Reprinted in The Best of What If? Followed by What If? #21. Alternate sequels appeared in What If? vol. 2, #35, and Paradise X. This world was designated Earth-772 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
Spider-Man did eventually join the team as a member of the "New Fantastic Four" and, more recently, as a member of the Future Foundation.
What if the Fantastic Four had different super-powers? (based on The Fantastic Four #1)
This version of the team reappeared in What If? (vol. 2) #39. This world was designated Earth-7712 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if someone else besides Spider-Man had been bitten by the radioactive spider? (based on Amazing Fantasy #15)
Three different stories look at what would have happened if either Peter's class bully Flash Thompson, his would-have-been temporary girlfriend Betty Brant, or publisher J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son John, had been bitten by the radioactive spider instead. With the exception of Betty Brant (who quits her moniker like Peter did in "Spider-Man No More"), the protagonist dies in each story. A darker version of the Flash story is redone as What If? (vol. 2) #76.
What if the world knew Daredevil was blind? (based on Daredevil #2)
This issue also contained the first humor-based What If? in the series asking, "What if the spider had been bitten by a radioactive human?".
Designated Earth-9904 in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: A-Z Update #2 (2007). A version of this timeline was revisited in Avengers Forever, and yet another version made a cameo in Paradise X.
The Agents of Atlas, a superhero team from the 1950s, was based on this concept.
Jane Foster would eventually become the new Thor in Thor (vol. 4) #1.
What if the original Marvel Bullpen had become the Fantastic Four? (based on The Fantastic Four #1)
This world made a brief tongue-in-cheek appearance in Paradise X. It was designated Earth-1228 in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk? (based on The Incredible Hulk #1)
This universe made a brief appearance in Paradise X.
What if Nova had been four other people? (based on Nova #1)
Instead of the random decision for Richard Rider to become Nova, the powers of Nova are transferred to a vengeful wife whose husband had been murdered, a kind and homeless black man in a universe with no superheroes, Peter Parker in a world where the radioactive spider that bit him had crippled him, and an unknown character with a villainous personality.
As with issue #7, this contained three short stories with the theme of Marvel characters who strayed close to becoming villains rather than heroes in the Earth-616 universe.
It was revealed years later that the clone had indeed lived, but had just been in hiding. He reappeared in the Spider-Man titles under the name Ben Reilly.
What if Wolverine had killed the Hulk? (based on The Incredible Hulk #181)
The concept was reversed in What If? (vol. 2) #50 (although it followed a later rematch between the characters). This issue also includes "What if the Fantastic Four had never been?" (based on The Fantastic Four #1). The latter world was designated Earth-8222 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if the Avengers had become pawns of Korvac? (based on Avengers #177)
Reprinted in The Best of What If? Extended in #43. A version of this world was visited by Quasar in Quasar #30.
What if the Dazzler had become the herald of Galactus? (based on Dazzler #11) / What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur? (based on Iron Man #150)
What If Humor Issue
Parts reprinted in The Best of What If?
What if Elektra had lived? (based on Daredevil #182)
This issue also includes "What if Yellowjacket had died?" (based on Avengers #212)
What if the Fantastic Four had not gained their super-powers? (based on The Fantastic Four #1)
Reprinted in The Best of What If? This version of the team reappeared in What If? (vol. 2) #39. This world was designated Earth-8212 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four. This issue also includes "What if Richard Rider had not lost the power of Nova?" (based on Nova #25)
The world featuring the Thing was designated Earth-8321 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four. This issue also includes "What if the Silver Surfer had lost the Power Cosmic?" (based on Fantastic Four #50)
What if... featuring Daredevil (set in a possible future) and Captain America (based on Captain America #237)
Select stories (noted above) were collected in a trade paperback, The Best of What If, in 1991. The entire series was collected in a series of seven volumes titled What If Classic from 2004 to 2010, with the exception of issues #13 and 16 and the lead story of #43 because they featured licensed characters, namely Conan the Barbarian and Fu Manchu.
