Greetings, Spidey fans! In case you haven’t heard, tomorrow will mark premier of the first episode of Marvel’s new animated series, “What If…?” on Disney+. It’s a show that’s going to explore the multiverse of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We know that Spider-Man will be showing up at some point as a zombie hunter sporting Doctor Strange’s cape.
I couldn’t tell you much more about Spidey’s appearance on the show other than that, but I’m excited to see more.The concept for alternate stories such as this have been a staple of Marvel Comics for a great many years, but “What If…?” itself dates back to 1977. I thought now might be the best time to take a look back at the first issue, which, of course, starred everyone’s favorite Web-Crawler!
The issues starts with an introduction from the Watcher as he explains the concepts of alternate realities to any possible new readers. As the book goes on, he’ll become the book’s reoccurring host, for lack of another term. The Watcher recounts how “The Amazing Spider-Man” #1 (Vol. 1, 1963) depicted Spider-Man attempting to join the Fantastic Four, only to be turned down and informed that it’s not a paying gig (Spider-Man was hard up for cash following the loss of his beloved Uncle Ben). As he left, the Invisible Woman called Spider-Man back, as opposed to the main Earth-616 continuity, where he simply continued on his way. Sue talks Reed into reconfiguring the budget to allow for some kind of pay for Spider-Man, and, in order to join, Spider-Man must unmask to the team, which he agrees to do.
The Fantastic Four officially unveil the change in their ranks, and announce themselves as the Fantastic Five, at a press conference.
J. Jonah Jameson is prepared to condemn for Spider-Man as a criminal for his actions (he saved John Jameson, JJJ’s son, in ASM#1, also), but Reed Richards informs JJJ that he cleared Spider-Man’s name with NASA. Without a leg to stand on for his baseless accusations, JJJ endorses Spider-Man and the former Fantastic Four’s decision.
With Spider-Man no longer branded a criminal, the Chameleon is forced to choose a different scheme (recall, Chameleon used Spider-Man’ false reputation as a criminal to impersonate and frame him for his crimes in ASM#1) and, thus, he fades into obscurity.
The team also makes short work of the Vulture; as part of a team, genius Peter Parker didn’t have to create a device to destabilize his wing apparatus.
The Fantastic Five also take care of the Red Ghost. Or, should I say, Four, as Reed’s rocket only fits four people, and Sue stays behind on monitor duty. Sue begins to feel useless with Spider-Man’s added presence, but continues to monitor anyway. While the other four are gone, Sue is contacted by Namor who soon kidnaps her, acting on orders from FF villain, the Puppet Master.
The rest of the Fantastic Five go to save their teammate and over the course of the battle, save Sue, free Namor from mental enslavement, and stop the Puppet Master (well, an octopus does it, but still). Perhaps it’s the Puppet Master that has the last laugh, however, for upon achieving victory, Sue decides to stay with Namor, effectively ending the Fantastic Five.
In order for Sue to breathe underwater, Namor uses a device at his disposal to allow for her to become more like an Atlantean. Unfortunately, Namor soon realizes his mistake: Sue can no longer breathe air as he does (Namor is a hybrid), and thus she won’t be returning to the team or the surface any time soon.
Spider-Man can’t help but feel responsible, yet Johnny tries to convince him that things would have turned out the way they did anyway, never dreaming just how wrong he is.
Things only get worse from here, as this Spider-Man eventually finds himself a casualty of the “Spider-Verse” crossover.
And with that maiden issue, “What If…?” became an added staple in Marvel lore. There are plenty of other Spider-Man themed issues that followed this one; which one is your favorite? And are you looking forward to the upcoming animated series? Let me know in the comments section below!
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Just a test, don’t expect this to work.
I was watching a recent YouTube video discussing What If stories, and they mentioned this issue and said that a recent Fantastic Four issue (in 2018) had Sue saying that the Sue/Namor infatuation was *always* one-sided (on Namor’s side), and that she was never interested in him. So this shows that Slott knows as little about the FF’s characters as he does about Spider-Man, since the Sue/Namor infatuation has been shown going both-ways for decades. Stan himself wrote it into the book – in FF #6 (?) Johnny found a photo of Namor under Sue’s bed.
And if I’m not mistaken, there was a sequel to this story in a later What If volume.
I was watching a recent YouTube video discussing What If stories, and they mentioned this issue and said that a recent Fantastic Four issue (in 2018) had Sue saying that the Sue/Namor infatuation was *always* one-sided (on Namor’s side), and that she was never interested in him. So this shows that Slott knows as little about the FF’s characters as he does about Spider-Man, since the Sue/Namor infatuation has been shown going both-ways for decades. Stan himself wrote it into the book – in FF #6 (?) Johnny found a photo of Namor under Sue’s bed.
And if I’m not mistaken, there was a sequel to this story in a later What If volume.
I was watching a recent YouTube video discussing What If stories, and they mentioned this issue and said that a recent Fantastic Four issue (in 2018) had Sue saying that the Sue/Namor infatuation was *always* one-sided (on Namor’s side), and that she was never interested in him. So this shows that Slott knows as little about the FF’s characters as he does about Spider-Man, since the Sue/Namor infatuation has been shown going both-ways for decades. Stan himself wrote it into the book – in FF #6 (?) Johnny found a photo of Namor under Sue’s bed.
And if I’m not mistaken, there was a sequel to this story in a later What If volume.
Thank you for this article, Bill. I’ve only read a few What If…?s over the years, and I cannot recall a single one where there was a “happy” ending. The last one I read (it’s been a while!) was the What If…? Back in Black tie-in, in which Mary Jane gets shot by the sniper instead of Aunt May, and Peter ends up killing the Kingpin.
Can you think of any What If…? endings that were happy? I’d love to hear about them. Otherwise, it gives a strong impression that Marvel wants us to believe that the 616 universe has unfolded in the best way imaginable.