In 2002, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch created one of Marvel's most groundbreaking stories: The Ultimates. As one of the first of its kind, The Ultimates grounded each of its superheroic characters in a level of realism and seriousness resembling that of the Dark Knight rather than what Marvel Studios has chosen to go with in their universe. This realism was only enhanced by Millar's pop culture references and Hitch's wide-screen, cinematic style.

The word on the street is that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige approached Millar about writing the book as a proof-of-concept project for future live action films. While some elements of The Ultimates made it to the big screen, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is by no means a direct adaptation of the book. But what if it were?

What if, in 2002, instead of getting The Ultimates volume 1, we got The Ultimates live action movie? Would you watch it? And would you watch it if it had the cast that Mark Millar proposed in The Ultimates vol. 1 Issue 4?

I would! Below you'll find Millar's 2002 picks for The Ultimates. I've chosen pictures of each actor that were taken in 2002 to make this feel more authentic.

This picture would have been so bad@$$! Ah, well, se la vie!