Alternate realities have always played a large part in comic storytelling. It gives writers a chance to try something wildly different with the characters without the lasting repercussions that a change to continuity might entail. It also allows the fans a chance to experience their favorite hero or villain in a role that they might not be used to, or even one they enjoy.

Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia’s new series X-Treme X-Men feature a cast of characters that are strangers to Marvel’s mainstream reality (616) and are teamed with Dazzler to further explore even more alternate realities. Yes, Dazzler. And a disembodied floating Charles Xavier head along with kick ass alternate versions of Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Nightcrawler tasked with destroying evil alternate versions of Charles Xavier. That’s a great premise with or without Dazzler, who might be at her least lame stage in life thanks to Pak.

After reading the first issue I started thinking about all the different universes we’ve seen throughout various storylines and companywide events, and this list is the culmination of that curiosity. In an alternate reality I may have chosen not to write the list, instead choosing to vacation on a beautiful beach with a scantily clad and sexually adventurous lingerie model. But alas, this is not that reality.

So let’s take a look at my Top 5 Alternate X-Realities, in no particular order.

Age of Apocalypse (Earth 295)

AOA came about when David Haller AKA Legion traveled back in time to kill Magneto in order to help bring about his father’s (Charles Xavier) dream of human and mutant co-existence. Unfortunately he begins a lifetime of failure by killing Professor X, who sacrificed himself to save his friend Magneto. These actions spawned a reality that developed without the guidance of Xavier, and eventually fell under the boot heel of Apocalypse, an eternally evil mutant. Humanity is a decimated race, enslaved by the mutant population. It’s one of the bleakest alternate realities on the list, but also one that leaves a lasting impression. AOA took over every X-title of the 90’s (which there were a lot of) and gave us a look at these characters in ways we had never seen before. This generally involved costumes with too many pouches and a lot of bad hair… Even for the 90’s.

Major Differences from the Mainstream

• Magneto led the X-Men and was married to Rogue, and had a child named Charles.
• Cyclops (in more than just name) worked for Mr. Sinister, while Jean Grey and Weapon X (a one handed Logan) were finally together, but separate from the X-Men.
• Sunfire and Morph were cool for the first time in X-history.
• Sabretooth was a valued member of the X-Men, and father figure to Blink, who might be considered the breakout star of the AOA.
• Cable was reimagined as Nate Grey; a young, legitimate test tube baby created by Sinister, with all the Summers/Grey potential, and none of the techno-organic virus that plagued Cable.
• The humans of the world formed resistance groups, generally consisting of some well-known Marvel Universe characters like Susan Storm, Victor Von Doom, Gwen Stacy, Tony Stark, etc.

Contributions to Marvel 616
Nate Grey, Dark Beast, Holocaust, and Sugar Man were all initial escapees from the universe, with the AOA Nightcrawler arriving much later and even joining Wolverine’s X-Force team. Sabretooth & Blink also feature heavily out of the universe, but we’ll talk more about them later.

Age of X (Divergent Reality)

Yet another reality created at the hands of Legion (kind of), this one saw a decimated mutant population fighting for survival against the human race that sought to execute every last one of them, and nearly succeeded. Barricading themselves behind a force wall held up by 5 powerful telekinetics, the remaining mutants live out their lives day by day fighting for the sanctity of Fortress X. Led by Magneto (a common theme for any X-Reality), these X-Men are a weary and depressing look at what might happen to their relationships and characters given the apocalyptic scenario that faces them. Various themes from the Age of Apocalypse storyline are evident here, and it’s clear the two storylines are linked, even though they are polar opposites of each other.

Major Differences from the Mainstream

• Magneto leads the X-Men, which is no surprise.
• Xavier is comatose.
• The X-Men’s dream of human/mutant co-existence has never been further from realization.
• Cyclops is named Basilisk, and wears a protective visor to harness his optic blasts because his eyelids were removed surgically. He is one of the more tragic characters in the Age of X, having been forced to execute fellow mutants (including his brother, Havok) by the humans who controlled his visor.
• Rogue is known as Legacy, and is tasked with absorbing the dying essences of her fellow mutants, in order to properly store their powers and memories.
• Relationships are vastly different, as Psylocke is with Iceman, Namor is with Storm, and the above mentioned Basilisk is with Joanna Cargill (Frenzy).
• Turns the idea of the 616 Utopia, a safe haven for Mutants, into Fortress X, the last bastion for all mutant kind.
• The Avengers are put together to take out the X-Men, with most of the casualties in the war coming from the battle hardened team of human heroes.

Contributions to Marvel 616
All those involved are left with memories from Age of X, which leads to certain personality changes, most notably with Joanna Cargill. Legion seems to be more in control of his various personalities, despite a few of them retaining physical form in the 616. One of the biggest left overs of the reality change would be the restoration of Chamber’s powers and body deformations, as well as the further development of Rogue and Magneto’s relationship.

House of M (Earth 58163)

“No More Mutants.” Never have three words devastated the X-Men like they did in that one moment. Scarlet Witch cast a sentence on the mutant population, nearly causing their extinction. Wanda had just finished ruining The Avengers during “Disassembled’, and the X-Men and New Avengers met to discuss the best way to deal with Wanda. This led to Wanda using her reality altering powers, along with some not-so-subtle manipulations by her brother Quicksilver, to create a new reality. A reality in which their father, Magneto, had united the mutant population and the entire world under his control. It was also a reality where everybody was supposed to get their hearts desire, but things like that never work out. Again, it was a great time to showcase altered costumes, but it really dove into the heart of the characters more than the previous realities we discussed. And it left the world of the X-Men reeling after Wanda’s three powerful words.