This world was designated Earth-9011 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if the Vision of the Avengers conquered the world? (based on Avengers #254)
Two takes, one of which (a utopian world) was revisited in What If? (vol. 2) #36. The utopian world was designated Earth-90110 and the dystopian world Earth-90111 in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
What if Spider-Man had not married Mary Jane? (Part 1 of 2) (based on Amazing Spider-Man #292)
What if Spider-Man had married the Black Cat? (Part 2 of 2) (based on Amazing Spider-Man #292)
The first of several two-parters throughout the second series.
What if the Silver Surfer had not escaped Earth? (based on Silver Surfer (vol. 2) #1)
This world was designated Earth-912 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if the all-new, all-different X-Men had never existed? (based on Giant-Size X-Men #1)
What if Wolverine was Lord of the Vampires? (based on Uncanny X-Men #159)
Visited by Quasar in Quasar #30. This world was designated Earth-9140 in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. An alternate version features in What If? (vol. 2) #37.
What if the Punisher had killed Daredevil? (based on Daredevil #183)
The issue uses the original planned continuity order for Frank Miller's Daredevil run, as Daredevil #183-184 were originally planned to run in Daredevil #168-169, but held back for a year and a half due to issues with the story's plot involving drugs.
A sequel to What If? (vol. 2) #19's "Utopia" story.
What if Wolverine had been Lord of the Vampires during Inferno? (Timequake Part 3 of 5)
An alternate version of What If? (vol. 2) #24. This world was designated Earth-9250 in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
This world was designated Earth-938 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if ...the Iron Man of 2020 had been stranded in the past? / ...Rick Jones and Bruce Banner had both remained as the Hulk? / ...Spider-Man had killed the Lizard?
What if Death's Head had lived? (Based on Death's Head #1)
The only Marvel UK-themed issue. Written and pencilled by Death's Head co-creators Simon Furman and Geoff Senior, Furman later claimed that this issue's high body count was a sort-of revenge for killing the character.
Three different stories all related to the Cyclops-Jean Grey relationship, looking at what would have happened had Scott married Jean in the early days of the X-Men, if the pair had never gotten together, or if Jean had married Wolverine instead. (based on Amazing Adventures #11, Uncanny X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men #101)
The last issue to officially feature Uatu the Watcher as the narrator (although he had been absent from several previous issues). This story is another take on one of the three from What If? #7.
What if...starring Sabretooth: Screams in the night! (What if Sabretooth was loose in the X-Mansion?)
Starting with this issue, the covers no longer explicitly state what each story's "what if" is, making them more like DC Comics' Elseworlds.
What if...starring Spider-Man: Arachnamorphosis (What if Spider-Man evolved into a Spider-Monster?) - based on Amazing Fantasy #15)
What if...starring the Fantastic Four: Deadly inheritance (What if the Fantastic Four's powers were out of control?) - based on The Fantastic Four #1)
This world was designated Earth-969 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if...starring Cyclops and Havok: Their early years, their darkest fears! (What if Cyclops and Havok were not orphaned?)
What if...starring The Incredible Hulk: The man, the monster (What if Bruce Banner was savage and the Hulk intelligent?) - based on The Incredible Hulk #1
What if...starring Cannonball's little brother, Josh—and his pet Sentinel! (What if Josh had discovered a Sentinel?)
Fairly similar in plot to the Sentinel series, where Juston Seyfert finds and befriends a Sentinel.
What if...starring Wolverine: A man no more (What if Wolverine became savage?) - based on Wolverine (vol. 2) #100
What if...starring Juggernaut: The kingdom of Cain (What if the Juggernaut had killed Xavier and the X-Men?) - based on Uncanny X-Men #12
What if...starring Ghost Rider: Burn, baby, burn! (What if the Ghost Rider was different?) - based on Ghost Rider #1
What if...starring Quicksilver: The quick and the dead (What if Magneto had raised his children?)
