I see a certain depth in the characters. I just don't like what I see. Which is what makes the book enjoyable to me.
I want to like Ultimate Thor as a hero, but I don't trust him. He seems to embrace a kind of skin-deep spirituality that understands itself best in market terms. Likewise, Ultimate Cap's brand of patriotism doesn't sit well with me. He doesn't walk softly and carry a big stick. He walks loudly and bludgeons things. Iron Man, I think, is a wealthy man playing a wealthy man's game. I'm suspicious of his motivations.
They're the gods of twenty-first-century globalized captialism and American-dominated consumer culture. That isn't a criticism. It's what I enjoy about the book.
