Marvel and DC‘s most infamous eras have been vindicated two and three decades later, respectively. Marvel and DC often play with similar ideas. Following the uniformity of the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics, both companies put the spotlight on young teams, then ventured into dark themes, and then doubled down on everything the Comics Code Authority didn’t allow years earlier.
Marvel and DC’s similar trends apply even to the movies. Although the DCEU failed to catch up to the MCU, both franchises explored “hero vs hero” conflicts and multiversal catastrophes roughly at the same time. Now, in the comics, Marvel and DC have tackled the unexpected task of reviving the most controversial elements from their lowest points.
DC’s Absolute Universe Is Everything The 1990s’ Ultra-Stylized Comics Wanted To Be
The 1990s’ Grimdark Style Is Thriving In DC’s Absolute Universe
The 1990s saw a now-infamous shift toward extreme stylization, where grim reinventions and bombastic storytelling abounded. The entire comic book industry leaned into exaggerated anatomy, over-detailed costumes, and violence-driven narratives. These changes reflected broader cultural trends obsessed with excess.
This aesthetic wasn’t confined to DC. Marvel, Image, and numerous smaller publishers embraced the same larger-than-life approach. Marvel had the “clones and pouches” era of Spider-Man and X-Men, while Image’s Youngblood and Spawn became symbols of 1990s action. Over time, saturation set in, and readers grew fatigued by constant “grimdark” reinventions.
By the late 1990s, the bubble burst. Sales collapsed, Image struggled with consistency, and DC and Marvel pivoted away from edginess toward more character-driven narratives. Events like Kingdom Come and the return to classic tones helped reset expectations. The overly extreme style of the ’90s gave way to more nuanced, writer-driven storytelling.
Three decades later, DC successfully launched the Absolute universe, characterized by larger-than-life physiques and overblown action. If they were introduced in the 1990s, characters like Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman would have been mocked all throughout the 2000s and the 2010s. Now, DC’s successful Absolute universe gathers every trope of the 1990s to become the top highlight of the company’s 2025 releases.
Marvel’s New Ultimate Universe Is The Improved Version Of The 2000s’ Infamously Edgy Earth-1610
Marvel’s Earth-6160 Avoids The Pitfalls Of Earth-1610
Marvel’s Ultimate Universe became infamous for pushing reinvention to its edgiest extremes in the 2000s. What started as a fresh modernization of classic heroes quickly spiraled into grittier takes that shocked more than they inspired. Captain America became a jingoistic soldier, Hawkeye turned into a ruthless killer, and the Maximoff twins’ relationship was written as incestuous.
The Ultimate line eventually collapsed under the weight of its own sensationalism. The notorious Ultimatum event embodied everything wrong with the experiment, killing off nearly every major character in the most gruesome way possible. The original Ultimate universe’s shock factor destroyed its credibility. By the end of the 2000s, Marvel’s Ultimate continuity was creatively exhausted and commercially unsalvageable.
Around two decades later, Marvel introduced a brand-new Ultimate universe with similarly bold character reinventions. Ultimate Hulk is a villain, Tony Stark is a teenager Iron Lad, and Reed Richards is Doom. Earth-6160 makes huge changes to Marvel lore and promises to have a definitive ending. Yet, every bold proposal is deliberate and every twist has offered something fresh to the characters.
While Earth-6160 offers wildly different versions of Marvel icons, the universe as a whole is perfectly woven together as a singular, consistent idea. The Maker’s influence on Earth-6160 imbues every story with tragedy. And even then, individual stories like Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Black Panther present triumphant heroes with conflicts that Marvel’s main continuity don’t dare to explore.
