Marvel Comics began publishing What If ...? in 1977 as a means of exploring new avenues of storytelling without interrupting the mainline continuity. The comic was essentially Marvel-endorsed fan fiction, allowing writers and artists to examine what might have been if some of their classic characters had made different choices in pivotal moments.
For the most part, What If ...? offered exciting possibilities by charting the road not taken. That said, sometimes Marvel's creators would stretch the concept too far, taking characters in directions so contrary to their nature as to render the story ineffective. Or worse, unbelievable.
10 Professor X Becomes The Juggernaut
What If ...? (Vol 2) #13 By Kurt Busiek, Vince Mielcarek, Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, Tom Vincent And Gary Fields
Kurt Busiek is a pivotal writer in Marvel history, but What If ...? #13 misses the mark by a wide margin. After Professor Xavier acquires Juggernaut's powers, he gets buried alive before he can create the X-Men. In his absence, anti-mutant sentiment reaches a fever pitch.
When he frees himself, Xavier forms the X-Men, including himself, Magneto, Toad, and the Blob, devoting them to Mutant supremacy and bringing humanity to its knees in a reversal of the X-Men's status quo that pushes the idea way too far.
9 The Vision Conquers The World
What If ...? (Vol 2) #19 By Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficier, Ron Wilson, Sam De La Rosa, Gregory Wright And Janice Chiang
While the Vision was the creation of the villainous Ultron, the android never shared his "father's" goals of world domination. After connecting to the world's computers, Vision assumes command of the planet. Genosha reacts by wiping out New York – and all its heroes – with a nuclear weapon.
Vision survives within the global net and retains control of Earth, allying with Doctor Doom, the Kingpin, and Supreme Hydra to consolidate his power. It's a long shot that the Avengers couldn't stop Vision from interfacing with the computers and a longer shot that Vision would fall in with Marvel's worst villains.
8 Wolverine Became Lord Of The Vampires
What If ...? (Vol 2) #24 By Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficier, Tom Morgan, Tom Vincent And Janice Chiang
Wolverine is the most rebellious of the X-Men and is already practically immortal, thanks to his healing factor. When he's bitten when battling Dracula, it becomes official. After his teammates are turned by Dracula, Wolverine's healing factor helps him resist falling under Dracula's spell. He defeats Dracula and becomes Lord of the Vampires. Logan turns the X-Men, Magneto and a host of others, leaving few heroes to oppose him. Wolverine regains his senses following the death of Kitty Pryde, but by that point the story had already gone too far.
7 The Fantastic Four Get Even Weirder
What If? (Vol 1) #6 By Roy Thomas, Christy Marx, Rick Hoburg & Don Glut, Jim Craig, Sam Grainger, Phil Rache And John Costanza & Joe Rosen
Concepts from the first volume of What If are straightforward. In What If (Vol 1) #6, the Fantastic Four's origin takes place normally, but Marvel's First Family gains different powers. Ben grows dragon-like wings, Johnny becomes a cyborg, Sue gets stretching powers, and Reed becomes a disembodied brain.
There isn't anything necessarily out-of-character when it comes to the Fantastic Four, but that negates the point of the story. The four heroes are essentially the same people, but they have unnecessarily strange powers. Also, Doctor Doom is able to defeat Reed Richards by literally stealing his brain.
6 Karen Page's Survival Ruins Daredevil's Life
What If Karen Page Had Lived? #1 By Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Lark, Dave Stewart And VC's Cory Petit
Kevin Smith caused controversy when he killed off Karen Page as writer of Daredevil. What If Karen Page Had Lived? made matters worse. After Bullseye's attack, Karen is hospitalized and Daredevil is out for revenge. He learns that the Kingpin supplied the information leading to the attack before murdering him. Murdock is sentenced to prison, his partner Foggy Nelson is disbarred, and it's implied that Karen falls back into addiction.
Downer endings aren't uncommon in Daredevil's adventures, but this special issue goes way too far, turning the positive of Karen's survival into the misery of her loved ones. Writer Brian Michael Bendis spares no one, leaving the reader despondent.
