Part of the difficulty of writing new adventures in vast superhero universes is the thick, somewhat impenetrable layer of continuity that develops over decades of storytelling. That continuity is undoubtedly part of the charm, of course: being able to follow the same characters over the years, watching them grow and develop before your eyes is something restricted only to comics (and soap operas). That same continuity can be tricky to crack for not only new readers, but new writers too, which is why it can be liberating -- not to mention fun -- to dive into alternate universe tales.
The concept of the Multiverse is one that has quickly become a fundamental part of the superhero and science-fiction genre. Exploring other dimensions and strange alternate futures can often be an exciting way of examining the core aspects of characters by exposing them to their mirror image, or literally showing them the consequences of the road not taken. Marvel’s What If comics are a perfect example of this. Since the first issue back in 1977, What If has looked at hundreds of different versions of the heroes that we know and love, and over the years some of these have been crazier than others. With the announcement of brand new What If issues coming out later this year looking at mash-ups such as Spider-Man/Punisher and Magik/Doctor Strange, we here at CBR thought it would be a good time to look back at the weirdest, most bonkers superhero mashups from Marvel’s What If!
20 WOLVERINE: LORD OF VAMPIRES
You may be surprised to learn that the X-Men have a long history with vampires. The deadly race of blood-suckers have been a staple of the Marvel universe for decades, most prominently in the old Tomb of Dracula comics from the early ‘70s, which is where Blade himself originated.
The X-Men had their own run-ins with Dracula over the years too, and this What If story looked at what would have happened if Dracula had succeeded in turning all of the mutant super-team into vampires. Wolverine’s unique powers prevented him from falling under Dracula’s spell, however, and he turned on the Lord of Darkness, drinking the blood of Dracula and becoming the new Lord of the Vampires.
19 THANOS THE AVENGER
Some What If stories take a completely random concept and run with it, while others take an already established story and put a different twist on it. What If Infinity: Thanos is the latter, looking at what the Infinity event would have looked like had the Avengers teamed up with Thanos to take on the might of the Multiverse-shattering Builders.
It’s a team-up that seems doomed to fail, and while for a short time it seems like it’s working (the allies blast through enemy fleets thanks to Thanos and his Black Order, and he and Thor even get into a friendly contest to see who can wipe out the most bad guys), the Mad Titan does what everyone sort of expected, and betrays the Avengers.
18 DAZZLER: HERALD OF GALACTUS
It seems an odd fit for Dazzler -- the mutant movie star and queen of disco -- to become the cosmic successor to the Silver Surfer as the new Herald of Galactus, but hey, this is sort of What If’s whole deal.
When Terrax -- the Devourer of World’s last Herald -- was put on trial for betrayal, Galactus chose Dazzler as his new Herald. Unable to bring herself to find her new master inhabited worlds to consume, she spent decades pointing him to empty worlds, singing songs of her sadness and slavery, until she warmed the heart of the Devourer enough to release her from bondage. She’d been a Herald for so long, however, that when she returned to Earth, a disaster had wiped out Humanity, so she returned to Galactus’ side.
17 VENOM PUNISHER
One is a symbiotic being from outer space with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance, the other is an ex-marine with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance; so, right off the bat, Venom and the Punisher have one thing in common.
This issue of What If imagined what would have happened if the Venom symbiote had possessed not Eddie Brock, but Frank Castle instead. In the story, Frank battles against the symbiote for control, leading him into confrontation against Spider-Man, Daredevil and Moon Knight. He’s able to fatally wound the Kingpin with his new symbiotic powers, but after being hit by Spider-Man’s Sonic Blaster, Frank gains total control and continues to fight crime as Venom Punisher.
16 HULK THE BARBARIAN
Hulk is so close to being a barbarian anyway that all this What If really does is give him a costume change. The story title is actually “What If Hulk’s Girlfriend Jarella Had Not Died,” which isn’t as cool as “What If Hulk Was A Barbarian,” because it relies on you knowing who the heck Jarella is.
Turns out that Jarella was Hulk’s lover from the subatomic world of K’ai, who was crushed under rubble when trying to save a child from a falling building. In this issue, she lives, and Hank Pym shrinks both her and Hulk back down to the subatomic level so that he can fight as a barbarian and help her defend her homeworld, living happily ever after, we presume.
15 CAPTAIN PUNISHER
It’s a little-known fact that in the comics, Frank Castle looks up to Captain America. It doesn’t come up very often, but he joined forces with Cap during the superhuman Civil War, and even wore the mantle briefly after Steve died as a result of that conflict.
In this What If however, published decades before Civil War, we were shown a world in which the U.S. Government sought out Frank as the perfect person to wield the shield. It took a lot of convincing, as Frank believed his way of fighting crime was at odds with the stars and stripes, but it was Steve himself (recently injured so badly he could no longer be Cap) that convinced Frank to become the new Sentinel of Liberty.
