What If
Cover toWhat If? #1 (February 1977), art byGeorge Pérez andJoe Sinnott
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	(vol. 1–2) Ongoing series (vol. 3–9) One-shots
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	(vol. 1) February 1977 – October 1984 (vol. 2) July 1989 – November 1998
No. of issues	(vol. 1) 47 (plus #0) (vol. 2) 114 (plus #−1) (vol. 3–4) 6 (vol. 5–9) 5
Collected editions
What If? Classic: Volume 1	ISBN 0-7851-1702-4

What If, sometimesstylized asWhat If...?, is acomic book anthology series published byMarvel Comics whose stories explore how theMarvel Universe might have unfolded if key moments in its history had not occurred as they did in mainstream continuity. SinceWhat If debuted in 1977, the comics have been published in 14 series as well as occasional stand-alone issues. In 2024, Marvel announced thatWhat If...? would expand to include alternate explorations of continuity within other non-Marvel Universe properties owned by their parent companyThe Walt Disney Company from its fifteenth volume onwards, beginning withAliens: What If...?, based on theAlien franchise, and followed byMarvel & Disney: What if...?, based on classic Disney characters.

In 2021,an animated series based on theWhat If comics premiered onDisney+, set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe'smultiverse.

The stories of the inaugural series (1977–1984) feature the alienUatu, theWatcher as anarrator. From his base on theMoon, Uatu observes both Earth andalternate realities.

MostWhat If stories begin with Uatu describing an event in the mainstream Marvel Universe, then introducing apoint of divergence in that event and then describing the consequences of the divergence. Some stories diverge from another divergence, such asWhat If Vol 1 #43 (Conan the Barbarian remains in the modern era), which diverges from #13 (Conan travels to then returns from the modern era).

Uatu was used similarly in the second series (1989–1998) until a point where, in theFantastic Four comic book, Uatu was punished for destroying another Watcher. This made the use of Uatu improbable, so the character was phased out to its last appearance in issue #76. Without aframing device, the stories themselves became the focus.^{[citation needed]}

In later series, some writers chose to introduce alternative narrators. For example, in volume 3, inWhat IfKaren Page Had Lived?,What IfJessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers? and inDaredevil (2005),Brian Michael Bendis, the writer himself, makes a cameo as narrator. In the early 2006 series, ahacker, whose onlinealias is "the Watcher", opens each of the six issues.^{[citation needed]}

Marvel has given severalWhat If stories official numerical designations to make them contiguous with theMarvel Multiverse and differentiate them from the mainMarvel Universe ofEarth-616.^{[citation needed]}

Marvel Comics occasionally issuedbackup features,Untold Tales from the Marvel Universe. These stories explained the origins of some of Marvel'ssuperhuman species.

The initial 47-issue series ran from February 1977 to October 1984. The firstWhat If story was "What IfSpider-Man had Joined the "Fantastic Four?". It presented an alternate version of events seen inThe Amazing Spider-Man #1 (1963).What If #24, which is titled "What If Gwen Stacy had lived?" and focuses on the consequences of Spider-Man's secret identity being publicly exposed, is one of the most highly regardedWhat If stories.^[1]

Following the cancellation of the original series, Marvel published aone-shotWhat If? Special (June 1988) with the story "What IfIron Man Had Been a Traitor?". It is collected inWhat If? Into the Multiverse Omnibus Vol 1.

From July 1989 to November 1998, Marvel published 115 monthlyWhat If issues (114 issues plus a #-1 issue) the second series revisited and revised ideas from volume 1. In volume 2, stories could span multiple issues (every issue of volume 1 contained a complete story). Also, sometimes, the volume 2 stories would offer multiple plots and endings and the reader could decide which one to adopt. For example, inWhat If theWar Machine had not destroyed theLiving Laser?, three endings were offered.

The humorous aspect of volume 1 was retained through volume 2, particularly in issue #34, an all-humor issue containing a number of single-page gags and two complete stories.

Starting with issue #87, the issue titles stopped being questions that were answered by the story, and instead the covers were presented as "What If? Starring..." whatever character was being highlighted in the given issue.

In issue #105,What If introducedSpider-Girl (Mayday Parker); the new character was popular enough for aspin-off series. From this, theMC2 line of publications was developed.

