes overjoyed with the prospect and Fury then tells him there is a condition; because of the Hulk incident, Bruce will be demoted to number 2. His fellow researcher Hank Pym will be placed in charge of the research project.
• At the Super Solider Research Facility in Pittsburgh, Hank Pym and his wife, Janet Pym, are packing up the facility to move to a new location in Manhattan. Hank is using a large group of ants, which he is controlling with a helmet, to help move the boxes out of the building. Hank mentions the Giant Man formula that he is working on, and how it is practically writing itself. Janet Pym shrinks to a height of a few inches during the conversation. She notes a distaste for Bruce Banner and mentions rumors that he was involved in superhuman trials on civilians. Hank mentions that Tony Stark is involved with the project. Hank says he “came down from a mountain and told Nick Fury he could have Iron Man for his nice new team.”
• In Manhattan, Tony Stark flies the Iron Man armor through the city. He is observed by Nick Fury he comments on Stark’s showing off. Stark lands at his loft/launch pad and is assisted out of the armor. He is brought drinks by his butler Jarvis.
• Tony converses with Nick Fury about the S.H.I.E.L.D. project. Tony mentions distrust of Banner over the Hulk incident. Fury notes that Banner is their best chance at replicating the Super Soldier.
• Fury expresses his interest in knowing why Tony changed his mind about sharing his Iron Man technology with the military. Tony responds that beyond the record breaking contracts his company procured, he wanted to try to save the world instead of bleeding it dry.
• At the Triskelion in Upper Bay, Manhattan, Bruce Banner arrives at the new research facility. He is met by Janet Pym. Janet mentions that Bruce is engaged to Betty Ross and that she has been hired to be the Director of Communications of the project. Bruce tells her that he and Betty are currently separated.
• Bruce and Janet go into the research facility to oversee Hank Pym’s Giant Man trials. Hank notes that he is concerned that he will not stop growing before the 60 foot mark, which is the limit at which the human skeleton can support its own body mass. The trial is a success and Hank Pym is able to reach a height of 59 feet 11 and a half inches. Bruce exhibits an air of jealousy at seeing Hank Pym’s experiment succeed. There is a flash of the Hulk’s eyes shown in a red-hazed flashback.
• Later in his quarters, Bruce Banner speaks on the phone to General Fury. He expresses his feelings of failure and fear that he will not be able to succeed. Fury tells him to shut up and crack open a bottle of Champagne. He informs Banner that the body of Captain America has just been fished out of the Arctic Ocean.
Notes:
- Fury references the destruction of Chelsea Piers and how he hopes that this doesn’t bring back the whole Hulk thing for Bruce Banner. Bruce Banner attacked this area in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up 2 and 3 and was confronted by Spider-Man. Bruce mentions that there has not been any trace of Hulk cells in his blood for 12 weeks. This places the current events as at least 12 weeks after the Ultimate Marvel Team-Up story.
- Though it is not implicitly stated, the acts of super-terrorism and super-crime that Nick Fury refers to are likely related to Magneto's attack on Washington D.C. in Ultimate X-Men 6.
- Bruce Banner has been trying to replicate the Super Soldier project for 8 years. It is noted that the Hulk serum was a failed attempt to replicate the experiment.
- Fury identifies the president as George Jr.
- Hank Pym’s ant communication experiments are the results of a new form of communication he is working on that will use pheromones instead of radio waves.
- Hank Pym is on Prozac. Janet is seen examining the bottle.
- Jarvis is insinuated to be homosexual. He makes comments to Tony Stark that implies that Tony overemphasizes his masculinity to hide something. Tony laughs off these remarks.
- Tony Stark makes mentions of Thor and the Fantastic Four for possible candidates for the project. He mentions that Thor was on 60 minutes and is wonderfully charismatic. Fury replies that Thor will not answer his phone and that the Fantastic Four have been experiencing problems from their neighbors. Fury also notes that he is not risking any mutants in his initial line-up. It will be revealed in The Ultimates 6 that Janet Pym is a mutant. Additionally in The Ultimates 8, Fury will bring Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to the team. Not only are they mutants, they are the children of Magneto.
- Fury notes that Anthony Stark brings a degree of respectability to the team. He also mentions S.H.I.E.L.D.’s interest in the Iron Man armor. Fury lists the current model as having “light negativity, thought-scramblers, and a tracking system that could find a Democrat in Texas.”
- Tony’s secretary, Pepper, informs him that his schedule includes lunch with the President, a takeover meeting with Marconi, and drinks with Cameron Diaz.
- Tony Stark states that he is worth 350 billion on paper.
- Janet Pym used to room with Betty Ross at NYU before Betty switched to Berkley.
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