With Marvel‘s new Ultimate Universe coming to a close, casualties were expected. Few saw the first to die being the corrupted Nick Fury of HAND. However, what was truly shocking was how he died at the hand of a classic Avengers teammate not yet introduced into the variant timeline of the new Ultimate Universe.
Written by Deniz Camp, with art by Juan Frigeri, Ultimates #19 is told from the viewpoint of The Wasp, aka Janet Van Dyne. Earlier issues of the series revealed that Wasp had become a double agent, spying on the Ultimates on behalf of Nick Fury. She surrendered herself into HAND custody, along with her confused husband, Hank Pym, as the two groups began waging war openly.
A series of flashbacks in Ultimates #19 reveal Wasp’s motivations for betraying Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It turns out that she was a triple agent who was sent to setup Nick Fury’s downfall. What’s more, she had been training as a superhero even before being recruited to The Ultimates. This training came at the hands of an Avengers’ mainstay, who killed the new Ultimate Universe version of Nick Fury.
Which Ultimate Avengers character kills Nick Fury?
As Ultimate Nick Fury was preparing to take Wasp and Hank Pym into custody, he suddenly stopped cold. An unseen figure was shown behind him, phasing his hand through Fury’s head and removing an electronic brain. Fury’s soldiers tried shooting the figure, but only shot themselves as the figure became insubstantial. Wasp identified this figure as her trainer and “the vision” that guided her — literally, as the mystery figure was revealed to be the Ultimate Universe version of The Vision.
The origin of this new Vision is not revealed in Ultimates #19. However, given Nick Fury’s robot brain, coupled with his early depiction of defying his brainwashing, it seems likely the two characters are connected. It’s possible that this new Vision is the true Nick Fury, with his mind encoded into a robot body. He may also have been subconsciously created by the real Nick Fury. Whatever the truth, it will likely be revealed before the end of Ultimate Endgame.
Ultimates #19 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