5 Frank Castle Lived A Double Life As The Punisher And Captain America
What If ...? (Vol 2) # 51 By Simon Furman, Art Nichols & Paris Cummins, Dave Cooper & Frank Turner, Carlos Lopez And Janice Chiang
The Punisher is Marvel's most extreme street-level hero. He's also a soldier and an admirer of Captain America. In What If ...? (Vol 2) #51, Steve Rogers isn't frozen following World War II and serves into the '60s. When Rogers retires, Frank Castle accepts the role following his family's death. He serves as Captain America and doubles as the Punisher, dealing out brutal justice on the side.
Rogers returns and asks Castle to abandon the Punisher and focus on Captain America. Castle agrees, which is a step too far for his character. History has shown that no amount of speech-making in any universe can break Castle of his addiction to punishing.
4 Spider-Man's Six-Arm Mutation Becomes Permanent
What If ...? (Vol 2) #42 By Michael Gallagher, Kevin West, Ian Akin, Tom Vincent And Ken Lopez
During the '70s, Spider-Man was mutated and grew four extra arms. What If ...? (Vol 2) #42 imagines a world where he wasn't cured. The greatest scientists – including Professor Xavier and Reed Richards – all insist it's irreversible. The concept is solid. What takes it too far is that the mutated Spidey keeps getting into fights for no reason.
The Beast automatically assumes Peter's a monster and attacks. At the Baxter Building, he assumes the Thing will lecture him on acceptance, so Spider-Man attacks him. Spidey decides to cut ties with Peter Parker's life to fight crime full-time. That seems like a tragic but fitting conclusion, but Richards makes Peter's extra appendages invisible.
3 Rogue Absorbed Thor's Power
What If ...? (Vol 2) #66 By Simon Furman, John Royle, Bambos Georgiou, Tom Smith And Janice Chiang
When the Avengers originally encountered Rogue, she absorbed the power of Ms. Marvel. In What If...? #66, Rogue absorbs all the power of Thor, killing the God of Thunder and usurping his abilities. What follows takes an interesting concept off the rails as Rogue obliterates the Avengers. Odin – unable to revoke Thor's power – sends a squad after her where the Blob's ill-advised attempt to hit on Rogue results in a plane crash that kills Blob and Mystique.
The story ends with Loki trying to convince Rogue to kill Odin while he conquers Asgard, but Rogue encounters Thor on the astral plane. Thor uncharacteristically convinces her to adopt his mantle and become the Goddess of Thunder. The whole story is a solid idea that gets pulled in too many directions.
2 The X-Men Dump A Feral Beast In The Savage Land
What If? (Vol 1) #37 By Tom DeFalco, Arvell Jones, Sam de la Rosa, Dave Billman And Janice Chiang
The Beast is one of the original X-Men and has struggled with his mutation for years. What If? #37 shows the Beast's mutation moving to a more feral stage. The usually intelligent and reserved Hank McCoy rampages in Central Park, nearly killing two X-Men. Xavier is able to talk his pupil down, but no one knows how long it will last.
Uncertain of what to do, the X-Men drop the Beast off in the Savage Land for Ka-Zar and company to deal with. A feral, uncontrollable Beast is definitely a problem to contend with, but it's too far to suggest the X-Men would simply give up and cast him off so easily.
1 Aunt May Gets Spider Powers
What If? (Vol 1) #23 By Steve Skeates And Alan Kupperberg
Aunt May has always been a critical part of the Spider-Man mythos and What If? (Vol 1) #23 puts her in the thick of it. In this story, it's Aunt May who's bitten by the radioactive spider and develops super powers. Unlike the mainline continuity, there is no driving force that makes her become a superhero. She simply knits herself a costume and calls herself Spider-Ma'am.
As for Uncle Ben, the root of Spider-Man's belief in power and responsibility seems to constantly be asleep. Obviously the concept isn't meant to be taken seriously, but it's almost taken too far to even be funny.