14 DOOM, SORCERER SUPREME
Victor Von Doom has always been a villain that straddles the worlds between science and magic. His mother was a practicing Romani sorcerer, and as he’s grown into the Ruler of Latveria, his passion for exploring the mystical arts has only deepened.
In this issue of What If, we see what would happen if Doom attained the highest authority in magic usage, usurping Stephen Strange as the new Sorcerer Supreme. When his mother’s soul was taken by Mephisto, Doom turned to the Ancient One to become powerful enough to save her. He becomes the Sorcerer Supreme, defeating Mephisto, but is fatally wounded by Dormammu. In his dying moments, he gifts the powers to none other than Stephen Strange (albeit a version of Strange implanted with the consciousness of Doom).
13 ROGUE WITH THE POWER OF THOR
Back when Rogue was a villain, she fought against not only the X-Men but the Avengers, pitting her formidable mutant powers of energy-absorption against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. In this What If tale, we see what would have happened if Rogue had absorbed so much of Thor’s powers that she ended up ending his life.
With all the powers of Thor coursing through her veins, Rogue is able to not only wield Mjolnir but use it to smite a number of Avengers, including Hawkeye and Vision. As she soon discovers, however, the spirit of Thor isn’t willing to give up his powers just yet, living within her consciousness and eventually convincing her to use her powers for good not evil.
12 STORM: DARK PHOENIX
Storm is already one of the most powerful mutants in the world, so it’s not hard to imagine just how strong she would become if she had been the one to have been gifted (or should that be burdened?) with the Phoenix Force instead of Jean Grey.
With the powers of the Phoenix at her command, Storm soon becomes the dominating force of the world, becoming a god across Earth, and establishing a world-wide organization that protects nature. She takes a fairly zero-tolerance aspect to crime and discrimination, making her rule unusually cruel and overwhelming. It takes the full might of the remaining X-Men to bring her back down to Earth.
11 DR DOOM/THE THING
It only takes the slightest nudge in some realities for the path to diverge so starkly from the one we already know. If Doom had a taken a little extra care in college, he wouldn’t have gotten into the accident that caused him to become Doctor Doom, and he and Reed Richards would have become friends.
In this What If, Doom is such good friends with Richards that it is he that accompanies Reed, Sue, and Johnny on that fateful flight becoming The Thing. And what of Ben Grimm? He remains in the military, where he takes part in Gamma radiation testing in Nevada. You already know where this is going, don’t you? Yep, Grimm becomes the Hulk, leading to an epic showdown between him and Doom Thing (Grimm Hulk wins).
10 MARVEL BULLPEN/FF
Perhaps the most bonkers entry on our list is this issue of What If from 1978, which imagines a world in which the original Marvel Bullpen (the team of creators) become superheroes themselves! It happens when a mysterious box is delivered to the offices containing cosmic rays, turning Stan Lee into Mr. Fantastic, Jack Kirby into The Thing, Sol Brodsky into the Human Torch and Flo Steinberg into Invisible Girl.
With the help of Namor, they fight against the deadly Skrulls as superheroes, as their mild-mannered alter egos publish comics that detail their exploits (handily changing up some of the details to maintain their secret identities).
9 TONY STARK, SORCERER SUPREME
In recent comics, it’s been hinted more than a few times that Tony Stark is destined to become the Sorcerer Supreme in the future. It makes sense with their matching facial hair that Stark would be a natural fit for the role, plus his mastery over science and technology would give him an edge too... though admittedly the... ahem... strange jump to magic is what makes the story bonkers.
Back in 1998, there was an issue of What If that explored a universe in which Tony Stark had been in the same car accident as Stephen Strange. In fact, Stark was driving the car, and his guilt over the damage caused to Strange’s gifted hands led him to travel to Tibet to learn from the Ancient One and become the Sorcerer Supreme in order to cure his friend’s disability.
8 IMPOSSIBLE MAN/ INFINITY GAUNTLET
For the blissfully uninitiated, Impossible Man is an old Fantastic Four foe (enemy seems too strong a word) that would literally pop up in stories to annoy the team and cause problems. Think of a mix between Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation mixed with Roger Rabbit and you have the Impossible Man.
With that image in your head, you can guess how much chaos would be caused if the Impossible Man got his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet, but that’s exactly what happens in this issue of What If, when he steals it right from under Thanos’ nose, going on to carry out acts like imprisoning Galactus and restoring Silver Surfer’s homeworld, before relinquishing the immense power in return for his own homeworld to be restored.
7 WOLVERINE: HORSEMAN OF WAR
When the adamantium was ripped off Wolverine’s skeleton by Magneto in the “Fatal Attractions” storyline, and a following arc saw the villain Genesis, son of Apocalypse, try to restore the Adamantium in order to convert Wolverine in a Horseman of the Apocalypse. The bonding was unsuccessful, but this story asks: What If it had been?
