With sliding timescales and reboots, having a kid in the Marvel Universe isn't always a sure-thing. In the main continuity's long history, plenty of heroes have tied the knot or gone on to have kids, only to have those important life events torn away from them as part of some character re-imagination or retcon. But in the Marvel multiverse, these things can be forever, mostly because they only exist for a brief amount of time before being forgotten about until some sort of crossover event allows for well-timed cameos and fan service. Even major heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America have had their kids and lives sort of cordoned off and left in the past. Only a few continue on, like X-23 or Danielle Cage.
But that doesn't take away from just how interesting the idea of superheroes pairing off and having kids is. In some cases, alternate realities just follow a similar outline to pairings from the main Marvel Universe. Characters like Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters, Black Bolt and Medusa or Tony Stark and Pepper Potts always seem to come out on top, and them having kids doesn't seem to surprising. But the odd pairings, the genetic clones and the far-flung future super kids are where it really gets interesting for amalgamations. So that's why we're breaking down 20 Marvel kids from alternate realities. Some of them might sound familiar, but all of them are removed enough from the main Marvel Universe that they'll at least be surprising.
20 JAMES ROGERS
In a stunning turn of events and in a reality where Captain America ends up with Black Widow, James Rogers adventures with his team of Next Avengers to take down Ultron, who never really seems to stay down for good.
While James does sport almost if not all of the abilities Steve Rogers gained from his Super Soldier serum, he doesn't seem to be interested in the spy or espionage aspects of his mother's past -- and certainly not the mercenary parts of it. Despite originating in the Next Avengers animated feature, James did show up in a comic book flashback some years ago.
19 ASHLEY BARTON
Look sometimes these kids turn bad, ok? Ashley Barton is the daughter of Peter Parker's daughter, Tonya, and Clint Barton, which we're sure drums up its own set of issues. Hailing from Earth-807128 (better known as the setting for "Old Man Logan"), Ashley takes down her world's Kingpin with her eyes set on taking his dominion and using it to wield an iron fist over parts of the world -- and end her father.
She has a pretty sweet costume, though, and was part of the crew that the Superior Spider-Man built to try and end Karn during "Spider-Verse." That didn't work out so great, though.
18 JIMMY HUDSON
Of many on this list, Jimmy Hudson might be the most well-known. He first originated in the Ultimate Universe as the son of that reality's Wolverine. But following the fallout of 2015's "Secret Wars" and the shuttering of the Ultimate Universe, Jimmy hopped over to the main Marvel continuity and started running around with the time-displaced original X-Men, who welcomed him onto their team.
He was briefly controlled by Poison and had a showdown with Daken, one of the other many children of Wolverine, before deciding it best to wander the world on his own. Sound familiar? We just hope that this isn't the end for Jimmy Hudson, what with Logan coming back and all.
17 ARMAGEDDON
What do you get when you combine the genetical makeup of two of, if not the two strongest mutants to ever exist? Well, you get the aptly-named offspring Armageddon, who sports the abilities of both Apocalypse and Jean Grey.
While his appearance is mildly staggering to say the least, Armageddon actually doesn't turn out to be such a bad guy, which is probably due to the Jean Grey in him overpowering the Apocalypse part. Nicknamed "Geddy," he turns on the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and helps the X-Men in taking them down. Thank goodness. We're not really sure any planet in the multiverse could handle that much power.
16 NOCTURNE
Another pairing of two of the more powerful mutants, Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler, gave the world Talia Wagner, better known as Nocturne on her home, Earth-2182. But she has plenty of ties to other parts of the multiverse, eventually getting lost in time and becoming a member of the aptly-named Exiles.
In addition to the teleportation and movement abilities that she gets from Nightcrawler, she can also possess the bodies of other people and fire off energy blasts called "Hex-Bolts," a bit of a twist on some of the more reality-warping and magic aspects from her mother, Scarlet Witch.
15 LEONARD MCKENZIE II
Leonard McKenzie is one of many alternate reality children of Susan Storm and Namor the Submariner. Of course, this pairing has interesting ties to parts of Marvel Comics, what with Namor having shone interest in the Invisible Woman numerous times over the years, much to the chagrin of Reed Richards.