For a brief period between 1995 and 1996, allWhat If? stories were labeled asMarvel Alterniverse which included the likes ofRuins,The Last Avengers Story andPunisher Kills the Marvel Universe.

In February 2005, Marvel published a further six issues ofWhat If. They were all in the "one-shot" format. The editor, Justin Gabrie, attributed the publication of volume 3 to a suggestion fromC. B. Cebulski.^[6]

Marvel published a single parody edition calledWha...Huh?!? in August 2005.

• What If Jessica Jones Had Joined The Avengers?(Also collected inJessica Jones: Avenger)
• What If Karen Page Had Lived?
• What If Aunt May Had Died Instead Of Uncle Ben?
• What If Dr. Doom Had Become The Thing?
• What If Magneto Had Formed The X-Men With Professor X?
• What If General Ross Had Become The Hulk?

In February 2006, publication of volume 4 began. Again, there were six issues in the "one-shot" format. However, rather than followWhat if tradition of using a divergence from a specific plot point, Volume 4 more closely resembled theDC Comics equivalent,Elseworlds, which presents stories that are continuities based on alternate versions (in time or place) of canon (for example,Superman: Red Son is a story in which Superman was raised in theSoviet Union instead of theUnited States) all but one of the volume 4 issues uses this format, explained by Uatu the Watcher having discovered historical documents from an alternative dimension. From theJapanese feudal era, the divergence of a shared alternate universe, Earth-717, begins. This divergence is the time when aDaredevil hero known as "the Devil Who Dares" appears. It is also the realm where characters are given alternative life histories and where they proceed in alternative historical periods.

Examples from volume 4 includeCaptain America battling the "White Skull" during theAmerican Civil War;Wolverine taking on the role of thePunisher and fighting mobsters in 1920sProhibition-eraChicago;Namor the Sub-Mariner being raised by his father on the surface duringWorld War II;Thor becoming a herald ofGalactus; and a Soviet version of theFantastic Four, known as the "Ultimate Federalist Freedom Fighters" (consisting ofRudion Richards,Colossus,Magik and theWidow Maker), during theCold War.

• What If...Captain America fought in the Civil War?
• What If...the Fantastic Four were Cosmonauts?
• What If...Daredevil lived in feudal Japan?
• What If...Namor grew up on land?
• What If...Thor was a herald of Galactus?
• What If...Wolverine was Public Enemy No. 1 in mob-ridden 1920s Chicago?

In 2006, Marvel published another set ofWhat If? issues, including one based on the Spider-Man story "The Other".

• What If? Avengers Disassembled #1:"Witchhunt: What if the Scarlet Witch hadn't acted alone?"
• What If? Spider-Man The Other #1:"What if Spider-Man had rejected the Spider? Poison Selves"
• What If? Wolverine Enemy of the State #1:"What if Wolverine was never Deprogrammed? Bite the Hand that Feeds"
• What If? X-Men Age of Apocalypse #1:...What If Legion Had Killed Xavier and Magneto?"
• What If? X-Men Deadly Genesis #1:"What If Xavier's Secret Second Team Had Survived?"

Volume 6 consists of five issues (2007–2008). A sixth, "What If: This Was theFantastic Four", featuringSpider-Man,Wolverine,Ghost Rider andHulk, was to be released in November 2007, but it was withheld due to the death ofMike Wieringo.^[7]What If: This Was the Fantastic Four was released as a tribute to Wieringo in June 2008 as a 48-page special. All its proceeds went tothe Hero Initiative.

The other issues were:

• What If?:Planet Hulk (October 2007)^[8]
• What If?:Annihilation (November 2007)
• What If?:Civil War (December 2007)
• What If? X-Men: Rise and Fall of theShi'ar Empire (December 2007)
• What If?Spider-Man vs.Wolverine (January 2008)

These issues were collected into a trade paperback,What If...? Civil War.

