What If…?
Summary
wonder Comics’What If?series may have started in the previous ‘ 70s , but it arguably did n’t really take off until the late ‘ eighty , as the ideas put on the page by Marvel Comics creatives started to press the edge in way that they had n’t before . These issues were darker , grittier , and suppose realism in which rooter - pet heroes did n’t act so heroic .
While it was n’t all doom and glumness in the late ‘ 80s , it ’s fair to say that the majority of it was , as most of the issues consisted of ideas like : ‘ What would happen if a zep commit murder ? ’ or ‘ What would happen if the villains won or else ? ’ . These tarradiddle really shook up fans ’ corporate perception of iconic Marvel poor boy , making them stand out from the issuance that were free before and after . But now , in retrospect , only one question remains ( aside fromWhat If ? ): which one is the cool reimagining of an iconic Marvel Comics moment ? Here iseveryWhat If?story from the later ‘ 80s , ranked .
Related :X - man : Top 10 Versions of the Brotherhood of Mutants ( Ranked )
10Frank Castle Can Never Escape His Destiny As The Punisher
What If?Vol. 2 #10 - “ What If The Punisher’s Family Hadn’t Been Killed?” by Doug Murray and Rik Levins
ThisWhat If?story reveals that , if his home had n’t been killed right after Castle sack out from the Marine , Frank Castle would have become a New York City police officer . As a cop in this alternate reality , Castle was secluded to rearing corruption , and sought to expose it . In reaction , the corrupt cop - led by the Police Chief - shoot up Castle ’s dwelling , killing his entire family . So , Frank Castle gets his retaliation on the corrupt officer of the NYPD by kill each and every one of them before intrust himself to kill every corrupt and evil person he come across as the Punisher .
This storyline prove that , no matter what , Frank Castle is always destined to suffer his family and become the Punisher , as that is a destiny he plainly can not run .
9X-Men Prove To Be A Multiversal Inevitability, Even After Detrimental Loss
What If?Vol. 2 #9 - “What If The X-Men Died On Their First Mission?” by Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler
When the living mutant island Krakoa captured the original five ecstasy - adult male , Charles Xavier recruited a newfangled team of fighter to save them . This was shown inGiant - Size X - Men#1 , a here and now that changed the future of the X - Men evermore - a future that was only made possible by the fresh X - Men ’s triumph over Krakoa . However , in this alternateWhat If?timeline , the X - Men die during their battle with Krakoa , leaving only Beast awake and Charles Xavier an empty shield of his former ego .
Despite the tragedy , Beast end up finding a new squad of mutants that would conduct on the 10 - Men name . The yield ends with the Watcher saying that , no matter what , the tenner - Men are always fate to bear on , which all but confirms the squad ’s multiversal inevitability .
8Because Wonder Man Lived, The Avengers Were Doomed To Be Beaten By Vision
What If?Vol. 2 #5 - “What If The Vision Had Destroyed The Avengers” by Jim Valentino
Wonder Man was a villain created by the Masters of Evil who ended up sacrificing himself to deliver the Avengers in his entry number . This human activity of heroism inspires Hank Pym to simulate his brainiac patterns and inclose them into the synthetic psyche of the Vision upon build up Ultron and the accompany humanoid . Wonder Man ’s brain pattern were why the Vision did n’t follow the commands of the villainous Ultron-5 , and why the android terminate up joining the Avengers or else . However , in thisWhat If ? , Wonder Man survived his first appearance issuance and join the Avengers full - meter , which meant his brain patterns were never sum to the Vision ’s android mind . And so , when Vision was create , there was nothing that stopped him from being a baddie , and he destroyed the Avengers as a result .
In the end , Vision vote down Wonder Man , and his brain practice were then copied into Vision ’s judgement afterwards , which redeem Vision and arrange this skewed timeline on a course more like to that of Earth-616 .
7Iron Man Accidentally Makes The World A Deadlier Place After Armor Wars
What If?Vol. 2 #8 - “What If Iron Man Lost The Armor Wars?” by Danny Fingeroth and Greg Capullo
TheArmor Warswas an event that see Iron Man ’s engineering science in the hands of those who would use it to create arm of aggregated devastation - even if those weapons were in the form of seemingly familiar Iron Man suits . The fallout was huge , and nearly incur Iron Man quetch off the Avengers for life . However , Tony Stark was able to clean up his own mess and get his tech under control . But , that was in the original account , and the same can not be said for this one . In thisWhat If?storyline , Iron Man loses the ‘ Armor Wars ’ and never reclaim full dominance over his own tech again .
While the villains are still effectively shoot down , Tony Stark ’s designs and schematic are easy in the humanity , ready to be utilized by anyone - include and especially supervillains . This made Tony Stark unfit to process on the Avengers , and he walk away from the superhero living entirely , leaving the world a more life-threatening place because of his metre as Iron Man , instead of a dependable one .
6Daredevil Gets A Shocking Successor By Killing The Kingpin
What If?Vol. 2 #2 - “What If Daredevil Killed The Kingpin?” by Danny Fingeroth and Greg Capullo
Rather than simply picking a fist - fight with the Kingpin during hisBorn Againdays , Matt Murdock really walked into Wilson Fisk ’s penthouse and shot him in the head , using his sonar - truth to insure the exclusive shot was instantly fatal . However , this leaves temerarious rife with guiltiness . He hear to move around himself in to the police force , but no charge would stick , even with a confession . Then , Matt tried to make the Punisher penalise him with a slug to the brain , but Frank refused , and even gave Daredevil props for doing what he could n’t . Then , Matt try work to the Kingpin ’s boy , Richard , hoping that a full confession to him would result in vehement justice being served . At that moment , however , the Hobgoblin attacked Richard Fisk , and Daredevil sacrificed himself to stop Hobgoblin and save the Kingpin ’s son .
