Ages of X-Men: Top 5 Alternate X-Men Realities

*Reposted from GeekExchange.com

Alternate realities have always played a large part in comic storytelling, especially when we are talking about the X-Men.

It gives writers a chance to try something wildly different with the characters without the lasting repercussions that a change to continuity might entail. It also allows the fans a chance to experience their favorite hero or villain in a role that they might not be used to, or even one they enjoy.

Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia’s new series X-Treme X-Men feature a cast of characters that are strangers to Marvel’s mainstream reality (616) and are teamed with Dazzler to further explore even more alternate realities. Yes, Dazzler. And a disembodied floating Charles Xavier head along with kick ass alternate versions of Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Nightcrawler tasked with destroying evil alternate versions of Charles Xavier. That’s a great premise with or without Dazzler, who might be at her least lame stage in life thanks to Pak.

After reading the first issue I started thinking about all the different universes we’ve seen throughout various storylines and company wide events, and this list is the culmination of that curiosity. In an alternate reality I may have chosen not to write the list, instead choosing to vacation on a beautiful beach with a scantily clad and sexually adventurous lingerie model. But alas, this is not that reality.

So let’s take a look at my Top 5 Alternate X-Realities, in no particular order.

Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)

AOA came about when David Haller AKA Legion traveled back in time to kill Magneto in order to help bring about his father’s (Charles Xavier) dream of human and mutant co-existence. Unfortunately he begins a lifetime of failure by killing Professor X, who sacrificed himself to save his friend Magneto. These actions spawned a reality that developed without the guidance of Xavier, and eventually fell under the boot heel of Apocalypse, an eternally evil mutant. Humanity is a decimated race, enslaved by the mutant population. It’s one of the bleakest alternate realities on the list, but also one that leaves a lasting impression. AOA took over every X-title of the 90’s (which there were a lot of) and gave us a look at these characters in ways we had never seen before. This generally involved costumes with too many pouches and a lot of bad hair… Even for the 90’s.