Ultimate Vision sees everything. Every resistance cell, every H.A.N.D. operative, every act of defiance across the world. In The Ultimates #20, Deniz Camp uses this powerful android as the center for one of the series’ best issues. It’s an epic spanning decades, exploring revolution itself, and proving that no hero saves the world alone.
Jim Hammond’s Journey: From Human Torch to Ultimate Vision
This issue explores the origins of Ultimate Vision as he gets the UltNet back online. Tony Stark and Jim Hammond have come up with a plan to strike back at the Maker outside of his protective time bubble. They send Hammond to the past using the Immortus Engine, where he sows the seeds of revolution before the Maker arrives.
His work pays off in the present, as he reactivates the UltNet and coordinates the resistance’s counterattack against Nick Fury and H.A.N.D. Time travel stories can get messy, but Camp steers Hammond’s journey from the Human Torch to Vision with care, showing why each step in his transformation matters.
The Anti-War Machine: Deniz Camp’s Commentary on Resistance
Camp’s not an author who shies away from politics, and he touches on several socially charged issues. Hammond’s journey through the past is rooted in peaceful obstruction and simple tactics used to resist authoritarian governments. He doesn’t draw attention to himself. Instead, he focuses on challenging people’s viewpoints against propaganda, teaching them how to collaborate with one another and building community.
Those lessons manifest themselves when the city of Detroit rises from the ashes as the Anti-War Machine, turning the tides of battle. Building this weapon took the hard work of thousands, driving home that it’s only through true collaboration that we empower ourselves to fight back.
Phil Noto and Edgar Delgado’s Visionary Redesign
Artist Phil Noto and colorist Edgar Delgado nail the redesign of Vision. Noto stylizes the android’s basic form, emphasizing his diverse parts with sharp lines and textures. It’s a gorgeous visual that brings Hammond’s transformative journey to life on the page.
Delgado keeps Vision’s signature reds but pairs them with flourishes of stark whites instead of his classic deep greens and rich yellows. The choice reminds me of Gandalf the White, emphasizing Hammond’s own rebirth. Travis Lanham’s letters give Vision’s internal monologue a mechanical feel, using yellow text boxes like a vintage computer screen. His words are rarely in bold, instead laid out in a simple, unemotional fashion that perfectly fits the character.
Vision vs. Nick Fury: A Decade-Spanning Rivalry
Ultimate Nick Fury gets his first expanded role since Ultimate Universe: One Year In and his interactions with Vision are standout moments. They’ve played a cat-and-mouse game for years, with Fury being a constant foil to Vision. It’s a blast watching them trade barbs, each one thinking they’re gaining the upper hand as they counter each other’s moves.
Noto is clearly having fun portraying the two’s confrontations from the past, as his panels of Vision killing Fury are some of the best in the book. We see Fury’s eyes bulge from strangulation, his mouth twisted in a scream when Hammond lights him on fire, or his hands desperately clutching at the air as he drowns. Noto spares no detail, making each death more memorable than the last.
Pay at least $16 for these 10 items
The Challenges of a Crowded Ultimate Universe
While Ultimate Vision is a great addition, this book still suffers from clutter. There’s a ton going on and only two of the Ultimates’ sixteen members appear in more than a few panels. It’s the right move to focus on Vision and Wasp, but the book misses the rest of the team.
Characters like Thor, Sif, Hawkeye, and Luke Cage feel sidelined and with only four issues left, it’s easy to wonder if they’re going to get their time to shine. Marvel confirming the end of this series is making these books feel rushed and it could negatively affect how we look back at them.
Conclusion: What Revolution Really Looks Like
Overall, The Ultimates #20 proves that Deniz Camp understands a truth many people forget: no single person can save the world. Vision’s omniscience doesn’t make him a solo savior–it makes him the node connecting thousands of resistors. Hammond sacrificed his identity, and a forgotten city came together for the cause. This is what revolution looks like: not one individual but thousands of people coming together to save the world.
Read More from KPB Comics:
‘The Ultimates’ #20 | Ultimate Vision Reimagines the Power of Revolution
The Ultimates #20 proves that Deniz Camp understands a truth many people forget: no single person can save the world. Vision’s omniscience doesn’t make him a solo savior–it makes him the node connecting thousands of resistors. Hammond sacrificed his identity, and a forgotten city came together for the cause. This is what revolution looks like: not one individual but thousands of people coming together to save the world.