Major Differences from the Mainstream

• Xavier is once again missing, this time (presumed) dead.
• Magneto’s dream of Mutant Dominance is in full force.
• Luke Cage leads the Human Resistance Movement, full of various non-mutant Marvel heroes.
• Various mutants shine in positions of power, while the humans are considered the lower caste in society. For instance S.H.I.E.L.D. is run by Sebastian Shaw and staffed by various members of the mutant community, including Wolverine and Mystique, who are in a relationship.
• While not an X-Man it’s important to note Spider-Man’s life has probably never been brighter, as his family is full and his loved ones are alive and by his side. This is because the general populace believes him to be a mutant.

Contributions to Marvel 616
The biggest contribution to the mainstream reality is without a doubt the decimation of the mutant population, dropping from millions to just 198 left with powers. Layla Miller was brought into the main reality after being created (There’s conflicting information on this) in the House of M by Wanda. Wolverine is left with all of his memories from his time before Weapon X. It also brought Hawkeye, a casualty of ‘Disassembled’, back to life in mainstream 616.

Mutant X (Earth 1298)

This is not the horrible TV show that went by the same name, I assure you. This may be my favorite reality off the list, which has everything nothing to do with my weird nerd love of Havok, Cyclops’ younger brother. Maybe I like underdogs, I don’t know. Anyway, Havok is killed in 616, but his psyche is actually transported across dimensions where it lands in the body of another recently deceased Alex Summers. This makes sense to any fan of comics. Pretty much every little decision made in this universe went the other way in the mainstream universe. Mutant X had some of the best variations on established characters while grounding it in the reality of the 616 universe.

Major Differences from the Mainstream

• Cyclops was abducted by the Sh’iar along with his parents, leaving only Alex behind to eventually lead the X-Men, and eventually The Six.
• Madelyne Pryor is married to Havok, and they have a child named Scotty, who has Elektra as a nanny.
• Storm’s run in with Dracula is not cured in time, turning her into Bloodstorm.
• Hank McCoy’s transformation differs slightly resulting in a reptilian appearance and a reduced intelligence as the Brute.
• Iceman’s power increase by Loki remains permanent, forcing him to wear a control belt to regulate his powers, but leaving him unable to touch anything without it.
• Angel’s transformation at the hands of Apocalypse differs slightly, with Warren receiving bat like wings instead of metal ones and generally being more demon like, taking the name the Fallen.
• Magneto leads the X-Men after Havok leaves, which is par for the course in any good alternate reality.
• Many heroes are actually villains, such as Professor Xavier, Nick Fury (and all of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Reed Richards. In turn, Apocalypse and Doctor Doom are heroes.

Contributions to Marvel 616
Just one. Havok is returned to the 616 along with the consciousness of the evil Alex Summers from the Mutant X reality riding along in his body. The Exiles (Again, we’ll talk about them later) arrived to remove the consciousness and set everything right in the 616 universe.

X-Men Forever (Earth 161)

And finally we get to the strangest alternate reality on the list. But let’s jump back a little bit. In 1991 Chris Claremont and Jim Lee created one of the highest selling comics of all time, X-Men #1. Claremont had been writing X-Men for 17 years before this moment, and had basically crafted the team, the members, and their personalities that we still look to today. All that changed in 1991 when Claremont left X-Men after some debate with editor Bob Harras on the direction of the series. X-Men Forever has Claremont revisiting the X-Men and continuing the story he had originally planned for the series after X-Men #3. It’s a story that takes a seriously different turn then the actual mainstream universe, made all the more strange by the fact that it should have been the main reality if Claremont had remained on with the title.

Main Differences from the Mainstream

• Wolverine is killed by Perfect Storm, an evil version of the original Storm, but not before grafting one of his claws into Shadowcat. Yeah, it’s strange. Also an adolescent version of Storm is around as well.
• Jean & Cyclops separate due to her affair with Logan before he died.
• Gambit’s name is Remy Picard, not LeBeau, as well as various cosmetic and personality changes for the entire team of X-Men.
• Nick Fury lives at the mansion as a liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men
• Rogue ends up switching powers with Nightcrawler
• Sabretooth is a member of the X-Men, who has vowed to kill Perfect Storm to avenge his son’s (Logan) murder. This is another divergent, as Sabretooth and Logan are not Father and Son in the 616 universe.
• Beast, Black Panther, and Iron Man all end up dying throughout the storyline.

Contributions to Marvel 616
None. The two realities are completely separate with no crossovers or consistent characters.

 
Honorable Mentions

The Ultimate Universe (Earth 1610)

Only a year ago I wouldn’t have considered this another reality so much as a different Marvel imprint, like Marvel MAX or Epic Comics. But with the recent Spider-Men mini-series featuring a crossover between 616 Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales) it firmly places the Ultimate Universe under the Marvel Universe imprint as an alternate reality.

Exiles (Multiverse)

This can be considered the parents of Pak’s X-Treme X-Men, as it featured a group of alternate reality versions of Marvel characters tasked with fixing mends in the Multiverse. This is where Blink and Sabretooth from the AOA universe come in. Both were members of the team and visited multiple realities that varied greatly from the 616 universe. Some of these realities are great examples of the different types of universes the Marvel U has within it.

What If? (Multiverse)

And the parent of Exiles has to be What If?, a series that asked the tough questions about key moments in the Marvel 616. What would happen if (a) never met (b) and therefore (c) never existed? That sort of question brought us a long series that offered many different scenarios and ran for a long time covering the scope of the alternate Marvel realities. Too many alternate realities to list here, but maybe another time…