What if vol 1 44

Here, we get not one but three stories where someone besides Peter Parker is bitten by a special spider and mutated by its radioactive venom. In one world, Flash Thompson gets the power and tries to be a celebrity in the wrestling circuit, but his lack of restraint leads to a death. He then attempts to be a hero called Captain Spider, only to die in battle against the Vulture. In another reality, Betty Brant gets the power and Peter Parker encourages her to become the crime-fighting Spider Girl.

Finally, we see a reality where J. The Watcher remarks that these realities prove not just anyone can step into the role of superhero, you also need the right kind of person for the job. The Canadian government ordered him to capture the rampaging green goliath, the battle ended in a draw and in his next appearance Wolverine was one of the X-Men.

Ignoring his non-lethal orders, Wolverine flies into a rage and kills the gamma-powered goliath. From there he unintentionally claims more lives, goes on the run from the government, and is eventually recruited by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto assigns Logan to join the X-Men as a sleeper agent, but he comes to respect the team and realizes that, for the first time, he is seen as a member of a family, not just a living weapon or a resourceful colleague.

He and Magneto wind up killing each other, and the heroes mourn the loss of a teammate who chose the right path in the end. He then goes about his plans to remake the galaxy how he sees fit, convinced this will be for the betterment of all. He resurrects several Avengers to act as his soldiers, their minds now completely loyal to him.

The situation gets so dire that the Uatu of this universe calls on his race for help, saying that they need to do something or this whole reality could die. Plans are put into motion even as other races and god-like entities attempt to stop Korvac. This particular story, first published in , has gotten new attention in recent years for still being topical or perhaps prescient. Others operated under the identity of Captain America for a while, and then many years later Steve was revived during an early Avengers adventure.

But in this story, the Avengers never found him, and the world changed. William Burnside, the s Captain America , had been placed in suspended animation due to his increasing aggression and paranoia.

In this story, he is awakened by corrupt political players and begins operating again, with the public believing that he is the original Captain America. As his popularity grows, Burnside speaks against minority groups and political activists who challenge the government and call for social change, claiming such talk weakens America.

He endorses conservative politicians and becomes a figurehead of the new America First Party, where he clashes with the NAACP and ACLU, arguing that the government needs greater power to effectively deal with possible threats and subversives.

The US soon falls under martial law, enforced by the new Sentinels of Liberty. Burnside and the new government inspire increased racism, anti-semitism, and intolerance towards undocumented immigrants. Steve is shocked to see an America that reminds him of Nazi Germany. Well, I say America is nothing! Without its ideals… its commitment to the freedom of all men, America is a piece of trash! In this world, Ben Parker realizes that his nephew is the vigilante Spider-Man soon after May Parker is killed by a burglar.

Peter takes this to heart and becomes a slightly different hero. It can be interesting just by showing the domino effect of one small change. When Sue Richards, the Invisible Woman, was pregnant for a second time, she sadly suffered a miscarriage. In this comic, we get two versions of what could have happened otherwise. Here, Sue dies in childbirth and her grieving husband Reed names their daughter Susan in her honor.

The second story starts off on a much happier note. Susan does not die during childbirth and her baby is a perfectly healthy girl named Mary. She exhibits only minor superpowers as a kid, but eventually she discovers she has a healing touch, saving a dog who had been hit by a car.

As the years go on, Mary uses her healing touch whenever and however she can, restoring not only injured animals and sick people but even polluted environments. She becomes a political activist speaking out against corporate and political greed, demanding better protections for citizens, workers, minorities, and the planet. The government considers her a dangerous radical and even forbids the Avengers from showing up at her Unity Rally, which causes the team to disband in protest.

Despite resistance from some and violence from others, Mary Richards remains sure that social progress and unity through compassion and empathy is worth the risks and challenges, and she leads a movement that reshapes the US. In this reality, the Punisher decides to say yes. He leads many successful operations against major terrorist groups, but constantly gets in trouble for disobeying orders, breaking the rules of engagement, and killing targets who had valuable information.

After repeated clashes with Fury, Castle decides to make an all or nothing play by attacking the main island base of the terrorist group Hydra.

Many relocate to the satellite, now free to exist without humans who fear them. But over time, their society develops the same inter-group conflicts and territorial disputes as any other, and Magneto reluctantly realizes mutants are not psychologically superior to humans. Later on, scans by Dr. Putting aside their differences, a group of mutants attack and slay the baby. Enraged, the parents and Henry McCoy return to Earth, while the remaining mutants agree to monitor births and search for signs of any other new threats.

Illyana Rasputin has one of the weirder upbringings among X-Men characters. The younger sister of Colossus, Illyana was trapped in the dimension of Limbo for much of her childhood, raised and trained by the demonic sorcerer Belasco and he was pretty abusive, being a demon.

You see, in the Marvel Universe, after Cap went into suspended animation, a few other Caps filled in for him, including a racist dude in the s during Captain America's anti-Communist period. This comic is a bit unclear as to whether those stories still took place. It seems like they sort of HAD to, right?

Because William Burnside, the s cap, gets thawed out sometime after the start of the Marvel Age of heroes seemingly very early in the career of the Fantastic Four. So what I don't get is in the Marvel Universe, is the s when everyone thinks Captain America vanished?

In any event, Cap and Bucky's return gets everyone excited, but as they start making public appearances, it is pretty clear that they are super racists They soon get into politics. They do not know that they are supporting the villainous Elite, the bad guys from Jack Kirby's Captain America run who wanted to return to a monarchy in the United States.

Later, a faked assassination attempt on Captain America while visiting a predominantly African-American neighborhood leads to riots and an attack on the civil liberties of minorities throughout the country as the government declares a national emergency to give themselves more power Years pass, and the United States is basically like a sort of twisted version of Nazi Germany, with minorities living in walled off ghettos.