What if...starring Black Knight: Camelot reborn (What if Doctor Doom had conquered Camelot?)
What if...starring Spider-Girl (What if Spider-Man and Mary Jane's child had survived?)
The first appearance of Spider-Girl. Later spun off into the Marvel Comics 2 line. This world was designated Earth-982 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
Also includes...What if Bucky had survived and was Captain America's partner?
Was reprinted in Spider-Girl #0 (the Bucky story was replaced with previews of two other MC2 titles).
What if...starring Gambit: Revenge! (What if Marrow had killed Gambit?) - based on Uncanny X-Men #350
What if...starring The Mighty Thor:...and who shall be king?! (What if Thor had assumed the throne of Asgard?)
What if...starring the Fantastic Four: The Thing...human again?! (What if Ben Grimm had stayed in Liddleville?) - based on Fantastic Four #236
This world was designated Earth-989 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
What if...starring The Uncanny X-Men: With Phoenix possessed...who will save Professor X...from the fury of Colossus? (What if Colossus had joined the U.S.S.R.'s Soviet Super-Soldiers?) - based on Giant-Size X-Men #1
Also includes... What if Doctor Doom had succeeded in conquering the world?
What if...starring Wolverine (What if Wolverine was a Horseman of War?) - based on Wolverine #100
What if...starring Secret Wars: 25 years later...comes a new generation of heroes! (What if all the participants of Secret Wars had been trapped on Battleworld?) - based on Secret Wars #12
Final issue. This world was designated Earth-9811 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
Issue #-1, What if...starring Bishop (based on Uncanny X-Men #282), was published as a part of the "Flashback" event, in which most of Marvel's series published issues numbered "-1" that were set in the past. This particular issue features an alternate backstory for Bishop, where he and Trevor Fitzroy travel back in time to before the X-Men were formed.
Marvel Alterniverse
The Alterniverse was what Marvel briefly labeled their What If stories from 1995 to 1996. The stories told under the Alterniverse label are typically one-shots and limited series, such as Ruins, Punisher: A Man Named Frank, Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, and The Last Avengers Story.
Volume 3 (2005)
A series of What If one-shot issues was released cover-dated February 2005.
The series was later collected into a trade paperback entitled What If: Why Not.
Volume 4 (early 2006)
The February 2006 one-shot issues took place in a single fictional universe, dubbed Earth-717, with four of the six stories more like DC's Elseworlds with various heroes in historical periods.[3]
What if Spider-Man had remained in 1980s Russia after an accidental death?
The series was also due to feature What If?: The New Fantastic Four, which featured the "original" New Fantastic Four with Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Hulk teaming up, as seen in Fantastic Four #347-349 and #374. This story was halted due to the death of artist Mike Wieringo, and was released as a 48-Page Special as a tribute in June 2008. All the issues of this run, aside from the New Fantastic Four one, were later collected into a trade paperback simply entitled What If? Civil War. The version of the "New" Fantastic Four is also erroneous, as the Ghost Rider of that time period had been Danny Ketch, not Johnny Blaze, who appears in the issue instead for unexplained reasons (in reality, Wieringo had drawn the wrong Ghost Rider in his initial pages by mistake and it was not noticed until after his death).
Volume 7 (2008)
This series continues the theme of alternatives for three recent Marvel events along with two around a classic event. The New Fantastic Four story was a sequel to the one-shot What If? released previously, seeing Iron Man replace Ghost Rider in an alternate take on the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. However, this series also features a storyline featuring the Runaways that runs through all five comics. This series was released between December 2008 and January 2009.
What If: House of M - What if the Scarlet Witch had said 'No more powers' instead of 'No more mutants'?
What If: Newer Fantastic Four - What if the New Fantastic Four had battled Thanos?
What If: Spider-Man: Back in Black - What if Mary Jane had been shot instead of Aunt May?
What If: Secret Wars - What if Doctor Doom had kept the Beyonder's power?
