The foreshadowing of the "Ultimatum" storyline began in late 2007 when Ultimate Power #8 featured a banner on its cover reading, "March on Ultimatum".
During the Marvel Ultimate Universe panel at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, Jeph Loeb said that Aron Coleite's run on Ultimate X-Men would tie-in to "Ultimatum", but did not indicate that the former series would end.