Marvel just officially retired two major characters, familiar from both the MCU and Marvel Comics. And while superheroes are known for dying and returning soon after, that categorically won’t be the case for these heroes – they’re gone for good.
2026 is a big year for Marvel Comics, seeing the permanent retirement of multiple heroes. And while the two who just bit the dust are among the first to go, they’re far from the last.
ultimate universe 1 panel with avengers captain america thor and iron man together
That’s because the end of the Ultimate Universe is wrapping up an entire universe of characters, with no plans for Marvel to ever bring them back. Marvel is finally definitively ending a story, giving some epic characters the endings they deserve.
Ultimate Thor and Sif Are Gone Forever
ultimate universe’s thor and sif
In this week’s The Ultimates #23 – from Deniz Camp, Stipan Morian and Travis Lanham – Ultimate Thor and Ultimate Sif are officially retired as characters. Returning to the arc begun in The Ultimates #11, Thor and Sif battle Loki, bringing about Ragnarök. Sadly, they perish in the process.
Sif is the first to die, sacrificing her life to land a killing blow against the hyper-powerful Mangog. When Thor learns of her death, he assumes the power of the “All-Storm”, unleashing a world-ending flood. With eight of the Nine Realms collapsing around them, Loki and Thor engage in a final reconciliation, telling stories as even they are swallowed by the conflagration.
thor achieves his ultimate form in ultimates 23, becoming like jehovah
The battle is the latest front in the war against the Maker and his regime, who rewrote the history of Earth-6160 so that the entire universe is ruled by a cabal of villains. Loki was one of the Maker’s first and most powerful enemies, imprisoning Thor until very recently.
ultimate thor is forced to bow to loki
Ultimate Thor and Sif’s Ragnarök wipes away all ancient gods, allowing for the introduction of a new pantheon. The move is a vital piece of the Maker’s overall defeat and the heroes taking back Earth. Indeed, the new gods that arise out of Ragnarök may be key to defeating the Maker, just as Loki’s forces have been helping him maintain his hold on Earth during the Ultimates’ planetary uprising.
Thor and Sif Were the Low Point of Marvel’s New Ultimate Universe
…And They Were Still Pretty Good
iron man and the ultimates
Ultimate Thor and Ultimate Sif go out in style, in an issue focused on jaw-dropping splash pages and poetic narration. However, they’re also the characters least transformed by Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. Tony Stark became a teenager, Reed Richards the new Doctor Doom, and heroes like She-Hulk and Hawkeye introduced whole new bearers of those codenames.
ultimate she-hulk charging
However, Asgard’s mythology remained the same, just with Loki taking control, as he has before in Marvel’s mainstream (which has also put Thor through an epic Ragnarök.) Given the original 2000s Ultimate Universe introduced Thor as a political radical whose powers might be technology-based, fans might have expected a more drastic reimagining twenty years later.
thor being a political radical in the original ultimates series
Likewise, despite being a founding member of the Ultimates, Sif hasn’t received any dedicated storylines or much character growth beyond being a tragic combination of Thor’s lover and jailer.
ultimate thor and sif arguing
Ultimately, this universe’s unique versions of Thor and Sif ended up representing the old order and its necessary destruction. That’s a useful, perhaps even vital, element of this final arc of the Ultimate Universe, but still makes them less interesting than the imprint’s other modern-day skews on Marvel’s most iconic heroes.
More Ultimate Heroes Will Be Gone by June
ultimate endgame team shot of the ultimates, including wolverine captain america and more
While Ultimate Thor and Ultimate Sif just fell for good, June will see the Ultimate Universe line shuttered entirely, as Ultimate Endgame comes to its conclusion.
Marvel has done something genuinely radical by giving Earth-6160 an actual ending, concluding the storyline begun by 2024’s Ultimate Invasion. It’s essentially unheard of for DC or Marvel to publish anything with such a clear, defined narrative arc, and especially anything that ends in its prime as a critical and commercial darling.
ultimate endgame cover showing wolverine vs hulk
Sadly, this bold experiments means that fans are permanently losing beloved new twists on their favorite heroes. Ultimate Thor and Ultimate Sif just went down in a truly epic ending to the saga of the Asgardian Gods – but soon the Ultimate Universe’s mortal heroes will also face their final battle.
The Ultimates #23 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Writer
Brian Michael
Publisher(s)
Marvel