As the new Horseman of War, Wolverine was nearly unbeatable. So deadly was the new Horseman, that Apocalypse was the first to be eliminated, followed by the Brotherhood of Mutants and any other criminals that got in his way. The world unites in their combined decision to fight against him, forming the War Watch to bring him down.
6 BETTY BRANT: SPIDER-GIRL
There have been numerous stories over the years (some of which have graced other issues of What If) that are based around the idea of someone other than Peter Parker getting bitten by the radioactive spider. Mostly it’s to prove just how unique and special Peter is to become the great hero that he is.
In this story, it’s Daily Bugle worker and one-time love interest of Peter, Betty Brant that gets the fateful bite. Weirdly though, this still becomes a Peter story; in fact, the origin of Spider-Girl mirrors that of Spider-Man exactly, except Spider-Girl has a powerless friend Peter follow her everywhere. After the death of Uncle Ben, Betty gives up the mantle, proclaiming that she’s not made for the superhero life.
5 GREEN GOBLIN WITH THE INFINITY GAUNTLET
We’ve seen what happens when one grinning dude gets the Infinity Gauntlet, but how about another? In 2015’s What If: Dark Reign, Norman Osborn -- at that point in continuity the ruler of the free world and leader of the Dark Avengers -- sends his army out to steal the Infinity Gauntlet, and when he gets it, the world is forever changed.
Utterly defeating every hero is just the first step. He traps Spider-Man in a time loop, reliving the death of Gwen Stacy over and over, before destroying Thanos and then bringing back his abusive father to try and impress him. His father, however, still disapproves, calling Norman a monster. Norman freaks out, wiping his father from existence, therefore (inadvertently) wiping himself out in the process.
4 FANTASTIC FOUR’S MASHED-UP POWERS
The Fantastic Four have been a staple of What If comics since the inception of the concept (the first issue asked “What If Spider-Man had joined the Fantastic Four?”), so if you’re reading through those classic issues, prepare for multiple spins on the familiar team. Including the issue in which they all come out of the accident with entirely different powers.
This version of the team saw Johnny become Mandroid, Sue become Ultra Woman, Ben become Dragonfly and Reed become Big Brain, essentially a human-shaped brain contained in a Dr. Doom-like shell. Reed’s new form meant that Sue became romantically attached to Ben instead, leading Reed, in his jealousy, becoming tricked by Doom into betraying them all. This betrayal caused an explosion that threatened to end them both until Reed’s consciousness overtook Doom’s body, and he rejoined this, the weirdest Fantastic Four team.
3 THE WATCHER: STAND-UP COMEDIAN
Don’t let anyone tell you that What If comics didn’t have a sense of humor, as this issue took the idea of making a joke quite literally, turning the Watcher into a stand-up comedian. That’s not the wildest part of this issue though -- what’s completely bonkers is the fact that it asks a staggering 66 "What If" questions in a single issue.
In the tradition of books like Not Brand Echh! this issue of What If was an assault on the senses with a barrage of jokes, puns and visual gags that asked a series of increasingly bizarre and zany questions, such as “What if Thor had a haircut?” and “What if Iron Man had an eating problem instead of a drinking problem?”
2 LOKI WITH THE HAMMER OF THOR
The God of Mischief and adopted brother of Thor Odinson has always been a thorn in the side of, well, everyone really. In this What If tale, however, the origins of Marvel’s Thor are changed completely, when Loki finds the Hammer of Thor before his heroic brother.
In the original, Don Blake finds Mjolnir disguised as a wooden walking stick, which he then uses to turn into Thor and defeat alien invaders. Here though, Loki casts the stick into the forest, causing Blake to find nothing, and is subsequently offed by the aliens. Thor’s spirit, destined for Don Blake, is now cast into Valhalla, causing Odin, Balder, Sif and the Warriors Three to fight against Loki to bring him back and narrowly avoid Ragnarok.
1 PROFESSOR X AS JUGGERNAUT
Back when Charles Xavier and his stepbrother Cain Marko were stationed in Korea (and back when the Korean War was a viable backstory for characters), they stumbled upon the Temple of Cyttorak. Cain grabbed the Gem of Cyttorak and was forever transformed into the Unstoppable Juggernaut, but what if it had been Xavier that got to it first.
In this What If story, after Xavier becomes the Juggernaut, the cave they’re in collapses. Cain escapes, but with no Xavier around, the X-Men aren’t formed and Magneto is able to run rampant against humanity. Xavier Juggernaut soon arrives though, and his overwhelming telepathic power, as well as the unstoppable force of the Juggernaut, means he soon takes over the Marvel Universe and starts World War III.