X-Men: What the Age Of Apocalypse Could Have Been Without Xavier OR Magneto – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Marvel's What If revealed an even darker version of the Age of Apocalypse with its depiction of a world devoid of both Charles Xavier and Magneto.

The original "Age of Apocalypse" storyline was jumpstarted by Legion, the powerful but unstable son of Charles Xavier, venturing into the past on a mission to kill Magneto. Reasoning that doing so would allow his father to create a peaceful utopia uncontested, Legion's efforts instead resulted in the premature death of Xavier -- setting up Magneto to lead a ragtag bunch of freedom fighters against a more aggressive Apocalypse.

But in one reality -- as shown in 2007's What If? X-Men: Age of Apocalypse by Rick Remember, Dave Wilkins, Anthony Washington and Nate Piekos -- things could have gone even worse for the world.

In this reality, the temporal assault Legion attempted resulted in many more deaths than the young mutant intended -- with a mysterious blast of energy resulting in his demise as well as the deaths of both Xavier, Magneto, and scores of civilians. A fully terrified humanity united against mutants, with camps erected and protected by Sentinels to contain the mutant race. With neither Xavier or Magneto around to rally mutants, things turned for the innocent mutants all around the world. While non-mutant heroes became popular and a handful of mutants went into hiding within the Savage Land, Apocayplse bided his time and raised an army in secret.

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Eventually, the villain staged a massive and sudden assault that resulted in the deaths of almost every hero (such as most of the Fantastic Four, who were wiped out after refusing to become Apocayplse's horsemen) while what few survivors were left (such as Namor) were forced to serve under the rule of Apocalypse. Two of the mutants to escape to the Savage Land were Scott Summers and Jean Grey, who got to spend years together raising their son, Nathan. When the forces of Apocalypse finally reached the Savage Land though, Nate's parents were killed in the assault. Nate was only saved by the efforts of their friend, Sauron, who took him to a handful of remaining allies who'd been waiting for Nate, as the now-deceased Doctor Strange believed him to be the one being capable of beating Apocalypse.

Brought to the ruins of New York by Sauron's ally Wolverine, Nate meets the rest of the resistance, known as the Defenders. Led by the new Sorceror Supreme Brother Voodoo, the handful of other remaining heroes -- a Mjolnir wielding Captain America, Brian Braddock clad in an Iron Man suit, a mechanically enhanced Thing, Wolverine, Sauron, Colossus, and Molecule Man -- were the last line of defense against the rule of Apocalypse. Notably, Brother Voodoo refused to allow Nate to try and alter the past in honor of Stephen Strange's final fears about breaking the timeline -- and instead led the group in a massive attack against the ancient villain.

Approaching his fortress and fending off attacks from a horde of symbiote Spider-Men, the battle took a dark turn upon the arrival of Holocaust, resulting in the deaths of Thing, Sauron, and Colossus. The Defenders barely escaped by venturing into Dormamu's realm. But Brother Voodoo was forced to stay behind to cover their exit from the Dark Dimension, and Nathan stole the Eye of Agamotto so it could be further used in battle, dooming Voodoo. The remaining Defenders made quick work of this world's Horsemen -- Namor, Storm, Juggernaut, and Hulk -- at the cost of Brian Braddock's life. Finally confronting Apocayplse, Nathan and Molecule Man were able to destroy the tyrant.

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But Nathan's full plan -- to use Apocayplse's armor and the Eye of Agamotto to venture into the past and save everyone -- results in the demise of the Molecule Man. Captain America was forced to unleash a massive blast of lighting to stop Nathan from becoming "another tyrant" in his efforts to save a broken world. The blast killed Nathan and moved through the now open time portal -- becoming the unstoppable blast of energy that killed Xavier, Magneto, and Legion so many years ago and doomed this world.

In the end, only Wolverine and Captain America survive the battle, setting out afterward to explore the wreckage of the world. This is a reality where everything fell apart for the heroes due in part to the brutal methods they had to embrace to just survive, and Nathan Summers only made things worse in his attempts to fix everything. It's a word so dark, that even Captain America ends up giving in to more grisly solutions to their problems. It's proof that while the original Age of Apocalypsepainted the picture of a horrific world, the alternative could have been even worse.

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X-Men: What the Age Of Apocalypse Could Have Been Without Xavier OR Magneto - CBR - Comic Book Resources