But Leonard comes from a What If? story that has Namor joining the Fantastic Four and going on to marry Sue Storm and raise Leonard to be the future patriarch of the super team. Quite a bit of a love triangle, isn't it? Different McKenzie children from all parts of the multiverse are the result of this pairing, though not all of them turn out to be quite so super.
14 WILD THING
Hey, remember that alternate reality where Elektra and Wolverine had a kid? No? Well, here's a story for you. Rina Logan, the daughter of the aforementioned fierce sort of anti-heroes, is an extremely powerful hero with all of the healing factors and basic strength of her father, along with the incredibly martial arts skills of her mother.
She also has "psychic claws," which are kind of like Psylocke's abilities in that she can create mental weaponry that takes a physical shape. Plus, her name is Wild Thing, and that might be one of the best codenames in alternate Marvel history.
13 DAVID RICHARDS
David Richards is kind of a heavy hitter. As the child of Earth-2600's Rachel Summers and Franklin Richards, calling this kid Omega Level wouldn't even begin to cut it for his potential power. Billed as rolling "Professor X, Magneto and the Phoenix Force into one," David could have been the strongest force in his reality.
Of course, that responsibility came with him having to train under Sabretooth, toying with his own destiny of becoming a supreme overlord of Earth -- but not before dealing with the threat of Sentinels. As you can expect, David goes mad with power and has to be put down by his mentor in a totally ugly way that is definitely not suitable for, well, anywhere.
12 THENA
The daughter of Thor from Earth-982, Thena, shares a name with one of the main Marvel Universe's Eternals, but her story is quite a bit different. While not of the main reality, Thena was integral to Thunderstrike's power revival, and helped to bring him back to heroic glory.
But her story is tragic, with Asgard being destroyed (when is it not?) and with her coming to intellectual blows with her cousin, Sylene, daughter of Loki. Sound familiar? The concept of Thor having children has certainly been explored, even in the far flung future of the main Marvel reality, but Thena always stood out as one of the best.
11 MUSTANG
In a surprising, What If?-style turn of events, the son of Clint Barton (Hawkeye) and Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) is an incredibly powerful expert marksman. Of course, he sports the classic bow and arrow and costume from his father, and the green skin and potential superhuman strength from his mother.
Going by the codename Mustang, Clint Barton Jr. helped to fight the Sentinels in his home reality after getting a bit of help from some allies in the main Marvel continuity. Though, we can't imagine he'd fair so well in a Secret Invasion, as he basically looks like the Skrull version of Hawkeye.
10 AZARI
In a perfect world, Black Panther and Storm got through "Avengers vs. X-Men" with their marriage unscathed, going on to have one of the many children they actually do have in Marvel's alternate realities and different worlds. One of those kids is Azari, a member of the Next Avengers, appearing in both the comics and an animated film about the young superteam.
Azari not only sports all of the wit, will and superhuman abilities of his father T'Challa, but also the ability to control electricity, similar to the weather-molding powers of Ororo Munroe. There's something to be said about a super kid that can go toe-to-toe with Ultron.
9 CRUSADER
This one is sure to make fans of the Avengers Unity Squad happy. Except, Crusader, the daughter of Steve Rogers and Rogue, actually appeared years before the Uncanny Avengers and their quest to make peace between humans, mutants and Inhumans. Sarah Rogers is basically an extremely powerful, super strong amalgamation of her mother and father, sporting Rogue's all-green uniform and Captain America's iconic shield.
Oh, and did we mention she's also worthy of lifting the one and only Mjolnir? She's also named after Steve's mother, and that just makes us want to cry. While strictly a What If? character, we wouldn't mind seeing this super kid show up in the mainstream comics one day, though we're not so sure Rogue and Cap belong together.
8 FIREFLY
A legacy Marvel Comics pairing, Firefly is the child of the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) and the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne). But Matthew Storm was actually quite different that each of his parents, each bonafide superhero celebrities in their own right. Matthew was more standoffish, despite sporting basically all of the powers of his folks.
