History AudienceAlienatingEra / MarvelUniverse

* Creator/JasonAaron's run was one of the most unpopular runs yet. His characterization of many characters was questionable at best, and completely contradictory at worst. Robbie Reyes being the worst offender, going from a tragic and complex loner to jobbing PluckyComicRelief. His stories constantly tried to change established canon for the sake of leaving a mark, tons of gimmick-based plots occurred, and most stories relied on characters being written completely out of character for shock value. It says something when most concurrent books ignored the book's changes or outright ''mocked'' them.

** ''ComicBook/TheGatherersSaga'' is considered a massive A.A.in E. for the Avengers, with it being the era when the team was filled with C and D listers, anchored only by Captain America and Vision. Black Widow (who had been floundering in limbo at the time save for random guest spots in Daredevil) officially joined the team full time during this period, but this was during the period that Natasha was strictly D-List fodder. It's also during the period when the team wore matching brown jackets and had been officially overtaken by X-Men as THE team book of the Marvel Universe, not to mention with Avengers West Coast having a proper classic Avengers roster. The fact that it wasn't republished in a collected format until 2021, almost 30 years later, didn't help its reputation. (To be fair, the stretched-out length of the story didn't help make collecting it easy.)
** ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' is the last Avengers crossover before the ''Onslaught'' event and their relaunch in ''Heroes Reborn''. This story is infamous for "revealing" that Tony Stark was in the thrall of Kang since the Avengers first fought him and killing people, introducing Teen Tony, Mantis joining with Kang, and Wasp becoming a mutated wasp-like creature. The sad thing is that the whole point of the saga was to finish a previous Audience-Alienating Era, the one where the Avengers all used brown jackets and became more aggressive; ''The Crossing'' retconned Deathcry into a young Shi'Ar whose extreme warrior view were a facade to protect herself, Vision had recently recovered his feelings and tried to rekindle his relationship with Wanda, Kang's "sons" Tobias and Malachi were going to be Vision and Wanda's lost sons, the Wasp's transformation was a way to bring her back from retirement, etc. The problem was that the story and following issues left multiple plot threads [[LeftHanging unresolved]], with ''Onslaught'' ensuring that they would be ignored. Not only did this do little to solve the problems the story was supposed to fix, but it created new, ''bigger'' problems that took ''four separate story lines and several years'' to finally fix. The whole thing was especially irritating for ''ComicBook/IronMan'' fans, following a solid run by Len Kaminski that had set Tony up to be an active do-gooder both as Iron Man and as head of Stark Enterprises. Then Terry Kavanagh comes in and scrap all that for an ill-received FaceHeelTurn. And bear in mind, Kavanagh was also the guy who pitched ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''. Kaminski has since [[https://www.cbr.com/iron-man-teen-tony-stark-quit/ revealed this story is exactly why he left]] as [[ExecutiveMeddling it was insisted upon by editorial mandate]] and he refused to be part of a story that'd ruin Iron Man, so chose to bolt rather than be MisBlamed for it.

** There was a period in the early '90s when ComicBook/TheAvengers were all wearing [[CivvieSpandex matching leather bomber jackets]]. It gave the team a unified look, but when you've got the Black Knight wearing the jacket over chain mail, or Sersi wearing it over her green one-piece-bathing-suit outfit, it looks really weird. Some images from this period: [[https://comicvine.gamespott.com/a/uploads/scale_large/8/84205/3688860-1856073-marvel_avengers_357.jpg Avengers (Vol. 1) #357 (1992)]]; [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_large/8/84205/3690704-%24_57.jpg Avengers #362 (1993)]]; [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/the-avengers-373-armageddon/4000-38935/ Avengers #373 (1994)]].

* Pictured above, and similar to the Cable example ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} has had an infamous aesthetic period in his history: in his [[ComicBook/Wolverine1988 solo book]] before the ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' Saga, after being captured by the villain Genesis and undergoing a failed attempt to re-bond adamantium to his skeleton, Logan regressed into a more feral, animalistic state... and seemingly lost his nose in the process.

** There has been some In-Universe acknowledgement of this time: in 2019 mini-series ''[[ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX House of X]]'', a certain character, in an alternate reality, ponders about a "lost decade" for mutants, and the accompanying image is the ''[[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen Phoenix Five]]''.