In December 2008, Marvel published fiveWhat If specials which appeared weekly. They included:Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America,House of M,Spider-Man: Back in Black, andSecret Wars. A new "Fantastic Four" consisted of the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine. In addition, a story line featuring theRunaways as theYoung Avengers ran throughout Volume 7.^[9]

• What If? House of M #1:"What If...Scarlet Witch Ended the 'House of M' By Saying, 'No More Power?'" (February 2009)
• What If? Fallen Son #1:"What If...Iron Man Had Died?" (February 2009)
• What If? Newer Fantastic Four #1:"What If...Newer Fantastic Four?" (February 2009)
• What If? Spider-Man Back in Black #1:"What If...Mary Jane Had Been Shot Instead of Aunt May?" (February 2009)
• What If? Secret Wars #1:"What If Doctor Doom Kept the Beyonder's Power?" (February 2009)

In December 2009, a new series was published. Volume 8 focused on three recent events in the Marvel Universe, including theSpider-Man: House of M miniseries and the "World War Hulk" and "Secret Invasion" story lines. There was also an edition focusing on theAstonishing X-Men series and a classicWhat If? about Daredevil andElektra. With the exception of this last issue, each comic in Volume 8 featured two alternatives for the event.^[10]

• What If? Secret Invasion #1:"What if the Skrulls succeeded in their Secret Invasion?" (February 2010)
• What If? World War Hulk #1:"What If The Heroes Lost World War Hulk?" (February 2010)
• What If? Daredevil Vs. Elektra #1:"What If Daredevil Died Saving Elektra?" (February 2010)
• What If? Astonishing X-Men #1:"What If Ord Resurrected Jean Grey Instead of Colossus?": (February 2010)
• What If? Spider-Man: House of M #1:"What If... Gwen Stacy Survived The House of M?" (February 2010)

In September 2010, Marvel announced a ninth series of fiveWhat If issues in the one-shot format, to be released in December 2010. The second to fifth issues of volume 9 were not numbered.

• What If? Iron Man: Demon in an Armor #1:"What If Tony Stark Had Become Doctor Doom?" (February 2011)
• What If? Wolverine: Father #1:"Wolverine: Father" (February 2011)
• What If? Spider-Man #1:"What If? Spider-Man Killed Kraven the Hunter?" (February 2011)
• What If? Dark Reign #1 (February 2011)
• Venom/Deadpool: What If? #1 (April 2011)

What If? #200 was an extra-sized edition featuring two stories. It presented an alternative for theSiege Marvel Universe event, asking what might have happened if theSentry had not lost control andNorman Osborn had conqueredAsgard. The second story examined "The Galactus Trilogy", and was written byStan Lee, the author of the original.^[11]

On March 22, 2013,Marvel's editor-in-chiefAxel Alonso revealed toComic Book Resources thatWhat If...? was coming back withWhat If...?Avengers vs. X-Men, a four-issue limited series written byJimmy Palmiotti and illustrated byJorge Molina.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2014, Marvel released the five-issue seriesWhat If? Age ofUltron, which spun out of the2013 event and examined the consequences of Wolverine going back in time to kill Hank Pym before he created Ultron. Each issue explored what a new universe would be like which arose from the removal of another core Avenger, with the Wasp in #1, Iron Man in #2, Thor in #3 and Captain America in #4. The series was concluded in #5 with a world where Hank Pym never created Ultron in the first place and thus, a universe without Ultron's creation of the Vision.

In October 2015, Marvel released another five-part series of stories under theWhat If? banner, this time focused on the 2013 story line "Infinity", which saw the Avengers, theGuardians of the Galaxy, theInhumans and other groups dealing with a combined threat of a universal incursion by the race the Builders, and an attack on Earth byThanos and his forces. Each issue is a self-contained story, and the first four explore a different outcome to the event. The fifth,What If? Infinity: Dark Reign, presents a world in which Norman Osborn and theDark Avengers had acquired theInfinity Gauntlet during the 2008 - 09 "Dark Reign" story line.

• What If? Infinity: Thanos
• What If? Infinity: Inhumans
• What If? Infinity: X-Men
• What If? Infinity: Guardians Of The Galaxy
• What If? Infinity: Dark Reign

In October 2018, Marvel released six more one-shots under theWhat If? banner, as well as several $1.00True Believer reprints of classicWhat If? issues. These included stories where Peter Parker became the Punisher, where the X-Men existed in aCyberpunk universe, where Thor was raised by theFrost Giants instead of his brotherLoki being raised byOdin, and whereMagik was trained from a young age byStephen Strange rather than joining theNew Mutants.

