There are certain elements in Marvel’s lore that will likely always be canon, like the Kree-Skrull War and the space flight that birthed the Fantastic Four. Yet other aspects of Marvel history have proven much more fluid, especially since Marvel Comics adopted a more relaxed approach to continuity around the year 2000.
Even before then, however, Marvel was no stranger to revisions, changes, and “untold stories.” Some changes have been small or the natural result of Marvel trying to set most of its stories in our “present.” Other historical alterations, however, have completely redefined certain stories, concepts, and characters as we once knew them.
10 Lockjaw Went From Being A Dog To A Man Turned Into A Dog Until That Was Revealed To Be A Joke
Lockjaw has long been the Inhuman Royal Family’s trusted dog companion. However, The Thing #3 by John Byrne, Ron Wilson, and Hilary Barta made the astonishing insinuation that Lockjaw had been a human Inhuman transformed into a dog by the Terrigen Mists, even having him talk to Quicksilver and the Thing.
Yet the retcon was overturned in X-Factor #71 by Peter David, Larry Stroman, and Al Milgrom, where a snickering Quicksilver told Multiple Man, who’d tried to speak with Lockjaw, that Gorgon and Karnak had simply played a prank on the Thing by making it look like Lockjaw had spoken.
9 Scott Summers’ Parents Were Revealed To Have Survived Their “Fatal” Plane Crash And His Father Became A Space Pirate
While early X-Men stories eventually established Cyclops as an orphan, little was known about his and Havok’s biological parents. Eventually, it was learned that Christopher and Katherine Summers supposedly perished in a plane accident.
The truth, however, was more complicated. In reality, Chris and Katherine Summers had survived, beamed aboard the Shi’ar starship that had attacked their plane. Katherine was sadly murdered shortly afterward, but Chris eventually escaped Shi’ar confinement and, with several fellow prisoners, became the space pirates known as the Starjammers. In time, Chris, then calling himself Corsair, reunited with Cyclops, but kept his identity secret from Scott early on to avoid traumatizing him.
8 Daredevil Learned His Mother Was Alive And A Nun And Also Learned His Memories Of His Father Were Suspect
Daredevil’s debut established that Matthew Murdock’s mother (originally unnamed) had died and portrayed Matt’s father, “Battling” Jack Murdock, as a largely positive role model. However, in Daredevil #191 by Frank Miller, Terry Austin, and Lynn Varley, Daredevil revealed his father had once struck the hero while Matt was still a child.
Later Daredevil stories seemingly confirmed this, and when Matt learned his mother lived and had become Sister Maggie, it was believed Jack’s abusiveness had driven her away. The Original Sin crossover turned this on its head, however, revealing Maggie had left because of the shame of physically lashing out at Jack.
7 Jean Grey Sacrificed Herself On The Moon, Until Readers Learned It Hadn’t Been Jean At All
"The Dark Phoenix Saga" ended with Jean Grey turning an alien weapon on herself so she would not become the Dark Phoenix again. For years, the consensus was that Jean had truly sacrificed her life, making her the first original X-Man to perish in battle.
However that all changed in The Avengers #263 by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer, when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes discovered a mysterious capsule in Jamaica Bay containing the real Jean Grey’s body. Subsequently, it was revealed that the “Jean” from "The Phoenix Saga" was actually the Phoenix Force, who had impersonated Jean while placing her in stasis to heal.
6 The 1950s And Late 1940s Captain America Was Retconned Into Being Multiple People
Originally, Steve Rogers and James Barnes had multiple adventures as Captain America and Bucky immediately after World War II, as well as in the 1950s. However, when Steve first appeared in The Avengers comic series, he claimed he and Bucky had not been active during those eras. Instead, he explained, Bucky had supposedly died in a plane explosion shortly before the war ended, while Steve had spent years frozen in suspended animation.
To accommodate the retcon, the post-World War II Cap became three separate individuals—William Naslund, Jeffrey Mace, and William Burnside—while Fred Davis and Jack Monroe replaced James Barnes as Bucky.
5 Tony Stark’s Biological Parents Were Changed From Howard And Maria Stark To Special Agents
Iron Man’s parentage, particularly his complicated relationship with his oft-distant father Howard, played a key role in molding Tony’s personality. Howard and Maria were likely the two biggest influences in shaping Tony as a human being.
However, “The Secret Origin Of Tony Stark” turned all of that on its head, revealing many decades later that Iron Man wasn’t born from the Starks at all. Shortly thereafter, Tony discovered who his actual biological parents were: musician Amanda Armstrong and a man only known as Jud, both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Tony soon met them both, forming a strong bond with Amanda.
4 Spider-Man And Mary Jane Watson Were Married Until Mephisto Retconned Their Marriage Away
Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson were one of Marvel’s most high-profile married couples, having wed in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 by David Michelinie, Paul Ryan, and Vince Colletta (with John Romita Sr. providing the cover). While a popular pairing among fans, certain creators felt that Peter Parker marrying a successful supermodel made him less relatable.
At any rate, the storyline “One More Day” undid the marriage by having Mephisto wipe it from existence, which Peter Parker and Mary Jane agreed to in order to save May Parker’s life. History changed so that the two still had been romantically involved all that time, but never married.
3 The Invaders Didn’t Become A Part Of Marvel Lore Until 1969
Captain America’s adventures with the Invaders has been a crucial part of the character’s history for some time. What’s surprising, however, was that the team was not created until decades after World War II and retroactively inserted into Cap’s history.
Funnily enough, issues of All-Winners Comics published in 1946 had shown Captain America and Bucky joining a very similar team, called the All-Winners Squad. While the team is still canon, Cap and Bucky were retconned into having been other people during that period, as continuity changes made it impossible for Steve Rogers and James Barnes to have been members then.
2 Weapon X Became Weapon Ten And Part Of The Much Larger Weapon Progam
While the Weapon X program had been revived various times in comics, it was generally believed to be a singular program ran by Department K. New X-Men #129 by Grant Morrison, Igor Kordey, and Dave McCaig, however, introduced a retcon that expanded the concept substantially. Fantomex revealed that the “X” was a Roman numeral, and that Weapon X was the tenth iteration of the Weapon Plus Program, which sought to create super-soldiers through various means. Captain America, Nuke, Man-Thing, and Luke Cage were all retroactively revealed to have been products of the program—Nuke, for instance, was Weapon VI.
1 S.H.I.E.L.D. Originally Was Founded After World War II, Until Its Origins Were Stretched Much, Much Further Back In Time
S.H.I.E.L.D. was originally a byproduct of the Cold War, with its debut being pushed back over time to adjust to Marvel’s sliding timescale. Yet Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver changed the organization forever by revealing that S.H.I.E.L.D. was only the latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of the Shield, a group whose origins dated back millennia. Interesting, the Brotherhood’s members included not just Marvel characters, but several real-world historical figures, such as Imhotep, Archimedes, and most famously, Leonardo da Vinci, who later appeared in the modern-day Marvel Universe via time travel.
0 Comments