Scarlet Witch's House Of M Could Have Been Way Worse According To A What If...? Story

Scarlet Witch's action in the original "House of M" storyline nearly changed the Marvel Universe forever. In the event by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel, Wanda Maxmioff lost control of her powers and nearly entirely erased mutants from existence by saying the words "no more mutants" while creating an alternate reality without the X-Men or their kind. The powerful magic user becoming unstable didn't just rewrite reality and eliminate mutants, but the events leading up to the spell saw multiple Avengers, including her partner, Vision, being killed. Scarlet Witch's uncontrolled chaos remains one of the hero's darkest chapters. 

While the events of "House of M" would eventually be reset with Marvel's mutants returning, the crossover showed the true dangers of Scarlet Witch's reality-warping magic and how she could change the Marvel Universe in an instant. A "What If...?" comic even explored what would happen if, instead of taking away mutant powers, she took away everyone's powers, heroes and villains included. The result is a "What If...?" world with Red Skull trying to control it that looks very different than the one readers are used to seeing.

In "What If...? House of M" #1 by Brian Reed, Jim McCann, Paolo Pantalena, Crime Lab Studios, Guru eFX, and Jeff Powell from Marvel Comics, the comic asks, what if Scarlet Witch ended the "House of M" by saying, "no more powers." 

The issue opens directly following the heroes and villains losing their abilities. When the Fantastic Four meet, they are shocked to learn Ben Grimm has returned to his human form. Meanwhile, Cyclops is afraid to take off his glasses, despite Emma Frost's assurance the world has changed. Doctor Strange is seen in the Sanctum Santorum alongside Wong, where he is devastated to see his connection to magic has faded. Meanwhile, the likes of Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk decided to take a break from superheroics, questioning whether their incredible powers will ever return. 

Unfortunately, the transformation for other heroes goes much worse. It's revealed that once Captain America's powers, derived from the Super-Soldier Serum, wore off, he aged decades in a second and died. Meanwhile, Wolverine is immediately sent to the hospital, with his body unable to handle the adamantium coated over his bones. With Earth's Mightiest Heroes not having their trademark abilities, Red Skull emerges as an even more dangerous threat than usual, using the Cosmic Cube to murder anyone who stands in his way, including the Young Avengers, who he decimates. In the particularly gruesome scene, Patriot is killed by throwing stars, Vision's energy is overloaded, causing him to explode, and Kate Bishop is murdered by the powerful cosmic artifact. Red Skull and his army even sneak into the Baxter Building and brutally kill members of the Fantastic Four, with the evil villain stealing Doctor Doom's armor in his rise to take control of a Marvel Universe without superheroes and powers.

Despite losing their powers, the Avengers continue on in their battle against the Red Skull. Iron Man leads a group, including Carol Danvers and War Machine, in a deadly fight with the villain and his massive army of soldiers. The Avengers seem overpowered at first but are soon joined by the X-Men, who, despite their lack of abilities, join Wolverine (who gets his own Iron Man armor and laser claws) and use weapons to take on the Cosmic Cube-wielding threat. Spider-Man, who had given up on being a hero in favor of being a dad alongside Mary Jane Watson, decides he needs to help as well, arriving in the battle, using web-shooters to steal the Cosmic Cube and smash it against a pole. 

While how one of the most powerful cosmic artifacts in the Marvel Universe could be destroyed simply by slamming it against a pole makes little sense, it takes away Red Skull's greatest weapon. Peter Parker inspires the heroes to continue fighting, realizing they don't need their powers to be heroes. Spider-Man calls for the depowered Avengers to assemble in a final battle against the Red Skull.

The hero's last stand isn't revealed, but the comic flashes to the future, where an elder Peter Parker and Tony Stark discuss defeating the Red Skull 30 years prior. Standing among statues of their fallen allies, including Luke Cage, Captain America, and Spider-Woman, Stark comments about his fears of pending threats, despite the world being safe. The issue ends on a surprisingly hopeful note with Peter Parker's granddaughter being shown climbing upside down on a jungle gym, suggesting that she has powers like Spider-Man and that there's hope for the future generation of heroes.

While the Earth's Mightiest Heroes might have eventually found a way to defeat the Red Skull and destroy the Cosmic Cube, the villain's defeat came at a significant cost. With some Marvel characters dying after losing their abilities, the world losing their superpowered protectors, and heroes departing their usual heroic lives for something more normal, the world nearly came under the control of the Red Skull. Thankfully, the Avengers and other heroes showed that despite suddenly losing their powers, there was no way to eliminate their heroic mindsets. Ultimately, they risked their own lives to save the world from Red Skull, who could have taken over the Marvel Universe if it wasn't for their quick and needed intervention.

The "no more powers" line caused much more chaos than the original "no more mutants" line. Instead of just erasing mutants, Scarlet Witch erased what made most heroes special. Thankfully, the tale is just a "What if...?" scenario that never came to fruition in the main Marvel Comics continuity. A world without heroes is terrifying to imagine, even if they were victorious by the story's end.