What If: Runaways - What if the Runaways had become the Young Avengers? (Runs through all five above issues)
The seventh series was later collected into a trade paperback entitled What If?: Secret Wars featuring the cover from the Secret Wars one-shot.
Volume 8 (2009)
At Fan Expo Canada '09, it was revealed a new five-part What If series would be released, featuring five one-shot issues, each with two alternatives for the focused event, except for Daredevil vs. Elektra, which had only one story. As a back-up feature in the other four one-shot issues, there is a humorous Say What? short story.
What If? Spider-Man: House of M
What if Emma Frost had not mindwiped Gwen Stacy?
What if the Scarlet Witch had let Gwen Stacy and her son cross to the default reality and survive?
What if Ord had resurrected Jean Grey instead of Colossus?
What if Ultron became aware of Danger during her battle with the X-Men and planned to make her his bride?
The eighth series was later collected into a trade paperback entitled What If?: Secret Invasion featuring the cover from the Secret Invasion one-shot.
Volume 9 (2010)
In early September 2010, Marvel announced a series of new What If? issues, including the celebration of the 200th issue of What If?.[4] It features a story regarding the Siege event, and a story by Stan Lee about the Watcher and Galactus. Further What If stories were released for Dark Reign, Spider-Man: Grim Hunt, a story focusing on Wolverine and his son Daken, and another on the pre-hero and villain lives of Iron Man and Doctor Doom. Those four issues also have a back-up story on Deadpool being controlled by the Venom symbiote.[5][6][7][8] The Venom/Deadpool backup chapters were subsequently released as a stand-alone one-shot.[9]
What If? Iron Man: Demon in an Armor
What if Tony Stark became Doctor Doom?
What if the Venom symbiote had managed to control Deadpool? (back-up story Part 1)
What If? Wolverine: Father
What if Wolverine had known about and raised Daken from birth?
What if the Venom symbiote had managed to control Deadpool? (back-up story Part 2)
What If? Spider-Man: Grim Hunt
What if Spider-Man had decided to kill Kraven the Hunter instead of letting him live?
What if the Venom symbiote had managed to control Deadpool? (back-up story Part 3)
What If? Dark Reign - The Osborn Assassination
What if Clint Barton had managed to kill Norman Osborn?
What if the Venom symbiote had managed to control Deadpool? (back-up story Part 4)
What If? #200
What if Norman Osborn had won the Siege on Asgard?
What if the Watcher had killed Galactus?
What If?: Avengers vs. X-Men (2013)
In July 2013, Marvel released a four-issue miniseries for What If based on the 2012 event Avengers vs X-Men, telling the story of what might have happened if Magneto had been more influential in Hope's development for Phoenix.
What If: Age of Ultron (2014)
In April 2014, Marvel released a five-issue miniseries for the 2013 event Age of Ultron, focusing on Wolverine and the Invisible Woman's trip back in time to kill Hank Pym in order to stop him from creating Ultron and showing the effects for the Marvel Universe if one of the other four founding Avengers had died, or if Hank had simply chosen not to create Ultron at all.
What if the Wasp had been killed instead of Hank Pym?
What if Iron Man had been killed instead of Hank Pym?
What if Captain America had been killed instead of Hank Pym?
What if Hank Pym had never created Ultron at all?
What If? Infinity (2015)
In October 2015, Marvel released a five-issue miniseries for the 2013 event Infinity that depicted alternate outcomes for Thanos' invasion of Earth and the war with the Builders.[10] The five scenarios are the following:
What if the X-Men were the sole survivors of Infinity?[13]
What if the Guardians of the Galaxy tried to free Thanos?[14]
What if the Green Goblin stole the Infinity Gauntlet?[15]
What If? With Great Power (2018)
Marvel released a new series of What If? one-shot issues in October 2018, which revived the concept of the publisher's classic series that examines alternate outcomes for major storylines and alternate versions of well-known characters such as Spider-Man, Magik, Ghost Rider, Thor, the X-Men, and the Punisher.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.