Marvel is about to retread some familiar territory in the upcoming Age of Revelation event, echoing the original Age of Apocalypse storyline with another possible future ruled by the classic villain’s new heir: Revelation (better known as Doug Ramsey). The event is set to show an apparent mutant utopia grow, with humanity being wiped out as a result. It’s not the first time this has happened across comics, and it’s not likely to be the last time either. People are naturally focused on our potential ends, disasters, and world-changing events, especially if we’re the ones behind whatever calamity has befallen us.
The concept is on repeat in the world of comics, even beyond the heroes and villains of the big companies. In the era of the event comic and their tie-in issues, these grim futures have been popping up more and more, sometimes temporarily and sometimes for good but some are truly terrible — and these are the worst.
15) Flashpoint
Barry Allen’s decision to go back in time and save his mother’s life from Eobard Thawne, aka the Reverse-Flash, was the kick off for DC Comics’ controversial New 52 initiative, landing in destructive fashion at the start. Barry creates the Flashpoint timeline due to his actions, with Thomas Wayne becoming Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman locked in war between New Themyscira and Atlantis, and a imprisoned Superman that has never gotten outside of his cell. It’s a pretty horrible future, but lands at the bottom of this list due to it being short-lived. The many reboots and events that followed lessened its impact.
14) The Dark Knight Returns
The entire Dark Knight Returns trilogy is set in a world where mutant gangs run rampant, nuclear war is a certainty, and Superman is a tool for the U.S. Government. And that’s just the first limited series. The second chapter of The Dark Knight series brings in other DC Comics heroes to expand Batman’s war against Lex Luthor and his presidential dictatorship. A genetically altered Dick Grayson returns as a newer, deadlier type of Joker, as well. The third entry, The Master Race, unleashes a horde of fanatical Kryptonians on the world who swallow nuclear bombs and threaten to destroy every city as living missiles. This should sound like a crazy nightmare, but things can always get worse.
13) Rock of Ages
Grant Morrison’s legendary run on JLA in the ’90s gave fans a preview of what he’d have in store with Final Crisis. As some fans on Reddit pointed out, it is almost a sequel to Final Crisis, presenting an Earth where Darkseid wins anyway. The world under Darkseid’s control with the Anti-Life Equation is desolate, harsh, and full of parademons. He is even worshipped as a god, adding layers to just how far his rule would go beyond what we’ve seen before. It’s also a good story featuring the infamous blue energy Superman, which is a rarity for the time.
12) Old Man Logan
Did Mark Millar kinda borrow from his work in Wanted to craft this future where the villains finally won against the heroes of the Marvel Universe? Sure. And it still works well. The story follows Logan in the aftermath of this massive final battle between good and evil, and how evil won out to divide up the United States under the leadership of the Red Skull. While it is full of Easter eggs to Marvel history, the world itself is harsh. It’s a period where warlords feed former heroes to Savage Land dinosaurs that also run free under the control of symbiotes. Sneaky moloid infestations are sinking cities underground, and any number of gangs fight for control of their areas 24/7. And all of that is just the world before we learn why Logan no longer pops his claws.
11) Batman: Last Knight on Earth
Batman wakes up in Arkham Asylum, finding himself in a world where he was never Batman and Lex Luthor triumphed over Superman in a debate that shifted public opinion of superheroes and made the populace lawless. The Batman we meet at the start of the story is a clone of the original who now goes by Omega and controls the world using the Anti-Life Equation he acquired after beheading Darkseid. Scott Snyder’s creation manages to keep all of the craziness we’d see in his Dark Nights: Metal crossover event while also giving a chance for Bruce Wayne to fully inherit a villainous role.
10) Earth X
Another alternate future for the Marvel Universe, Earth X establishes that Earth is home to an implanted Celestial egg, and an altered population after Black Bolt’s decision to release the Terrigen Mists into the atmosphere. If you think about it as Marvel’s version of Kingdom Come — which is coming later in the list — you can wrap your head around the clash of new heroes and old before it is capped off with the return of Galactus in a battle against the Celestials. The scale continues to grow in Universe X and Paradise X, both of which expand the grand scheme theme throughout the galaxy.
9) Future Imperfect
The future of this Incredible Hulk classic introduces the despotic Maestro, the future Hulk who has inherited control over the world in the wake of a nuclear war. This Hulk is driven insane after absorbing the extra radiation in the atmosphere from the nuclear strikes. He’s a full-blown dictator and doesn’t hesitate to use his strength to secure his rule. He even breaks Professor Hulk’s neck during their first fight and is only somewhat defeated after being transported through time by Hulk and the future rebels to the moment the Gamma bomb first explodes and creates the Hulk. Even without him, this is still a dark future.
