The Infinity Gauntlet is the single most powerful artifact in all the Marvel Universe. When each of the six Infinity Gems are set within it, the gauntlet possesses the power to create and reshape entire universes at will. Before it became the crux of the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Infinity Gauntlet was the crux of Marvel’s largest and most seminal story, "The Infinity Gauntlet" by Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim, Josef Rubinstein, Tom Christopher,and Bruce Solotoff. While comics and film both saw Thanos the Mad Titan fight to assemble the complete Infinity Gauntlet and subsequently bring destruction to the universe, 1993's What If...? #49, by Ron Marz, Scott Clark, Kevin West and Pamela Eklund saw the Gauntlet and the fate of the universe fall to the Silver Surfer instead of Thanos.
As a being imbued with the Power Cosmic, the Silver Surfer is already one of the most formidable entities in the entire universe. What sets the Silver Surfer apart from other cosmic forces, however, is his empathy and strong sense of morality. As the former Herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer suffers endlessly after witnessing his master consume entire planets. As much as he attempts to mitigate the destruction Galactus causes, the Silver Surfer is still tormented at the astronomical loss of life.
But as What If...? #49 illustrates, not even the Silver Surfer is immune to the corruptive power of absolute godhood. In the original Infinity Gauntlet story, the Silver Surfer failed in his attempt to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos. Thanos went on to battle each of the Celestial Abstracts and even Eternity itself and emerge as the supreme victor. But the story in What If...? shows what might have become if the Silver Surfer had been successful in stealing the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos. With the Infinity Gauntlet in hand, the Silver Surfer deems himself the only entity worthy of wielding the awesome weapon.
Adam Warlock and Thanos plead with the Silver Surfer to relinquish the Infinity Gauntlet; they tell him that he is not suited for godhood and that only ruin awaited him. But as the Silver Surfer equips the Infinity Gauntlet it seems as if Thanos and Adam Warlock are incorrect. All of the fallen heroes are resurrected and life restored throughout the universe. The Silver Surfer tells the Celestial Abstracts that they have nothing to fear and may exist as they always have within his universe. The Silver Surfer brings harmony, balance, and peace to the universe, an idyllic paradise to all. But he destroys Galactus and Mephisto entirely without hesitation when they refuse to submit to the Silver Surfer.
Thanos and Adam Warlock enlist the aid of Doctor Strange to help them prevent the Silver Surfer from devolving further into a tyrant. Doctor Strange brings to the Silver Surfer the one person capable of reaching him in his current state: his one true love, Shalla-Bal. The Silver Surfer grants Shalla-Bal half of his power so that the two may rule over all of creation in perfect unity. But Shalla-Bal senses the corruption of the Silver Surfer’s spirit and the two begin to fight. Shalla-Bal falls quickly and it is within the moment before the Silver Surfer eradicates her that he realizes how far he had fallen to the madness of power.
What If...? #49 paints a wonderful picture of what true power can do to a person. Regardless of the purity of one’s spirit, no one is infallible. One man’s paradise may be another’s man’s hell, and this realization brings the Silver Surfer to give up the Infinity Gauntlet at the end of the alternate story. He may not have become the Death-worshiping madman that Thanos was, but the Silver Surfer was to become the very kind of merciless tyrant that he despised.