The very first superhero in Marvel Comics – Jim Hammond’s Human Torch – just underwent a startling, permanent redesign in The Ultimates. Here’s everything you need to know…
The Human Torch Becomes the New Vision
In today’s The Ultimates #20 – from Deniz Camp, Phil Noto, Edgar Delgado and Travis Lanham – it’s revealed that the new superhero who debuted last issue is actually the Human Torch. Earlier in the series, Jim disappeared from the team, taking on a mysterious special mission. Now, it emerges that he traveled back to 1947 and has been building the resistance against the Maker ever since.
In the process, the fiery android has gradually replaced every element of his body, enhancing and improving his abilities while drastically changing his appearance. The Human Torch is permanently reborn as the Ultimate Vision.
Rather than the fiery orange form Jim was introduced with, the Vision is a far more sterile android with a billowing white cape, manifesting a globe helmet that allows him to tap into the global information network and bring the Ultimates back into the game. Sharp, inhuman angles have been replaced with curves and sheen, going from retro robot to futuristic powerhouse.
Our Take on the Human Torch’s New Look and Powers
The Ultimate Universe’s remit has always been to tell stories that the mainstream can’t, and stranding a hero decades in the past then making them work their way back to the present – being rendered unrecognizable by the experience – definitely fits the bill.
Jim Hammond’s Human Torch always seemed like an odd recruit for the Ultimates, given he has no particular relevance to the Avengers lore that The Ultimates is reinventing. However, with his transformation into the Vision, everything makes sense.
In the original comics, Ultron created Vision out of the Human Torch’s old hardware. In the Ultimate Universe, this connection is given stunning new relevance.
The Vision Is the Ally the Ultimates Have Needed from the Start
Tony Stark’s Ultimates had seemingly given up on using time travel to fix their world, but the Human Torch/Vision reveals they simply stopped trying to do things the easy way. Instead, Human Torch spent almost 80 years building a resistance movement behind the scenes, all to emerge and save the day when the Ultimates were at their lowest.
The Ultimate Universe is all about large-scale ambition, and Human Torch’s permanent transformation into the Vision shows how far these heroes will go to free their world.
The Ultimates #20 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- Writer
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Brian Michael
- Publisher(s)
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Marvel