* Pictured above, and similar to Cable below, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} has an infamous aesthetic period in his history: before the ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' Saga, after being captured by the villain Genesis and undergoing a failed attempt to re-bond adamantium to his skeleton, Logan regressed into a more feral, animalistic state... and seemingly lost his nose in the process.

** ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' is the last Avengers crossover before the ''Onslaught'' event and their relaunch in ''Heroes Reborn''. This story is infamous for "revealing" that Tony Stark was in the thrall of Kang since the Avengers first fought him and killing people, introducing Teen Tony, Mantis joining with Kang, and Wasp becoming a mutated wasp-like creature. The sad thing is that the whole point of the saga was to finish a previous Audience-Alienating Era, the one where the Avengers all used brown jackets and became more aggressive; The Crossing retconned Deathcry into a young Shi'Ar whose extreme warrior viewsnt thr were a facade to protect herself, Vision had recently recovered his feelings and tried to rekindle his relationship to Wandwith, Kang's "sons" Tobias and Malachi were going to be Vision and Wanda's lost sons, the Wasp's transformation was a way to bring her back from retirement, etc. The problem was that the stnd ory and following issues left so many stuff LeftHanging and it wasn't solved due to Onslaught turning a new page. Not only did this do little to solve the problems it was supposed to fix, ''but created new, bigger problems'' that took ''four separate story lines and several years'' to finally fix. The whole thing was especially irritating for ''ComicBook/IronMan'' fans, following a solid run by Len Kaminski that had set Tony up to be an active do-gooder both as Iron Man and as head of Stark Enterprises. Then Terry Kavanagh comes in and scrap all that for an ill-received FaceHeelTurn. And bear in mind, Kavanagh was also the guy who pitched ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''. Kaminski has since [[https://www.cbr.com/iron-man-teen-tony-stark-quit/ revealed this story is exactly why he left]] as [[ExecutiveMeddling it was insisted upon by editorial mandate]] and he refused to be part of a story that'd ruin Iron Man, so chose to bolt rather than be MisBlamed for it.

** Jason Aaron's run was one of the most unpopular runs yet. His characterization of many characters was questionable at best, and completely contradictory at worst. Robbie Reyes being the worst offender, going from a tragic and complex loner to jobbing PluckyComicRelief. His stories constantly tried to change established canon for the sake of leaving a mark, tons of gimmick-based plots occurred, and most stories relied on characters being written completely out of character for shock value. It says something when most concurrent books ignored the book's changes or outright ''mocked'' them.

** There was a period in the early '90s when ComicBook/TheAvengers were all wearing [[CivvieSpandex matching leather bomber jackets]]. It gave the team a unified look, but when you've got the Black Knight wearing the jacket over chain mail, or Sersi wearing it over her green one-piece-bathing-suit outfit, it looks really weird. Some images from this period: [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_large/8/84205/3688860-1856073-marvel_avengers_357.jpg Avengers (Vol. 1) #357 (1992)]]; [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_large/8/84205/3690704-%24_57.jpg Avengers #362 (1993)]]; [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/the-avengers-373-armageddon/4000-38935/ Avengers #373 (1994)]].
** ''ComicBook/TheGatherersSaga'' is considered a massive A.A.E. for the Avengers, with it being the era when the team was filled with C and D listers, anchored only by Captain America and Vision. Black Widow (who had been floundering in limbo at the time save for random guest spots in Daredevil) officially joined the team full time during this period, but this was during the period that Natasha was strictly D-List fodder. It's also during the period when the team wore matching brown jackets and had been officially overtaken by X-Men as THE team book of the Marvel Universe, not to mention with Avengers West Coast having a proper classic Avengers roster. The fact that it wasn't republished in a collected format until 2021, almost 30 years later, didn't help its reputation. (To be fair, the stretched-out length of the story didn't help make collecting it easy.)
** ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' is the last Avengers crossover before the ''Onslaught'' event and their relaunch in ''Heroes Reborn''. This story is infamous for "revealing" that Tony Stark was in the thrall of Kang since the Avengers first fought him and killing people, introducing Teen Tony, Mantis joining with Kang, and Wasp becoming a mutated wasp-like creature. The sad thing is that the whole point of the saga was to finish a previous Audience-Alienating Era, the one where the Avengers all used brown jackets and became more aggressive; The Crossing retconned Deathcry into a young Shi'Ar whose extreme warrior views were a facade to protect herself, Vision had recently recovered his feelings and tried to rekindle his relationship to Wanda, Kang's "sons" Tobias and Malachi were going to be Vision and Wanda's lost sons, the Wasp's transformation was a way to bring her back from retirement, etc. The problem was that the story and following issues left so many stuff LeftHanging and it wasn't solved due to Onslaught turning a new page. Not only did this do little to solve the problems it was supposed to fix, ''but created new, bigger problems'' that took ''four separate story lines and several years'' to finally fix. The whole thing was especially irritating for ''ComicBook/IronMan'' fans, following a solid run by Len Kaminski that had set Tony up to be an active do-gooder both as Iron Man and as head of Stark Enterprises. Then Terry Kavanagh comes in and scrap all that for an ill-received FaceHeelTurn. And bear in mind, Kavanagh was also the guy who pitched ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''. Kaminski has since [[https://www.cbr.com/iron-man-teen-tony-stark-quit/ revealed this story is exactly why he left]] as [[ExecutiveMeddling it was insisted upon by editorial mandate]] and he refused to be part of a story that'd ruin Iron Man, so chose to bolt rather than be MisBlamed for it.