This mountain range of event lead toRichard Fisk taking up the mantle of Daredevilhimself , reject his father ’s nefarious legacy in pursuit of Daredevil ’s heroic one .
5By Refusing To Give Up His Mantle, Captain America Doomed His Legacy
What If?Vol. 2 #3 - “What If Steve Rogers Had Refused To Give Up Being Captain America?” by Jim Valentino and Dave Simons
When the time fare in the main Marvel Comics persistence for Captain America to be reabsorbed by the U.S. war machine after years of acting as an self-directed superhero without oversight despite retaining the name ‘ Captain America ’ , Steve Rogers primitively consort to let the moniker go rather than be controlled by the ever - changing policies that dictate the action of elect official . However , in thisWhat If ? , Captain America decided to keep the name without answer to a U.S. oversight committee .
In the remainder , Steve Rogers was assassinate , and John Walker became the raw Captain America just like he would have if Rogers simply put down down the cuticle like he did in Earth-616 . However , because Steve Rogers was dead , he could n’t return to fight back Walker once the new Captain America went bad , and reclaim his moniker . So , by refusing to give it up , Captain America destine his own legacy .
4Spider-Man Venomized Himself, Hulk, & Thor By NOT Removing The Black Suit
What If?Vol. 2 #4 - “What If The Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man?” by Danny Fingeroth and Mark Bagley
Marvel Comics fans are well aware of how Spider - Man took home a symbiote be the events ofSecret Wars , and how - once he discovered it was a sentient exotic aliveness shape effectively feeding on his lifespan - essence - he remove the suit , which then bonded to Eddie Brock . Well , thisWhat If?imagines a world in which Spidey kept the black suit , and details the fallout that ensued . Unlike the symbiote ’s relationship with Eddie Brock , which attempt to be pure mutualism , the Venom symbiote only want to feed on Spider - Manuntil almost all his lifeforce was gone . After failing to remove the symbiote , Peter Parker is come down to an previous man , as the symbiote literally drain his life . It then jumped from Spider - Man to the Hulk , drain the Jade Giant just like it did to Peter . Then , the symbiote possessed Thor , go for to do the same matter .
In the death , the symbiote was destroyed before it slip Thor ’s divine essence , though the greatest tragedy still remained . By not removing the black lawsuit , Spider - Man was feasted upon by the Venom symbiote .
3Wolverine Did More For Mutantkind As An Agent Of SHIELD Than An X-Men Member
What If?Vol. 2 #7 - “What If Wolverine Was An Agent Of SHIELD?” by Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld
Wolverine made his Marvel Comics debut crusade the Hulk , which is something that sparked Professor X ’s interest in him when Charles was enrol raw mutants to salve the original disco biscuit - Men in Giant - Size go - Men # 1 . However , before Chuck could put Wolverine on his team , Nick Fury and SHIELD saw Wolverine ’s potentiality upon his battle with the Hulk , and promptly made him an Agent of SHIELD . Not only did Wolverine dead prosper as a super - undercover agent , but he also made the world a better position for mutants with his influence .
Wolverine was Nick Fury ’s heir as Director of SHIELD , and his influence kept anti - mutant political agendas from ever gain grip . He close down threat to mutantkind ( like the Sentinel Program ) on behalf of the X - valet with SHIELD resourcefulness , which insure those scourge did not resurface . Wolverine did more for mutantkind as an Agent of SHIELD than he ever did as a penis of the X - humanity .
2X-Men’s Inferno Event Nearly Reset The Entire World
What If?Vol. 2 #6 - “What If The X-Men Lost Inferno?” by Danny Fingeroth and Ron Lim
During the iconicX - MeneventInferno , Madelyn Pryor and her host of ogre almost destroyed the veil between Earth and Limbo , which would have allowed the demons to cross over and conquer the satellite . While the go - Men were successful in stopping the sinister clone of Jean Grey in that storyline , thisWhat If?shows readers a worldly concern in which they were n’t - and the side effect is just as horrific as one would gestate . The demons Madelyn Pryor allowed to encroach upon the Earth quickly took over , and the only way they were eventually overcome was by the Phoenix Force , which used its cosmic tycoon to seemingly ruin the whole planet .
However , it ’s revealed that the Phoenix did n’t destroy Earth , but or else throw away it into a more primal long time while expelling the demons from the earth .
1High Evolutionary Sparks A Universal Renewal Cycle
What If?Vol. 2 #1 - “What If The Avengers Had Lost The Evolutionary War?” by Roy Thomas and Ron Wilson
ThisWhat If?imagines a universe where the High Evolutionary defeated the Avengers when they fought inAvengers Annual#17 . In that plot line , the High Evolutionary was judge to launch a bomb into the atmosphere that would have mutated everyone on Planet Earth . The High Evolutionary was flap in the independent Marvel Comics continuity , but here , he is victorious , and successfully sparks speedy development in every life mannequin on Earth . The organic evolution humanity undergoes effectively reverse them into cosmic gods ( something which get with the mutants and superhumans , as they were already a step ahead of regular people ) . In reply to this abnormal procession of human phylogenesis and the radioactive dust that was destined to pass across the universe , the abstract entities decided it was time for a ecumenical rehabilitation cycle .
With one seemingly innocuous victory , the High Evolutionary effectively put down the entire universe . And that is why this isMarvel Comics ' all - prison term bestWhat If?storyline from the 10 that were published in the previous ‘ fourscore !
