Retcons That (You Think) Worked

[autbey]

The Phoenix Force replacing Jean Grey instead of being Jean Grey during the original Phoenix Saga.

[JackDaw]

Really enjoyed Alias...so retconning Jessica Jones as a member of the Avengers worked for me.

[Star_Jammer]

The Magneto family. Making him the father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch and latter Polaris created probably the best family dynamic in the Marvel U. I put that family even above the Richards and the Summers honestly.

It was beyond stupid when Marvel reversed retconed that and it did NONE of the characters any good.

I liked the daddy-Magneto retcon, as well. And I prefer Wanda and Pietro to be Magneto's children.

But...Wanda should be the sibling that rejects her father, seeing him as the villain that was never a part of her life, and his only influences upon her are: her early (misguided) forays into villainy and his influence, in general, as a super-villain that she may fight from time to time. Absolutely no other emotion from her towards him. And she was this person for most of the time...until you-know-who.

Quicksilver, on the other hand...

To add to this post: I really like Billy (Wiccan) and Tommy (Speed) being recognized as Wanda's children...after that whole mess of a different retcon. I just wish that more was done with all of them together.

[TheCape]

Parallel Lives by Gerry Conway

Weapon X by Barry Windsor Smith

[Iron Maiden]

Brian Cronin's column on CBR brought up one that also involves Mark Millar and this one occurs in his abysmal Fantastic Four run. It doesn't totally get rid of brain-damaged (his mother struck him as a child) comic book fan Clyde Wyncham aka the Master of Doom but it explains away how Doctor Doom could be sent back in time, get eaten by prehistoric sharks and then live throughout the eons fueled by a desire for revenge. Instead, just as he was about to lose his battle with the gigantic megladons, he's saved in Dark Avengers #176 and commandeers their time machine to take him back to the present so he can kill the Marquis of Death.

[Zero Hunter]

Apocalypse being the Celestial's practical slave always worked for me.

I didn't mind it, but I think they drove the character into the ground because of it especially in the X-Force series. I would love it if they changed coarse now and had Apocalypse emerge from a healing pod totally free of Celestial influence so we could see a pure unaltered version of the character. Sort of like he was in the origin comic before he was altered by the Celestials.

[Wiccan]

The Phoenix Force replacing Jean Grey instead of being Jean Grey during the original Phoenix Saga.

That's the most stupid retcon ever. It legit makes me triggered that someone dared to say that here.

[Sutekh]

That's the most stupid retcon ever. It legit makes me triggered that someone dared to say that here.

You are my hero, today.

I hate that the retcon turned Jean Grey's most heroic moment of sacrifice into something that the Phoenix entity did while pretending to be her, and much of her relationship with Scott to him being definitionally raped by something pretending to be Jean. Ugh.

My favorite retcons include the existence of the Invaders in WW2 (which has added some fun texture to Namor and Captain America's relationship in the present-day), and Wanda and Pietro being Magneto's kids (which has wonderfully complicated all three characters), as already mentioned upthread.

[Wiccan]

You are my hero, today.

I hate that the retcon turned Jean Grey's most heroic moment of sacrifice into something that the Phoenix entity did while pretending to be her, and much of her relationship with Scott to him being definitionally raped by something pretending to be Jean. Ugh.

Well, Claremont softened the retcon anyway. The Phoenix copy was actually a part of Jean's own soul, that went to Maddie after DPS, and then Jean got it back when she died. So she still has the credit for her sacrifice and the memories of everything now. But yeah, it's ridiculous that it even existed. It's crazy how short sighted editorial was at the time that they saw Dark Phoenix Saga as a problem instead of the great iconic story it is to day.

[gurkle]

One of the first major retcons that I think worked: Don Blake was not a man who turned into Thor, he was a mortal identity created by Odin for Thor to teach his son humility. That origin change not only stopped Thor from being a Captain Marvel knockoff but it defined a lot about the character and his relationship to his father and his godhood and his double life on two different worlds. A lot of what the character is would be unthinkable if they'd kept the original origin.