* ''ComicBook/TheEternal'', a 2003 Creator/MarvelMAX series written by Creator/ChuckAusten, is an AlternateContinuity tale that takes the concept of the [[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternals]] to a very bleak place, changing almost everything and abandoning the familiar characters. These Eternals are ancient immortal men who travel to primitive worlds on behalf of the Celestials, using the local inhabitants for slave labor. When they reach Earth in the days of ape men, they decide that with a bit of genetic tinkering [[MarsNeedsWomen human women are sexy]], leading to lots of enthusiastic sex (plus some uncomfortable scenes with the villain, who uses humans as disposable sex toys. Some other Eternals disapprove, but make no effort to stop him). At some point ''after'' the sex starts, the women are further modified to gain intelligence and speech as well. The QuestionableConsent and SexSlave aspects make protagonist Ikaeden very hard to root for, and the series doesn't really try to dwell on them. The Fanservice nudity and {{squick}} combines especially badly with those elements. It wasn't a commercial or critical success, and its alternate continuity was never really mentioned again. With the Film/{{Eternals}} film boosting the characters popularity, every other Eternals series has been reprinted or digitally republished. ''The Eternal'' hasn't.
* Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's four-year run on ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' is poorly regarded by longtime fans of Marvel's cosmic setting, and is considered to be symptomatic of Marvel's push for greater corporate synergy in the 2010s. This fourth volume of the book represented a significant overhaul -- the comic's unique aesthetic was dropped in favour of a sleek "Avengers in space" feel, the characters were made to be more like their cinematic counterparts, and the team was shoehorned into Earth-based crossovers such as ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' and ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire''. Bendis is known for his tendency to disregard established continuity, though another possible factor, which ''Bendis himself'' implied in his farewell letter in the final issue, is that he demanded the title so that he'd benefit from the wave of interest in the Guardians following their [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 MCU debut]]. At one point, Bendis defended his creative decisions by saying he wanted to show his respect for the beloved Abnett and Lanning era by not trying to imitate it, but this still didn't quite justify the extent of the changes he made with regards to things like character, setting and tone. The tie-in to ''ComicBook/OriginalSin'' is considered to be the ultimate low point of Bendis's run due to its direct contradiction of large swathes of the ending of ''ComicBook/TheThanosImperative''[[note]]such as indicating that the return of Death was ''only'' for that brief period She was present (rendering much if not all of the event pointless), and changing Richard Rider to have always loved Gamora, ignoring his actual love interest[[/note]] and having inconsistently spelled character names among other issues. [[note]]The ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/TheBlackVortex'' may or may not have turned this into Canon Discontinuity as well depending on how one interprets the images the Black Vortex shows the new Nova.[[/note]] While Gerry Duggan's subsequent tenure on the book was seen as an improvement, the title was eventually redeemed in the eyes of the fans thanks to [[ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2019 the efforts of]] Creator/DonnyCates.