8) Age of Ultron
Much like Future Imperfect, Age of Ultron is a view of a world where the villain has won and controls the future. Ultron has taken over the current Marvel Earth from his future, using the Vision as a conduit and controlling the ruins with an endless army of Ultron Sentinels hunting surviving humans and defending the streets. The Avengers first execute a plan to travel to the future and stop Ultron directly, which ends almost immediately in the death of Captain America and Iron Man. This Ultron world is horrible enough, but the event isn’t done messing around yet. Wolverine and Sue Storm use the time platform to go back and kill Hank Pym, unknowingly creating a world where Ultron never exists, but Morgan LeFay has grown more powerful and declared war against technology. This includes the supporting forces of a surviving Iron Man, even if he had been torn in half twice over. That’s two horrible futures from one single event-limited series, earning it this spot.
7) Days of Future Past
The twisted future for the X-Men has made a few appearances over the years, but the first iconic storyline in Uncanny X-Men #141 still stands as the best representation. In this future, the Sentinels have taken over the United States and are hunting mutants and heroes before turning their attention to the rest of the world. Mutants and others are rounded up into camps to be exterminated, with the survivors attempting to resist and travel back in time to avert the future from happening. While it is still a mystery if this will be the final future for the team, similar futures do happen in other stories.
6) Moira MacTaggert’s X Lives
Taking its cues from Days of Future Past, Moira MacTaggert found that no matter what she did to avert that future, the machines and humanity would always find a way to kill mutantkind. Several of her lives showed Moira assassinating the entire Trask family, joining forces with Magneto, and then with Apocalypse in a separate life. Her longest and most twisted life comes with her sixth, following her across 1,000 years thanks to a Wolverine blood infusion and post-humanity. This is the future where she decides that machines are the true enemy and not humanity after the post-humans reveal they are like zoo animals to them.
5) Future’s End
This is part of DC’s New 52 initiative and the introduction of Batman Beyond to the main DC Comics universe. But the future he escapes from and tries to prevent is horrific, with Brother Eye taking over and killing heroes to turn them into robotic monsters. Terry McGinnis, the original Batman Beyond, dies and is replaced by Tim Drake. The former Robin eventually realizes that Brother Eye cannot be defeated through time travel, sending him to the future to start a resistance there.
4) Kingdom Come
Alex Ross and Mark Waid’s classic look at DC Comics’ future is a well-deserved addition to this list. The story follows older heroes led by Superman returning to public life and contending with new youth heroes who are just as violent as the villains. With Superman’s return, visions of Doomsday begin to pop up for Minister Norman McCay, who sees the returning hero as an omen of danger. While it seems Superman is on a path that will destroy everything. The story comes to a close with the heroes dying at the Gulag prison Superman builds due to the U.S. missile strike that kills heroes from both sides and sends Superman on a new path after being talked down from killing the U.N.
3) Wonder Woman: Dead Earth
Daniel Warren Johnson’s Black Label Wonder Woman tale sees the Amazon heroine wake up to a post-apocalyptic world full of monsters and death. The twist is that she’s the one to blame for the destruction, angered after humanity goes to war against the Amazons and nukes Themyscira. All of the Amazons on the island are mutated into giant beasts, that Diana had been fighting till then, but Wonder Woman shows her true power after removing her bracelets, taking her rage out on Superman until he is killed and the planet is ruined. There are no good days in this hellish scenario.
2) Age of Apocalypse
The big one for Marvel is Age of Apocalypse, but it isn’t in the top spot for a reason. The dark future comes to pass after Charles Xavier is killed by his son, Legion, and the world makes way for Apocalypse’s control of the United States. Humanity’s survivors are putting together a counterstrike in Europe while Apocalypse rules with his four horsemen and plans to invade the rest of the planet. He’s opposed by the X-Men, led by Magneto and Rogue. If you’re not a mutant in this world, you’re dead.
1) Ruins
Finally, we have Warren Ellis’ two-issue nightmare scenario for everybody in the Marvel Universe. Years before Marvel started doing their The End issues for different heroes like The Punisher and Hulk, Ruins was a parody of Marvels that followed Phil Sheldon in a dystopian world where “everything that can go wrong will go wrong.” What goes wrong is that all of the experiments and accidents that create the heroes of the Marvel Universe end up mutated, deformed, or dead. It’s a nightmare in motion, where the Avengers become radical rebels against the government of President X, and are shot down by a patriot missile in the final quinjet. , and Wolverine is falling to pieces because of his toxic adamantium skeleton. Nick Fury is a cannibal who murders Jean Grey and then himself in front of Sheldon. The two issues end with Sheldon finally meeting his end due to the spider virus he is infected with by Peter Parker. It’s meant to be the worst one and might be the only one that would be improved by the cleansing fires of destruction. Everything hurts.
Did we miss any dark futures? What would you have included? Let us know in the comments.
The post The Darkest Futures in Superhero Comics Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.