He can fly, cover his body in flames, shoot flames, utilize stinger blasts and shrink down (thanks to those Pym Particles). He was part of the Battleworld Avengers team on the alternate Marvel Earth-9811. His only real weakness? He took a page from Superman's book and draws his power from the sun.
7 BRAVADO
Another member of the Battleworld Avengers, Balder Blake, better known as Bravado, is the offspring of Thor and the Enchantress. Much of his early life was spent living up to Thor's legacy, with an attempt to lift his mythical Mjolnir every few years, though it was his friend Crusader that actually ended up being worthy.
But equipped with the magic and sorcery of his mother, Bravado did just fine holding his own on this alternate Avengers team. He also benefits from the durability that comes from being the son of two different Asgardian warriors. Plus, he has the coolest hero name of any of Thor's kids.
6 FELICITY HARDY
The Scarlet Spider of her home reality (also the home of the fan-favorite Spider-Girl, Mayday Parker), Felicity Hardy takes down crime as a vigilante. She also happens to be the daughter of Flash Thompson (later Agent Venom) and Felicia Hardy (Black Cat). While Mayday and her brother are on the "organic spider powers" side of the scale, Felicity relies on her agility, fighting skills and her own technology.
She uses sonics, smoke and a suped-up version of the whip, made popular by her mother's criminal past and run-ins with Spider-Man. As far as alternate takes on Spider-adjacent characters go, this Scarlet Spider has to be close to the top of the list.
5 FRANCIS BARTON
As a member of the Next Avengers, Francis Barton kind of represents a perfect reality -- at least for his parents. Francis is the son, obviously, of Clint Barton (Hawkeye) and his longtime love interest, Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird).
In this reality, the two have a son that goes on to fight crime as a bit of an amalgamation of Hawkeye and Mockingbird. Like his teammates, he debuted in the animated Next Avengers feature, but later appeared in a S.H.I.E.L.D. comic. As far as alternate realities go, we wouldn't mind a trip back here in comic form with the right creative team.
4 BENJY PARKER
Benjy Parker is lesser-known younger brother of the fan-favorite character Spider-Girl, and he spent quite a bit of time wreaking havoc in her solo series. Sure, it may have been the fact that the Carnage symbiote was possessing him, but that's not an excuse.
Benjy also played a big part in the more recent "Spider-Verse" crossover, which ended with a suped up Uncle Ben Parker protecting Benjy and helping to raise him in his home reality. The multiverse is quite the place, huh? We imagine we haven't heard the last of this reality with "Spidergeddon" on its way later this year.
3 OLIVIER RAVEN
While the current Mr. and Mrs. X series finally has Rogue and Gambit married and seemingly happy adventuring together, its not the first reality where their love has worked out. On Earth-41001, the two have a son named Olivier LeBeau, codenamed Olivier Raven, and he's a prime representation of X-Men leadership.
Though he lacks the psionic abilities of his father, he did take on Rogue's power set, including energy absorption and flight, with his telepathy sticking around permanently from an unknown source. But he trained with Gambit, so he's an extremely well-rounded and skilled fighter. With Rogue and Gambit finally together, we still think it'll be a while before anyone like Olivier enters the picture.
2 COSMIC RAY
In this ideal alternate reality, Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four ends up with Crystal of the Inhumans and the two have a son named Raymond Storm. While he doesn't explicitly have the flame powers and flight from his father, he can basically manipulate any and all types of matter, so one would assume that fire and wind could be part of that -- essentially negating the aforementioned powers.
The only downside is that his Earth-98 holds a slower passage of time than the prime Marvel reality, leading to some classic-looking antics when the world comes into contact with heroes from Earth-616.
1 MAYDAY PARKER
Perhaps the most famous of all the alternate children in the Marvel Universe, Mayday Parker easily takes the cake when it comes to being a powerful, iconic hero in her own reality. As the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Mayday Parker quickly became a fan-favorite after her debut in a 1998 "What-If?" book, going on to lead her own reality, MC2, and a solo run in The Amazing Spider-Girl.
She's popped up a few times since in some multiversal crossover shenanigans, and kind of lives on in spirit in Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows. But we've got to say, we wouldn't mind a more substantial return to Spider-Girl and the world of Marvel's MC2.