* The 1989 series ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'', despite being ComicBook/MoonKnight's longest running book to date at 60 issues, is also one of his most obscure and least referenced for this reason. The book was mired in the worst elements of MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicbooks and involved a plot about Marc, Frenchie, and Marc's [[ComicbookDeath not-quite-dead]] brother being descendants of the Knights Templar and involved in a conspiracy involving two warring groups of immortal demons fighting each other for [[VaguenessIsComing unclear reasons.]] Subsequent writers tended to ignore this story entirely. It did not help that this story was the final arc of the book and ended with an abrupt death of Moon Knight himself in #60 (March, 1994), just as he was trying to get some answers. When he was mysteriously resurrected in 1998, he was unaware of what had happened to him and had seemingly forgotten the events leading to his death.
* ''ComicBook/MoonKnight2011'': Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's short lived run on the book. [[SpiritAdvisor Khonshu]] is suddenly replaced by Marc having visions of Comicbook/CaptainAmerica, Comicbook/SpiderMan and Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}, Marc trying to mimic other superheroes, and a nonsensical plot involving Ultron's disembodied head that went [[AbortedArc nowhere]][[note]]The plot line involving the head was intended to serve as a tie in to Comicbook/AgeOfUltron, a Bendis helmed crossover event, but due to the event being postponed to make room for Comicbook/AvengersVsXMen any sort of connection the two books might have had would be lost on the reader, so the tie-in material was hastily written out, leaving readers scratching their heads as to the plots inclusion.[[/note]]. Ironically, the run was actually the first to fully canonize the idea of Marc having DID, which would become a foundational part of the character under later writers.

Like its [[Franchise/TheDCU distinguished competition]], Franchise/MarvelUniverse has too gotten its fair share of negative periods.

* The 1989 series ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'', despite being ComicBook/MoonKnight's longest running book to date at 60 issues, is also one of his most obscure and least referenced for this reason. The book was mired in the worst elements of UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicbooks and involved a plot about Marc, Frenchie, and Marc's [[ComicbookDeath not-quite-dead]] brother being descendants of the Knights Templar and involved in a conspiracy involving two warring groups of immortal demons fighting each other for [[VaguenessIsComing unclear reasons.]] Subsequent writers tended to ignore this story entirely. It did not help that this story was the final arc of the book and ended with an abrupt death of Moon Knight himself in #60 (March, 1994), just as he was trying to get some answers. When he was mysteriously resurrected in 1998, he was unaware of what had happened to him and had seemingly forgotten the events leading to his death.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' had its period in the '90s during [[ComicBook/FantasticFour1961 Tom DeFalco's run]]. Several changes occurred during this time that the readers hated, such as ComicBook/MisterFantastic getting killed off, the [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour Human Torch's]] marriage to Alicia Masters getting retconned into having Alicia be a Skrull the whole time, ComicBook/{{the Thing}} getting his face mutilated by ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] the ComicBook/InvisibleWoman switching to a {{Stripperific}} outfit.

* Likewise Franken-Castle will be remembered fondly as a brief period of lunacy in Frank's life. There's no way the powers that be intended for a magic/SCIENCE half-robot Frankenstein's Monster Punisher to be a new cutting edge status quo. Even in the Heroic Age. These days Franken-Castle exists only as an AU Punisher from a MonsterMash universe. He is part of the Avengers there (which also include monster forms of other heroes who had them in the mainstream 'verse in the past, like werewolf Captain America - see below - and vampire Wolverine). They only appeared briefly to tangle with the regular New Avengers and were offed unceremoniously.
* John Ostrander's oft-forgotten run, a part of the short-lived Marvel Edge imprint (made up of "leftover" books that had been left out of other lines after a corporate restructure),[[labelnote:Explanation]]At the time, Marvel had undergone "the Marvelution", a restructuring to try and make the company more self-reliant and fix a financial bind it had gotten into. As part of this, the overall editor-in-chief position was discontinued and the comics were divided into five lines, each with their own editor-in-chief: one for ''Spider-Man'' books, one for ''X-Men'' books, Marvel Classic for books like ''The Avengers'' and ''The Fantastic Four'', General Entertainment for licensed comics, and Marvel Edge for the rest: Daredevil, The Punisher, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and the Hulk[[/labelnote]] had Frank become the head of a Mafia family after they faked his death row execution for killing Nick Fury, having been tricked into thinking he was somehow responsible for the death of his family. Then things turned into an ''X-Men'' story that happened to star the Punisher, with Frank being roped into helping X-Cutioner and S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue an activist from the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front (here a false flag group backed by Humanity's Last Stand). The final issue had Frank incur amnesia, leading to the aforementioned ''Purgatory''. Ostrander killing off some well-liked characters doesn't help.

