Summary
Contains spoilers for The Ultimates (2024) #3!Going intoMarvel’s newUltimates, I knew the series would be interested in drawing parallels to real life, but I didn’t expect it to turn oneFantastic Fourtouchstone into its version of a historical tragedy. It’s a clever use of using superhero fiction and the actions of supervillains to show just how nasty our own world can be, and has been in the near past.
InThe Ultimates(2024)#3 by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee and VC’s Travis Lanham, real history is perfectly referenced by turning the Fantastic Four’s Monster Isle into a parallel to the real-life Bikini Atoll nuclear tests.
In the issue, the birthplace of the Hulk is reimagined as a tropical atoll that is referred to as both “Dinosaur Island” and “Monster Island”, alternatively, by researchers. This is seemingly a reference to two separate islands introduced inFantastic Four, Monster Isle fromFantastic Four(vol 1)#1and Dinosaur Island from issue #345of the same series. More importantly, however, it mirrors Bikini Atoll, the coral reef where the United States tested nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s.
Fantastic Four(vol 1) #1 is written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by George Klein and Christopher Rule, colored by Stan Goldberg and lettered by Artie Simek.
Fantastic Four#345is written and illustrated by Walt Simonson, colored by Steve Buccellato and lettered by Bill Oakley.
The New Ultimate Hulk’s Origin Parallels Real-Life Nuclear Tests
Bikini Atoll is one of many shameful stories of the post-WWII period. The U.S. picked the coral reef as the perfect testing site for nuclear weapons and, depending on who you ask, either convinced or forced the atoll’s native population to relocate. These residents never returned home, becoming a permanent diaspora.Ultimates#3 twists the knife further. This time we get to see an example where the residents refused to move, and Bruce Bannertested a gamma bombon the island regardless, horribly mutating himself and the population, who are studied like lab rats.
What writer Deniz Camp is doing is putting a mirror to our own society and history.Our first reaction is horror at Bruce Banner’s callousness and what has happened to the island’s residents, but the real gut punch is realizing how closely the events mirror real life. If you look further, there are even more direct parallels found in other countries. For example, British nuclear tests in Australia during the 1950s and ’60s irradiated the indigenous locals of Maralinga, causing health issues for generations. This might be fiction, but it’s closer to home and today than we’d usually like to admit.
The Hulk’s Gamma Tests Add Insult to Injury
Even the very naming of “Dinosaur Island” is dehumanizing. For its indigenous residents, this isn’t “Monster Island,” this is their native land. The researchers not caring about its name is just another level of dehumanization and disregard, much like how, “Bikini” in Bikini Atoll is a bastardized colonial version of a native Marshallese word. Evenwearen’t privy to the island’s real name, which censored behind black tape on the issue’s first data page.These people have never had agency or a say in what happened to them or their land.
This is part of why the titular Ultimates’ mission in this issue is so important.The team agrees to help the island’s residents on those residents’ own terms. The team arrive to recruit soldiers to fightthis world’s evil supervillain council, but when they discover that the population on “Monster Island” can’t fight,apart from the new She-Hulk,they respect the population’s wishes and agree to find a way to heal the island in exchange for She-Hulk’s help. Finally, someone is listening to the locals. That’s one heck of a lot of meaning to impart via aFantastic Fourriff.
