Marvel Reveals More Details and Cover Art for Final Three "What If?" 50th Anniversary One-Shots

Marvel has revealed new details and the full covers for the final trio of stories in their 50th Anniversary celebration of What If?

What's Happening:

• Marvel is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the debut of What If? with eight different one-shots this summer, telling new stories set in alternate realities where things go quite differently for familiar superheroes.
• The final three issues, debuting throughout August, are comprised of What If...? Captain America #1, What If...? Runaways #1, and What If...? X-Men #1.

• Hitting comic shops on August 5, What If...? Captain America #1 is written by Marc Guggenheim, with art by Ron Lim, and asks "What if...Captain America was revived in 2099?
• In the story, "Captain America’s time during World War II ended with him frozen in ice, out of commission for decades. In the 616, he was revived and joined with fellow heroes the Avengers. But what if he missed the Heroic Age altogether? What evils would rise without the Sentinel of Liberty?"

• Then, on August 19, What If...? Runaways #1 asks "What If...The Runaways hadn't run away?" in a story written by Rainbow Rowell with art by Zulema Scotto Lavina.
• Per Marvel, "Every year, a group of philanthropists gather for a charitable fundraiser…or so their children Alex Wilder, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes and Nico Minoru thought. When they discover their parents form the Pride, a sinister, sacrificial group that answers to a godly race called the Gibborim, the teens are terrified, shocked and…intrigued? Their destiny awaits, and there’s no running away."

• Lastly, August 26's What If...? X-Men #1 focuses on "What If...Cassandra Nova Killed Professor X?" Ashley Allen is the writer, with art by Sumit Kumar.
• In this one-shot, "In a world where Cassandra Nova killed Charles Xavier in the womb, telepaths are hunted and experimented on – and what she’s making from them is far worse than what she’s taking. But when telepaths Jean Grey and Emma Frost escape, Cassandra Nova will stop at nothing to bring them back! Bring on Cassandra’s X-Men!"

A Spin on an Old Favorite:

• As a big fan of the What If? concept in general, I'm especially excited by the Captain America story here. This is essentially a new spin on a terrific story from the original run of the What If? title, 1984's What If? #44, which asked the question "What If Captain America Were Not Revived Until Today?"
• That story found the lack of Captain America in the early Marvel Comics era (which is to say, the 1960s in real life, though the sliding scale of Marvel had already made that murky) having a huge ripple effect that included the Avengers quickly disbanding without Cap as their center and America eventually succumbing to a racist and fascist ideology encouraged by an imposter Captain America and Bucky who are embraced by the public while Steve Rogers is absent. When Steve does return, he works with a resistance that includes Spider-Man, Nick Fury and Sam Wilson to try and curtail what has happened to the country he loves.
• The idea of Steve missing even more time in this new 2099 story, skipping forward to a familiar future often featured in Marvel titles, sounds like a fun twist on the original story's concept. The question is, how much will it echo the path of the previous story or go in its own direction, as far as what society has become without Steve Rogers' presence?