Marvel Gives Deadly MCU Villain a World-Class Upgrade Ahead of Their Official Return

Warning: contains spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #3!As Marvel approaches the debut of Daredevil: Born Again, fans are looking forward to Wilson Bethel reprising the role of Bullseye in the Disney+ show. However, before the master assassin’s small-screen rebirth, Marvel is totally redefining his role in its universe. Now, instead of being the Kingpin’s hired killer, Bullseye is a deadly force holding the entire planet’s status quo together.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 by Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Matthew Wilson, and Cory Petit showcases Spider-Man’s first win against a supervillain. Sadly for the Web-Slinger, Peter’s victory doesn’t come without help, as he and Green Goblin team up to defeat Bullseye. The skilled marksman almost triumphs over the two enhanced heroes, utilizing his iconic razor-edged playing cards to battle them across New York.

However, Bullseye isn’t just a contract killer anymore. Instead, he works for the ultra-powerful Maker’s Council, who run the entire world. He boasts that he serves “the masters of the world. The real power” and that far from working for a single gang boss, he is called on to “strike down those who forget their station.” Bullseye just went from a single crime lord’s hired killer to the Illuminati’s favorite enforcer.

Bullseye Is Killing the New Ultimate Universe

As Daredevil: Born Again Approaches, His Assassin Nemesis Gets a Huge Power-Up

Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe continuity (known as Earth-6160) was recently created as part of a plot by the Maker, who rewrote an entire universe’s timeline to put himself in control. To make humanity manageable, the Maker secretly split the world into territories and gave each to a different villain, each of whom answers to him as part of his Illuminati-like Maker’s Council. The Maker also made sure to either kill his former superhero enemies or interfere with their origins to stop them gaining powers, though recently a teenage Tony Stark has been reawakening potential Avengers who the Maker tried to erase.

Now, it turns out that the Maker’s Council has measures in place to ensure that the Maker’s new status quo is never altered. Bullseye acts as a killer for the Council, eliminating those who threaten their plans and dare to grow beyond their designs. Recently, Green Goblin started a crusade against Wilson Fisk; a thrall of the Council enacting their will in New York. Unfortunately for him, that vendetta comes with Bullseye’s attention.

Who Are The Maker’s Assassins?

Classic Marvel Villains Need New Roles in Earth-6160

While Bullseye is effective, it’s unlikely the Council only have one assassin keeping the world in check. The question arises: who are the Maker’s Council’s other assassins? Based on the line-up of the Council itself, fans know that characters traditionally seen as heroes on Earth-616 could break bad in this new Ultimate Universe – Hulk, Magik, Colossus, Sunfire, and this universe’s Captain Britain are all among the villainous cabal. Thus, all bets are off when it comes to who will ally themselves with the Maker. What’s interesting is that both heroes and villains may seek to escape the control of the Maker’s Council, turning their assassins into a third faction in this universe.

Though many Spider-Man villains struggle under the grip of authority, there are several who could feasibly accept an offer from the Maker’s Council to quell other vigilante or criminal activists. Spidey rogues gallery members such as Kraven the Hunter, Prowler, Rhino, Electro, and the Tinkerer could all be folded in as either assassins, grunts, or technical experts to be utilized by the Council. Similarly, characters such as Punisher, Deadpool, and Elektra could believably be enlisted against Spider-Man in the future. And with Bullseye going from hired killer to world-class enforcerer, there’s no way to know what threat level even classic characters will now possess.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 (2024) is available now from Marvel Comics.