** Another thing about the Red Hulk that made him essentially a walking A.A.E. for a time was how his advent ushered in a slew of new color-coded Hulks -- you had the classic green Hulk, the Red Hulk, perennial ''Hulk'' sidekick Rick Jones was forcibly mutated into A-Bomb (Blue Hulk), Hulk's new son Skaar (Chartreuse Hulk), a new Red ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' -- it all got very ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' for a little while there.

** The ''Inhumans'' audience-alienating era also had the side effect of a lot of new heroes being given the origin of "is an Inhuman", in a clear attempt to displace "is a mutant" as the Marvel Universe's standard RandomlyGifted MetaOrigin. Unfortunately, that MetaOrigin (is a descendant of superpowered individuals created by aliens long ago then walked into a weird cloud and turned into a cocoon) didn't really work as a simple one-size-fits all backstory, aside from the fact that a lot of promising characters (most notably ComicBook/MsMarvel) were now leashed to a franchise that was flagging even then and is now dead. An entire generation of heroes had their entire ''origin story'' become TheArtifact. To further underscore this, Ms. Marvel, the most well-known Inhuman character to date, had [[spoiler:an AdaptationalSpeciesChange to a mutant]] in her 2022 [[Series/MsMarvel2022 live action series]], which would [[spoiler:go on to happen to the comic version in 2023, when she was in the span of just a few months killed (in the ''Amazing Spider-Man'' book) and then resurrected as a mutant after being retconned into a [[HalfHumanHybrid Mutant/Inhuman hybrid]]]].

* John Ostrander's oft-forgotten run, a part of the short-lived Marvel Edge imprint (made up of "leftover" books that had been left out other lines after a corporate restructure),[[labelnote:Explanation]]At the time, Marvel had undergone "the Marvelution", a restructuring to try and make the company more self-reliant and fix a financial bind it had gotten into. As part of this, the overall editor-in-chief position was discontinued and the comics were divided into five lines, each with their own editor-in-chief: one for ''Spider-Man'' books, one for ''X-Men'' books, Marvel Classic for books like ''The Avengers'' and ''The Fantastic Four'', General Entertainment for licensed comics, and Marvel Edge for the rest: Daredevil, The Punisher, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and the Hulk[[/labelnote]] had Frank become the head of a Mafia family after they faked his death row execution for killing Nick Fury, having been tricked into thinking he was somehow responsible for the death of his family. Then things turned into an ''X-Men'' story that happened to star the Punisher, with Frank being roped into helping X-Cutioner and S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue an activist from the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front (here a false flag group backed by Humanity's Last Stand). The final issue had Frank incur amnesia, leading to the aforementioned ''Purgatory''. Ostrander killing off some well-liked characters doesn't help.

* Cap dropping his identity and adopting the name "Nomad" after becoming disillusioned with America just because of the actions of one person (an {{expy}} of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon who was secretly the leader of a domestic terrorist group). Also [[http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l7lkx5VLti1qcu5qro1_400.jpg his costume change]] was a sort of isolated mini-A.A.E. within the plotline. However, much like ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}, this was intentional on the part of the writers.

* Similar to Cable below, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} has an infamous aesthetic period in his history: before the ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' Saga, after being captured by the villain Genesis and undergoing a failed attempt to re-bond adamantium to his skeleton, Logan regressed into a more feral, animalistic state... and seemingly lost his nose in the process.

* Howard Mackie's ''ComicBook/MutantX'' (not the TV show). And his run on ''ComicBook/XFactor'' leading up to it.

