Marvel Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of What If? With New Alternate Universe Stories

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Believe it or not, Marvel’s long-running What If? series turns 50 this year. That’s a lot of alternate universe superhero stories. But there’s still plenty more ground left to cover, as Marvel reveals a brand new batch of What If? comics publishing in Summer 2026.

There’s no particular unifying theme this time around. These What If? books stick to the classic formula, with each exploring realities where iconic Marvel storylines played out differently. For example, one of these issues is titled “What If… Cyclops Had Stayed With Madelyne Pryor?”, revealing a world where Cyclops never left his wife and child to reunite with the newly resurrected Jean Grey. For a lot of X-fans, Cyclops ditching his family remains a black mark on the character’s legacy even decades later, so we imagine there’s going to be a lot of interest in this story.

Other intriguing titles in this What If? lineup include “What If… Thor Got Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit?” and “What If… Cassandra Nova Killed Charles Xavier?” The full lineup is below:

• “What If… Cyclops Had Stayed With Madelyne Pryor?” by Gerry Duggan & Jan Bazuldua (June)
• “What If… Thor Got Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit?” by Torunn Grønbekk & Sergio Davila (June)
• “What If… The Ultimate Universe Surved Secret Wars?” by Alex Paknadel & CAFU (July)
• “What If… The Radioactive Spider Bit Jessica Jones?” by Justina Ireland & David Messina (July)
• “What If… Kraven Survived His Last Hunt?” by J.M. DeMatteis & Yildiray Cinar (July)
• “What If… Captain America Was Unfrozen in 2099?” by Marc Guggenheim & Ron Lim (August)
• “What If… The Runaways Hadn’t Run Away?” by Rainbow Rowell & Zulema Scotto Lavina (August)
• “What If… Cassandra Nova Killed Charles Xavier?” by Ashley Allen & Sumit Kumar (August)

This new What If? line kicks off with the release of What If… The Uncanny X-Men #1 on June 3 and continues through August. Which What If? concept intrigues you most? Let us know in the comments below.

In other Marvel news, the publisher recently revealed new details about two of its biggest 2026 storylines, Avengers: Armageddon and Queen in Black.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.