History ArmedWithCanon / MarvelUniverse

** In ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' (following the conclusion of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan''), Peter mentions having an Creator/AynRand phase in college and getting into shouting matches with protesters, which was a jab at Creator/SteveDitko's fascination with UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}}.

** After Creator/MarkMillar turned ComicBook/IronMan into a fascist in ''Civil War'', many other writers have had their character walk up to Tony Stark and berate him for his actions. This may stop now that he's gotten his karmic comeuppance in ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' and ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008''.

** When John Byrne took over ''ComicBook/StarBrand'' back in TheEighties, he proceeded to launch one TakeThat after another at the departing figure of ousted Creator/MarvelComics editor-in-chief Creator/JimShooter. ''Star Brand'' was one of the Shooter-initiated ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse'' titles, and was the one that Shooter himself wrote personally. Byrne not only took ''ad hominem'' shots at Shooter personally, but had exposition characters [[LampshadeHanging hang lampshades]] on how implausible the events of Shooter's run was, and how [[IdiotBall stupid]] the protagonist Ken Connell had been. Early on in Byrne's run, Connell's girlfriend (a major cast member) got killed off; Connell later broke down and [[IJustWantToBeNormal tried to get rid of his powers]], destroying UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} (the hometown of both Connell and Shooter) in the process. This was referred to slightly in the ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfTheNewUniverse'' story "Tales of the Mulletverse".

** After Creator/MarkMillar turned ComicBook/IronMan into a fascist in ''Civil War'', many other writers have had their character walk up to Tony Stark and berate him for his actions. This may stop now that he's gotten his karmic comeuppance in ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' and ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''.

* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', ''seemed'' like it was going to do this ("X wasn't really X, just a Skrull impostor!") ''much'' more than it actually did. It didn't help that fans had high hopes that this explanation would be used to excuse the many characters they felt had been written out of character in ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'', or that many of the characters that ''were'' revealed to be Skrulls were not well received.

* Jason Aaron introduced a controversial retcon in the 2018 run of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' where ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' is revealed to actually be the son of Odin and a primeval incarnation of ThePhoenix, contradicting decades of official lore in which Thor's ''biological'' mother is the earth goddess Gaea and his ''adoptive'' mother is Odin's wife Freya. Creator/DonnyCates used his position as the author of ''ComicBook/Thor2020'' to retcon this away in the "God of Hammers" storyline, with Thor defeating a powerful enemy by calling on the aid of his mother in issue #22. Cue the earth itself rising up to form a vortex of whirling stone and magical energies that allow Thor to trap and contain his foe, with one of Thor's allies explaining to the confused Avengers that this phenomenon is a gift to Thor from his birth mother, Gaea. Aaron promptly fired back in issue #54 of his run on the Avengers, introducing a threat in the form of a dimension-traveling Dark Phoenix followed by an enslaved Thor whom she refers to as her "son", and with the current Phoenix-host Echo repeatedly telling Thor that he needs to accept that the Phoenix is his mother.[[note]]Aaron clarified later in Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1 that the Phoenix of that time is Thor's mother in only a symbolic sense; she convinced Gaea to give Odin a chance romantically and, at Thor's birth, breathed life back into him when Laufey turned the infant thunder god to ice.[[/note]]
* In ''ComicBook/TheSensationalSheHulk'' #36 by Crator/JohnByrne gives us a very literal case of this trope, as we are suddenly introduced to She-Hulk's extended family of brothers, sisters, in-laws, nephews, and nieces. She-Hulk, unamused, takes out the Master Edition of ''The ComicBook/OfficialHandbookOfTheMarvelUniverse'' and uses it to recap her known relatives up until then, noting that she's supposed to be an only child. She further adds that she doesn't want Marvel to build on the precedent set by her cousins the Hulk and Brawn. The extended family is promptly kicked out of the house and never heard from or acknowledged ever again.

* During the time Wolverine's son {{ComicBook/Daken}} and Daredevil's enemy Bullseye were members of the ComicBook/DarkAvengers, Daniel Way and Majorie Liu, writers of Daken's ongoing series ''Dark Wolverine'', tried to establish some sort of rivalry with a lot of sexual tension between the two, with Daken using his powers to manipulate Lester's emotions ForTheEvulz. Other writers decided to ignore it and wrote them as good friends with no rivaly or sexual tension whatsoever.

** When [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer Nick Spencer]] took over writing ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in 2018, the early issues had some noticeable potshots at former writer [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManDanSlott Dan Slott's]] portrayal of the character, with several characters even calling Peter out on irresponsible behavior made during Slott's run. Spencer's very first issue saw the long-awaited reunion of Peter and [[ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson Mary Jane]], with subsequent issues deconstructing their previous reasoning for not getting back together and [[{{Reconstruction}} ultimately refuting it.]] Unfortunately for Spencer, his efforts were for naught, as the two were immediately broken up again after Creator/ZebWells took over [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022 the comic]].

** Years ago, Eric Larsen had the ComicBook/SpiderMan villain ComicBook/DoctorOctopus deliver the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] a [[CurbStompBattle severe smackdown]] during the "Revenge of the Sinister Six" storyarc. In the story, "Doc Ock" was given [[AppliedPhlebotinum extremely powerful adamantium limbs]] which made him far more dangerous. Hulk writer Creator/PeterDavid accused Larsen of making a personal attack when he wrote that story and responded with a story written for the sole purpose of mocking Dr. Octopus. Larsen denied this, claiming he had used the Hulk to show how deadly Ock had become in a rather obvious demonstration of TheWorfEffect. (And it made sense; what better way to prove a villain has [[TookALevelInBadass Taken a Level in Badass]] than have him beat up the Hulk?)
*** This debate kicked up again years later in the letter-pages of ''ComicBook/TheSavageDragon'' where David wrote in to accuse Larsen of making a personal attack when he wrote the Spider-Man story. Larsen explained that since Doc Ock was using AppliedPhlebotinum in the story (he had much stronger adamantium limbs), it made sense to use the Hulk for the WorfEffect. David was not amused.

** Years ago, Eric Larsen had the ComicBook/SpiderMan villain [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Dr. Octopus]] deliver the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] a [[CurbStompBattle severe smackdown]] during the "Revenge of the Sinister Six" storyarc. In the story, "Doc Ock" was given [[AppliedPhlebotinum extremely powerful adamantium limbs]] which made him far more dangerous. Hulk writer Creator/PeterDavid accused Larsen of making a personal attack when he wrote that story and responded with a story written for the sole purpose of mocking Dr. Octopus. Larsen denied this, claiming he had used the Hulk to show how deadly Ock had become in a rather obvious demonstration of TheWorfEffect. (And it made sense; what better way to prove a villain has [[TookALevelInBadass Taken a Level in Badass]] than have him beat up the Hulk?)

** When [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer Nick Spencer]] took over writing ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in 2018, the early issues had some noticeable potshots at former writer [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManDanSlott Dan Slott's]] portrayal of the character, with several characters even calling Peter out on irresponsible behavior made during Slott's run. Spencer's very first issue saw the long-awaited reunion of Peter and [[ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson Mary Jane]], with subsequent issues deconstructing their previous reasoning for not getting back together and [[{{Reconstruction}} ultimately refuting it.]] Unfortunately for Spencer, his efforts were for naught, as the two were immediately broken up again]] when Creator/ZebWells [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022 took over]] and [[ExecutiveMeddling Spider-Man Editorial began to clamp down]].