** The ''Inhumans'' audience-alienating era also had the side effect of a lot of new heroes being given the origin of "is an Inhuman", in a clear attempt to displace "is a mutant" as the Marvel Universe's standard RandomlyGifted MetaOrigin. Unfortunately, that MetaOrigin (is a descendant of superpowered individuals created by aliens long ago then walked into a weird cloud and turned into a cocoon) didn't really work as a simple one-size-fits all backstory, aside from the fact that a lot of promising characters (most notably ComicBook/MsMarvel) were now leashed to a franchise that was flagging even then and is now dead. An entire generation of heroes had their entire ''origin story'' become TheArtifact. To further underscore this, Ms. Marvel, the most well-known Inhuman character to date, had [[spoiler:an AdaptationalSpeciesChange to a mutant]] in her 2022 [[Series/MsMarvel2022 live action series]], which would [[spoiler:go on to happen to the comic version in 2023, when she was in the span of just a few months killed (in the ''Amazing Spider-Man'' book) and then resurrected as a mutant]].

** The ''Inhumans'' audience-alienating era also had the side effect of a lot of new heroes being given the origin of "is an Inhuman", in a clear attempt to displace "is a mutant" as the Marvel Universe's standard RandomlyGifted MetaOrigin. Unfortunately, that MetaOrigin (is a descendant of superpowered individuals created by aliens long ago then walked into a weird cloud and turned into a cocoon) didn't really work as a simple one-size-fits all backstory, aside from the fact that a lot of promising characters (most notably ComicBook/MsMarvel) were now leashed to a franchise that was flagging even then and is now dead. An entire generation of heroes had their entire ''origin story'' become TheArtifact. To further underscore this, Ms. Marvel, the most well-known Inhuman character to date, had [[spoiler: an AdaptationalSpeciesChange to a mutant]] in her 2022 [[Series/MsMarvel2022 live action series]], which would [[spoiler:go on to happen to the comic version in 2023, when she was in very quick succession killed (in a ''Spider-Man'' book) and then resurrected as a mutant]].

* ''ComicBook/ScarletSpider'' managed to become something of a cult-favourite sub-franchise starring characters that nobody could've been expected to care about at the offset, with Ben Reilly being a "back to basics" approach to Peter Parker in his early years and the murderous Kaine Parker becoming a good AntiHeroSubstitute with a lovable supporting cast. Which makes the series written by Peter David launched in the aftermath of ''ComicBook/DeadNoMoreTheCloneConspiracy'' that much easier to ''loathe''. Thanks to Dan Slott's writing in that story, Ben Reilly was changed from a likeable, optimistic version of Peter Parker into a VillainProtagonist whose actions ''could've'' been understood right up to the point where he tried to kill Peter and usurp his place as Spider-Man (Ben even stopped dyeing his hair its trademark bleach-blond to better resemble Peter). In trying to recover from that, David's the run dips into weird otherworldly aspects with plots revolving around Death and the much-loathed Mephisto and reduces Kaine to a tortured Limbo state between the fratricidal Jerkass he was during Clone Saga and the reluctant anti-hero he'd grown into since Ben's death. The series introduced random plots that went nowhere, like the character of Misty Beck (Mysterio's daughter, who turned out to be a robot), and by its last issue was just artlessly wrapping up everything as quickly as possible at breakneck pace, before a resounding DownerEnding that was quickly resolved in a single speech bubble in ''Spider-Geddon''. Nothing about it has been mentioned since, with both Ben and Kaine returning to their characterisation prior to ''Dead No More'' in their subsequent appearances.

