I'm thinking of getting back in to comics. I read them back when I was a kid in the 80s and have been reading a bit about what marvel has been up 2 since then. Then I came across the the "Ultimate" universe. I read a few wiki articles about it and still have no idea what it is. Does anyone have a simple explanation of what this is and why I should care?

It was created to be an easy entry into Marvel comics for people who werent interested in decades of history to have to learn and it was supposed to be a more grounded world in which to tell the stories of Marvel's heroes.

Its in the middle of a big event at the moment so a good time to jump in would be once the Cataclysm event has ended as it looks like there will be a massive shake up and a good place to start. If you are interested in reading from the beginning though then I would suggest starting with the first Ultimates book along with Ultimate Spider-Man. Both amazing books that are well worth reading.

Though Ultimate Spider-Man gets dumb when they killed Peter Parker for the purpose of introducing a new protagonist with the exact same powers.

@hailinel: I think it was still a great series after that but I do wish Bendis hadnt taken that route. Ultimate Peter Parker was probably my favourite character from comics and it completely sucked when they killed him off.

It's an alternate universe, I can't put it any simpler than that.

@mosdef: @happenstance: Also the movies seem to take more cues from the Ultimate universe

@flstyle: @happenstance: Hope im not asking a really stupid question here but saying the Ultimate is a alternate universe... Does that mean that there are 2 of every hero/villain existing in two universes? So are Marvel Comics split into 2 like regular and ultimate? Or is ultimate a complete wipe and regular is now the ultimate if that makes any since?

@mosdef: The Ultimate universe is just one of multiple universes so yes, there are multiple versions of heroes/villains as well. The movie universe is also considered one of these alternate universes and even has its own number designated to it (although I cant remember it).