History YMMV / WhatIf

** ''Spider-Man: The Other'': [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom symbiote]] uses the full extent of its natural abilities and relentless cunning in pursuit of its goals. Sensing that its first host [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] has gone into a coma, the symbiote breaks out of [[TheAlcatraz the Raft]], effortlessly killing most of the guards and taking one over to use as an interim host before abandoning him to permanently bond with Parker, [[PuppeteerParasite taking over his body]] and rechristening itself Poison. Intent on finding a mate to join him in his new life, Poison breaks into the apartment of May Parker and Mary Jane Watson, the latter of whom he intends to bond with his spawn, [[CurbStompBattle and easily defeating Wolverine and Luke Cage when they try to intervene]]. Although spurned by Mary Jane, Poison is undeterred and simply exhumes the corpse of Gwen Stacy to make her his symbiote bride instead.

** ''Peter Parker Became The Punisher '': [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker himself]] is the deadly AntiHero ComicBook/ThePunisher. Tracking down and murdering the man who killed his Uncle Ben, Peter becomes a ruthless VigilanteMan dedicated to protecting his loved ones at all costs. With a combination of cunning tactics and custom ammunition designed to target his enemies specific weaknesses, [[PayEvilUntoEvil he effortlessly dispatches the Sinister Six in brutal fashion]] adding [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin the Kingpin]] along the way while being content to let rival gangs thin each other out in random gang violence. When [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]], the [[ArchEnemy Green Goblin]] kidnaps his beloved Gwen Stacy, Peter [[CombatPragmatist shoots him on the spot]] and succeeds in saving Gwen. Regretting his actions, Peter abandons his vigilante lifestyle for a [[EarnYourHappyEnding peaceful married life with Gwen]] but not before leaving his shredded costume trashed in a back alley for a young war veteran named [[Characters/ThePunisherFrankCastle Frank Castle]] who just lost his family in a mob hit to discover.

** The joke scenario in #34, "What if Every Avenger Remained an Avenger", depicts the silliness of an Avengers team with around twenty-six members. Ever since ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', that lineup has looked downright sparse.

* HarsherInHindsight: "What if Spider-Man Had Not Married Mary Jane?" became more like a canon after the release of ComicBook/OneMoreDay in 2007.

** ''Spider-Man: The Other'': [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom symbiote]] uses the full extent of its natural abilities and relentless cunning in pursuit of its goals. Sensing that its first host [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] has gone into a coma, the symbiote breaks out of [[TheAlcatraz the Raft]], effortlessly killing most of the guards and taking one over to use as an interim host before abandoning him to permanently bond with Parker, [[PuppeteerParasite taking over his body]] and rechristening itself Poison. Intent on finding a mate to join him in his new life, Poison breaks into the apartment of May Parker and Mary Jane Watson, the latter of whom he intends to bond with his spawn, [[CurbStompBattle and easily defeating Wolverine and Luke Cage when they try to intervene]]. Although spurned by Mary Jane, Poison is undeterred and simply exhumes the corpse of Gwen Stacy to make her his symbiote bride instead.

* EthnicScrappy: The fourth issue of the ''What If? Miles Morales'' miniseries, where the premise is "What if Miles Morales became Thor?", is a rare case where not only the characters, but the comic itself falls into this trope to the point of widespread controversy. Its depiction of Asgard as a Brooklyn-esque city rife with imagery evocative of a run-down neighborhood as graffiti and shoes hanging off of telephone wires, coupled with the fact that the issue is narrated in ''rap'', proved highly unflattering to many a reader. The Miles/Thor mashup featured in the issue was particularly hated for being depicted as a walking caricature of a stereotypical black man, to the point that he feels like an InNameOnly version of the hero whom many likened to a character featured in Blaxploitation media.

* {{Squick}}: The "mole of moles".

** The post [[http://what-if.xkcd.com/40/ "Pressure Cooker,"]] which described exploding pressure cookers among other things, came six days before [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombings somebody used a pair of pressure cookers filled with shrapnel to bomb the Boston Marathon.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: A rare one for Randall, but it still happened. A question on how much power can be produced by [[Franchise/StarWars The Force]] compares Yoda's power output to that of a Smart Car, with Yoda popping out of the front hood of said car. However, the Smart Car is a rear-engine car, with the [[InsistentTerminology front flap]] covering various auxiliary components.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

** What If? Vol 2 11 is both this and HarsherInHindsight. In the second story, "What If... The Fantastic Four all had the stretching power of Mister Fantastic?", Sue Storm marries Ben Grimm instead of Reed. The same thing happens in the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe. Unfortunately, [[ComicBook/TheMaker Ultimate Reed]] [[FaceHeelTurn doesn't]] [[ItsAllAboutMe take it]] [[OmnicidalManiac nearly as well]].

** Similarly, the parody issue (vol.1 #34) had a short story asking "What if Iron Man had an eating problem instead of a drinking problem?", showing Tony Stark becoming morbidly obese from over-indulging on fast food. According to Creator/RobertDowneyJr, he realized he'd hit rock bottom one night when he was scarfing down tons of fast food burgers, which lead to his quitting drugs and cleaning up his life...which, in turn, led to his being cast as Film/IronMan.

* MagnificentBastard: From ''Infinity -- Thanos'': ComicBook/{{Thanos}}, The Mad Titan himself, used the war between the heroes of his universe and the Builders to achieve his own goals. Offering his help to Avengers, Thanos easily manipulated all of them, earning trust of every hero, aside from Captain America. Leading the heroes and his forces to finish off the Builders for good, Thanos reveals that his true motivation was to take his revenge upon the Builders for corrupting his son. As Captain America discovers this, Thanos manages to kill him, before convincing Avengers to let him take Captain America's place, effortlessly convincing them that he was murdered by enemy forces. Gaining influence over Earth, Thanos tracks down Illuminati in Necropolis and offered them a deal that they can't refuse.

** In the Battleworld issue, Steve Rodgers is happily married to Rogue... or more accurately, Carol Danvers in Rogue's body, which has completely supplanted Rogue. And they've had a kid.

* {{Squick}}: The issue where Jane Foster becomes Thor ends with Odin making her marry him. And apparently Jane has no problem with this.

** "Common Cold" in the book asks if rhinoviruses could be eradicated if every human lived in isolation for five weeks, resembling the social distancing measures enacted globally a few years later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

** "What if Spider-Man's Clone Lived?" (vol. 1 #30) would indeed be explored in the Canonical Spider-Man Arc "ComicBook/TheCloneSaga". Some readers even argu that the "What If...?" Story turned ot mch bettr than the actual Clone Saga did!