Ultimatum - Recap

On an oilrig in the Bermuda Sea, lava creatures scale the support pillars and attack the crew. Aquaman arrives and calls in his fellow Leaguers Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. The heroes drive off the first wave of creatures, but a new team of heroes arrives to help them: the Ultimen. The five heroes, Wind Dragon, Long Shadow, Shifter, Downpour, and Juice, lend their powers to the battle and the lava men are soon overwhelmed. Long Shadow is honored to be fighting with the heroes, while the others are somewhat cocky. Downpour creates a wave to seep the platform clean and Wind Dragon freezes the rest of them with arctic winds, a power he didn't know he had.



Later, Wind Dragon, the Ultimen's spokesperson, gives a speech for the press while the Leaguers look on skeptically. Wonder Woman suggests they join the League, but Wind Dragon insists they're not ready yet. Long Shadow tells her that he hopes to one day join the League and she invites him to go on patrol some time. The Ultimen's sponsor, Maxwell Lord, goes on the news to promote his team as a group for the common men. He claims all the money he makes is used to finance the group. Superman, watching the news broadcast, isn't happy. Batman knows about Maxwell Lord and warns that he's egotistical and isn't interested in helping people. Wonder Woman thinks the Ultimen should be encouraged.



At their skyscraper headquarters, the Ultimen are playing cards and complaining, and Lord assures them they're doing fine... and gives them their royalty checks for the action figures. Long Shadow wants to know why they can't join the League, and Wind Dragon says they've gone beyond that. Lord gets a call from a woman and is told to check out all of the Ultimen.

Wonder Woman takes on Giganta and Bizarro during a prison break and Long Shadow arrives to help. He grows to giant size and takes out Giganta, and then helps take out Bizarro. Afterward, he explains to Wonder Woman that he was born weak but his parents experimented with growth hormones that gave him his powers. He claims his mother passed away and his father retired. Long Shadow is eager to join the League and Wonder Woman assures him he'd be welcome, but Long Shadow receives a call summoning him back to the Ultimen headquarters.



At the lab, all five experiments undergo testing while Dr. Emil Hamilton secretly determines that their cellular matrixes are failing. Hamilton warns that the progression will be painful and everything possible should be done for them. A woman, Amanda Waller, arrives and informs Hamilton and Lord that it's not their priority. Waller tells Hamilton to get the second team up and running. Long Shadow, manifesting the power of superhearing, listens in and hears Waller say that the Ultimen are expendable. When Lord comes in, Long Shadow insists they'll be happy to stay. However, later he tells the other heroes what he heard and the team engineers a breakout. They find a lab with new versions of themselves.



After the team escapes the building, Waller tells Lord to find the Ultimen and bring them back while she dismantles and relocates the laboratory. As Lord goes to his car, the Ultimen sweep him up to a nearby skyscraper and demand answers. He tries to defend himself without success and he finally explains they're artificial life forms designed as ultimate superheroes by the Cadmus Project. Their memories were implanted and actors provided for their recent lives. They were intended as a group controlled by the government, and the clones are for when they wear out. Lord warns that it's bigger than they can imagine. The Ultimen prepare to kill him but Long Shadow insists they go after his superiors instead and they depart.



The Ultimen return to the lab but discover it has been dismantled. The heroes go on a rampage destroying the facility but Long Shadow warns there are other innocent people in the office building. The Ultimen ignore him and smash through the building. Long Shadow tries to evacuate the civilians and the League arrives to help. They call upon the other four Ultimen to surrender, offering what help they can. Wind Dragon insists that all they can do is demonstrate their power and take down the Justice League to prove themselves. Batman warns they're getting sicker but the Ultimen refuse to listen. Before Long Shadow can choose sides, Juice stuns him unconscious. Shifter and Downpour take on Aquaman, while Juice goes after Batman. Batman short circuits the electrical hero while Aquaman swims through the Downpour-created flood. He knocks out Shifter in her dinosaur form and slaps her brother unconscious. Superman tries to get through to the berserk Wind Dragon without success. Long Shadow intervenes and manages to get through to his comrade, asking if that's what he wants to be remembered for. Wind Dragon collapses, sobbing, and admitting all he ever wanted to be was a hero.



As the four rogue Ultimen are taken away, Long Shadow tells the League what little he knows. Amanda Waller, Maxwell Lord, and a government team arrive to take the Ultimen into custody. Lord promises they'll make the Ultimen comfortable in their final days and the Ultimen agree to go with him. Long Shadow refuses and the Leaguers back him. After a few tense moments, Waller gives in for the moment. When Batman wonders who she is, Waller warns him not to probe too closely, and hints she knows his secret identity.



Later, Wonder Woman and the others bring Long Shadow to the Watchtower satellite and welcome him to the Justice League.

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