I was going to say Captain America being frozen, but that's not really a retcon because Lee and Kirby didn't retcon the 1950s Captain America stories, they just ignored them. It wasn't until the '70s that anyone bothered to retcon them, and that was a retcon that worked (see the earlier comment).

[Abe]

Brian Cronin's column on CBR brought up one that also involves Mark Millar and for this one occurs in his abysmal Fantastic Four run. It doesn't totally get rid of brain-damaged (his mother struck him as a child) comic book fan Clyde Wyncham aka the Master of Doom but it explains away how Doctor Doom could be sent back in time, get eaten by prehistoric sharks and then live throughout the eons fueled by a desire for revenge. Instead, just as he was about to lose his battle with the gigantic megladons, he's saved in Dark Avengers #176 and commandeers their time machine to take him back to the present so he can kill the Marquis of Death.

Good to know! That's a retcon I'm glad to welcome. Thanks IM! (And Bryan Cronin! )

[Innocent Bystander]

The Phoenix being a cosmic force that copied Jean Grey. To my knowledge, Phoenix had to go because she destoyed a solar system. So that was that. The end of Jean Grey. They found a convoluted work-a-round, and brought Jean back by saying it wasn't her, it was something else.

I rather enjoy that the retcon was created prior to the issue where Jean Grey died.

[Wiccan]

The Phoenix being a cosmic force that copied Jean Grey. To my knowledge, Phoenix had to go because she destoyed a solar system. So that was that. The end of Jean Grey. They found a convoluted work-a-round, and brought Jean back by saying it wasn't her, it was something else.

The original story was already Jean being possessed. The editors and writers of the time were just kind of dense. The idea of Phoenix being a separate entity instead from Jean and the Phoenix "impersonating" Jean were written like they were parts of the same point when they shouldn't be. Claremont is the one who found a decent work-a-round to make it so all the development Jean got on his run still counted for her instead of being the same as a Skrull replacing her.

[phantom1592]

I want to leave aside things added to someone's backstory that wasn't there before. To me, a retcon has to reveal something was different than was previously believed. For example, Elektra had never been mentioned until Frank Miller invented her, but I don't think it's a retcon. On the other hand, I think the addition of Stick was a great change. Before that, we see that Matt entirely trained himself. Now we find out he had a mentor who was also blind who taught him how to learn to master his senses and to fight. It doesn't take away from Matt's accomplishments but helps make them make more sense.

Another Frank Miller retcon is the addition of Maggie. Previously, it was more or less stated that Matt's mother was dead. The retcon added a wonderful image and character to his backstory as well as making him feel less alone without overdoing it.

Maggie I like... Stick I don't. There's something about the blind guy teaching another blind guy how to not be blind that I feel really cheapens Daredevil. It nerfs (and I think at least at one point outright states) that the radiation and the powers weren't important anyway and anyone could do what they do with enough training. It steals his 'uniqueness'.

Also while I love some good Ninja bashing as much as the next guy... Miller and Stick and the Chaste REALLY double down on the 'Daredevil should be fighting ninjas all the time' trope that I got bored with.

1) Captain America/Steve Rogers having been frozen in ice on a WWII mission and the Cap of the post-WWII stories being someone else.

Strangely, not something I think about often, but was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read this title.

The Phoenix being a cosmic force that copied Jean Grey. To my knowledge, Phoenix had to go because she destoyed a solar system. So that was that. The end of Jean Grey. They found a convoluted work-a-round, and brought Jean back by saying it wasn't her, it was something else.

Yep, that was always one of my favorites too. I was a big fan of the O5/X-factor and getting her back was mandatory.

[Mike_Murdock]

Well, Miller invented the idea of Daredevil fighting ninjas. It was only the success of his run that caused people to double down on that.