• What If? Spider-Man Vol. 2 (2018)
• What If? X-Men Vol. 1 (2018)
• What If? The Punisher Vol. 1 (2018)
• What If? Ghost Rider Vol. 1 (2018)
• What If? Thor Vol. 1 (2018)
• What If? Magik Vol. 1 (2018)

In 2021, Marvel published a five-issue miniseries titledSpider-Man: Spider's Shadow, detailing what if Peter Parker fully accepted the alien symbiote and becameVenom. While it did not have the title ofWhat If?, it did have the branding on the cover.

In 2022, Marvel published a five-issue miniseries exploring what would happen ifMiles Morales had acquired the powers of different Marvel super-heroes. The first four issues saw him become Captain America, Wolverine, Hulk, and Thor, with the four divergent Miles meeting in the final issue. The issue "What If...? Miles Morales Became Thor" received criticism forracist dialogue and imagery from its white and Hispanic creative team.^[12][13]

In 2023, Marvel published six one-shots under the titleWhat If... Dark?, which revisited iconic Marvel stories with a darker twist.^[14]

• What If...? Dark: Loki #1:"What if Loki wielded Mjolnir?" (July 2023)
• What If...? Dark: Spider-Gwen #1:"What if Gwen Stacy didn't die on the bridge that day, but Spider-Man did?" (July 2023)
• What If...? Dark: Venom #1:"What If Ben Grimm became Venom?" (August 2023)
• What If...? Dark: Moon Knight #1:"What if Moon Knight did not survive his battle with Bushman?" (August 2023)
• What If...? Dark: Carnage #1:"What if Cortland Kasady became Carnage?" (September 2023)
• What If...? Dark: Tomb of Dracula #1:"What if Dracula transformed Blade into a vampire?" (August 2023)

In 2024, Marvel announced thatWhat If...? would move beyond solely the Marvel Universe to explore alternate takes on the continuities of other franchises owned by their parent companyThe Walt Disney Company, beginning withAliens: What If...?, based on theAlien franchise, the first five-issue arc of which would explore the scenario "What If... Carter Burke had lived?", exploring what would happen if the character ofCarter Burke had survived the events of the 1986 filmAliens, with the series to be written by the character's actorPaul Reiser, his son Leon Reiser, as well asAdam F. Goldberg,Brian Volk-Weiss, and Hans Rodionoff, with art by Guiu Vilanova.^[15]

In 2024, Marvel announced a five-issue miniseries exploring what would happen if the Venom symbiote had bonded with different Marvel super-heroes. Over the course of the run, the symbiote bonds with She-Hulk, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Loki, and Moon Knight in a single continuity.^[16]

From July 2024 to July 2025, Marvel published aWhat If...? series exploring what would happen if classic Disney characters had acquired the powers of different Marvel super-heroes.

• What if...? Donald Duck Became Wolverine #1:"Old Duck Donald" (July 2024)^[17]
• What If...? Donald Duck Became Thor #1: (September 2024)^[18]
• What If...? Minnie Became Captain Marvel #1:"The Awesome Origin of Minnie Captain Marvel!" (November 2024)^[19]
• What If...? Mickey & Friends Became the Fantastic Four #1: (January 2024)^[20]
• What If...? Mickey & Friends Became the Avengers #1: (March 2025)^[21]
• What If...? Donald Duck Became Iron Man #1: (May 2025)^[22]
• What If...? Goofy Became Spider-Man #1: (July 2025)^[23]

What If serves as inspiration for media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU):

• Thefourth season of the TV seriesAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. features a story arc loosely inspired by theWhat If series, with thefirst episode of it being named after the comic book series. Throughout the arc,Holden Radcliffe and his A.I. assistantAida develop a virtual world called the Framework, which depicts the lives of severalS.H.I.E.L.D. agents under drastically different circumstances.^[24]
• Aself-titled animated series based onWhat If depicts theWatcher (voiced byJeffrey Wright) observing events in the MCU multiverse occurring differently.^[25][26]

• Canon (fiction)
• Elseworlds
• Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
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• What The--?!
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• What If(vol. 1) at theGrand Comics Database
• What If (vol. 1) at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
• What If(vol. 2) at theGrand Comics Database
• What If (vol. 2) at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)

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