Headscratchers / The Ultimates

• Could someone please explain what was the point of the "No ice" thing in book two? To me, it seemed like it was just some guy asking Captain America if he wanted ice in his Coke and Cap saying No thanks, but I think it was supposed to be an allusion to something or something.
  • Seems like a joke about how Captain America was stuck in a glacier for a couple decades. That would be enough to make a person dislike ice.
    • Makes sense. Thanks!
  • It would make sense but this was in a scene from before Cap was frozen. Its more of a Mythology Gag or a Foreshadowing joke.
• Why the Ultimates so readily believing somebody who tells them that Thor is just nut with some stolen technology from Sweden. Granted it turns out to be half right, but shouldn't they question why, is some like that was stolen, would some manufacturers of it wait until then to report it?
  • Loki can warp reality. So who's to say the Ultimates' and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s judgements weren't altered by the trickster-god so Thor could be taken down quicker and easier without much questions?
  • It's simply because the Ultimate Marvel is more realistic and down-to-earth than the common Marvel Universe. Let's say that, in the real world, someone comes and claims to be a mythological god, living on the realm of the humans. What would people, what would you, think about that? That the guy is really a god, or that he's just a nutcase? In the case of Ultimate marvel, take into account that yes, he has superhuman strength and a hammer that can summon lighting and teleport things, but that there are several counter-examples around of people who can pull out such feats without divine intervention. Finally, let's add that, before Asgard comes in full force at the end of the second arc (and without counting the dubius claims of Thor), there are precedents of humans who get superpowers by some artificial means (Captain America, Spider-Man), technology (Iron Man, Otto Octavius), even pseudo-biology (mutants), but no precedents of physical gods, or even actual magic.
• Why does Colonel Abdul Al-Rahman have a W on his chest? This is something that has been bugging me for years, and I'd love to have at least a headcanon for it.
  • Maybe it's not meant to be a W, and just resembles one coincidentally. Presumably his costume was designed by Syrians, who wouldn't have any reason to put a Latin alphabet symbol on it, and maybe wouldn't even have recognized it as one.