* The ''[[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans]]'' franchise has garnered a great deal of derision since it started to look clear that they were meant to replace the X-Men's role in the Marvel Universe as the RandomlyGifted misfits due to Marvel Entertainment not having the film rights to the ''X-Men''. The events after ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' did nothing to quell those fears. As an unsubtle metaphor for the ''X-Men''/''Inhuman'' rivalry, it was retconned that Terrigen Mists, the very thing that gives Inhumans their powers, actually sterilizes and kills mutants. This plot point was incredibly present in the ''X-Men'' books but almost '''ignored''' with the ''Inhumans'' comics, creating this image that they just didn't care about mutants, making them incredibly unlikable. This all culminated in two storylines: ''ComicBook/DeathOfX'' and ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'', both of which were meant to address long-running plot threads and ended up making the Inhumans completely unsympathetic. The era basically killed any goodwill people had towards the ''Inhumans'' IP and burned any chance that the ''X-Men'' fans who gave the ''Inhumans'' a chance would remain. Sure enough, ''very'' few people bought their comics (they were being outsold by reprints of digital issues and individual 80s and 90s issues) and Marvel put the franchise on the shelf with the ''Death of the Inhumans'' miniseries. While the series released after ''Inhumans Vs X-Men'' are well-regarded, many long-time ''Inhumans'' fans blame this era (along with their [[Series/{{Inhumans}} failed TV show]]) for essentially killing the franchise. Sure enough, when the film rights returned to Marvel with Disney's buyout of Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox in 2019, and the ''X-Men'' were immediately promoted to A-list again, making potshots at the ''Inhumans'' franchise wasn't an uncommon thing to do.
** The ''Inhumans'' A.A.E. also had the side effect of a lot of new heroes being given the origin of "is an Inhuman", in a clear attempt to displace "is a mutant" as the Marvel Universe's standard RandomlyGifted MetaOrigin. Unfortunately, that MetaOrigin (is a descendant of superpowered individuals created by aliens long ago then walked into a weird cloud and turned into a cocoon) didn't really work as a simple one-size-fits all backstory, aside from the fact that a lot of promising characters (most notably ComicBook/MsMarvel) were now leashed to a franchise that was flagging even then and is now dead. An entire generation of heroes had their entire ''origin story'' become TheArtifact. To further underscore this, Ms. Marvel, the most well-known Inhuman character to date, had [[spoiler: an AdaptationalSpeciesChange to a mutant]] in her 2022 [[Series/MsMarvel2022 live action series]], which would [[spoiler:go on to happen to the comic version in 2023, when she was in very quick succession killed (in a ''Spider-Man'' book) and then resurrected as a mutant]].

* John Ostrander's oft-forgotten run, a part of the short-lived Marvel Edge imprint (made up of "leftover" books that had been left out other lines after a corporate restructure), had Frank become the head of a Mafia family after they faked his death row execution for killing Nick Fury, having been tricked into thinking he was somehow responsible for the death of his family. Then things turned into an ''X-Men'' story that happened to star the Punisher, with Frank being roped into helping X-Cutioner and S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue an activist from the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front (here a false flag group backed by Humanity's Last Stand). The final issue had Frank incur amnesia, leading to the aforementioned ''Purgatory''. Ostrander killing off some well-liked characters doesn't help.

** The ''Inhumans'' A.A.E. also had the side effect of a lot of new heroes being given the origin of "is an Inhuman", in a clear attempt to displace "is a mutant" as the Marvel Universe's standard RandomlyGifted MetaOrigin. Unfortunately, that MetaOrigin (is a descendant of superpowered individuals created by aliens long ago then walked into a weird cloud and turned into a cocoon) didn't really work as a simple one-size-fits all backstory, aside from the fact that a lot of promising characters (most notably ComicBook/MsMarvel) were now leashed to a franchise that was flagging even then and is now dead. An entire generation of heroes had their entire ''origin story'' become TheArtifact. To further underscore this, Ms. Marvel, the most well-known Inhuman character to date, had [[spoiler: an AdaptationalSpeciesChange to a mutant]] in her 2022 [[Series/MsMarvel2022 live action series]].

* Toss in Creator/WarrenEllis's run (the "[=WorldEngine=]" arc): Thor loses all of his powers and is living with Enchantress as a couple in a New York apartment. So bad it was that other writers outright ignored Ellis's depowering in the pages of Avengers and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]].

* Toss in Creator/WarrenEllis's run (the "WorldEngine" arc): Thor loses all of his powers and is living with Enchantress as a couple in a New York apartment. So bad it was that other writers outright ignored Ellis's depowering in the pages of Avengers and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]].

* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': There's a time in the '90s when Cap suffered seizures because the SuperSoldier formula in his body was breaking down. He became so paralyzed that he could barely even talk, relying on armor just to move. He ended up being cured by ''the Red Skull'', [[ArchEnemy of all people]]. People tried to forget about it.
** Cap dropping his identity and adopting the name "Nomad" after becoming disillusioned with America just because of the actions of one person (an {{expy}} of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon who was secretly the leader of a domestic terrorist group). Also [[http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l7lkx5VLti1qcu5qro1_400.jpg his costume change]] was a sort of isolated mini-A.A.E. within the plotline. However, much like ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}, this was intentional on the part of the writers.