What if Aquaman replaced Magneto in the X-men's History?

[Marvel-Studios Rep]

This is a combination of N52 Aquaman, post crisis Aquaman with water hand, and Aquaman 1 million.

How do things change with Aquaman as the X-men's nemesis? Note Aquaman has the same goals as Magneto but Atlantis and its people is like his Genosha...

[The MunchKING]

He dies in Auschwitz (or whichever camp Magneto escaped from) because he can't stop all the guns, and he can't get to water to immerse himself?

[The Drunkard Kid]

He dies in Auschwitz (or whichever camp Magneto escaped from) because he can't stop all the guns, and he can't get to water to immerse himself?

I'm pretty sure even a dried out Nu-Aquaman is at least notably super-strong and super-durable, in addition to having his nebulous telepathic abilities.

[Shellhead]

Taking the title literally, we should start with the events of (Uncanny) X-Men #1, circa 1963. In our new scenario IIRC, Arthur is holding the world hostage with nuclear weapons or some-such at a poorly guarded military base in Australia. Something like that. The X-Men show up and get thumped hard by Aquaman. Angel can't do anything that would harm Aquaman. Same goes for Beast and Marvel Girl. Iceman can throw some snow at him, but that's not going to do much good, and snow won't be much protection when Aquaman punches him in the face. Only Cyclops is a threat, but his eyebeams seemed less powerful then, so I think Aquaman can wade through the beam to get at Cyke.

So Aquaman is left in charge of the base, and could even hold it successfully if we grant him his usual Atlantean mililtary. Er, except that Namor rules Atlantis at this time. Or would there be two Atlantises? Anyway, after the X-Men fail, the Avengers might try to save the day, seeing as how they were already Earth's Mightiest Heroes, with a current line-up at that time that included: Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Wasp, and Ant-Man. Except the Avengers don't have Quinjets yet, so Thor travels to Australia by himself and smites Aquaman without any help. After that, I see Aquaman as being more of one of the under-powered Thor rogues of the day, though nowhere near as weak as Mr. Hyde and Cobra. Aquaman wouldn't have any particular mutant agenda, for or against, so he would rarely if ever face the X-Men again.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

I'm pretty sure even a dried out Nu-Aquaman is at least notably super-strong and super-durable, in addition to having his nebulous telepathic abilities.

"I think I might be telepathic" being the title of his autobiography.

[MadFacedKid]

He dies in Auschwitz (or whichever camp Magneto escaped from) because he can't stop all the guns, and he can't get to water to immerse himself?

I didn't see this was composite and was about to say buffs need to be made to make him a more plausible threat. Cause N52 Aquaman doesn't isn't the telepath he was Pre-Flashpoint and wouldn't be able to shield himself.

Aquaman 1mil has planetary hydrokinesis, can control water molecules mentally in the air, ice control, and great durability he can survive in the deepest trench in the sea of Neptune and is shown flying in space.

Post-Flashpoint Aquaman aka N52 Has atleast hypersonic speed on land, doesnt dehydrate being away from water, and not to mention the current trident which gives him Hydrokinesis, Cyrokinesis, Geokinesis, Lightning, and teleportation.

Pre-Flashpoint Aquaman aka Post-Crisis Has telepathy that's going to be boosted by the water hand that enabled him to enter Martian Manhunter's mind without consent, Has devolved a creature, Can see through sea life. The Water Hand gives him Hydrokinesis, Healing, Magic negation, Portal creation, constant hydration.

This Aquaman would more then likely kill the X-Men

Any of these Aquaman won't be hurt by guns btw...

Don't see Hitler causing any problems.
4733961-uwm3.jpg

[MadFacedKid]

Taking the title literally, we should start with the events of (Uncanny) X-Men #1, circa 1963. In our new scenario IIRC, Arthur is holding the world hostage with nuclear weapons or some-such at a poorly guarded military base in Australia. Something like that. The X-Men show up and get thumped hard by Aquaman. Angel can't do anything that would harm Aquaman. Same goes for Beast and Marvel Girl. Iceman can throw some snow at him, but that's not going to do much good, and snow won't be much protection when Aquaman punches him in the face. Only Cyclops is a threat, but his eyebeams seemed less powerful then, so I think Aquaman can wade through the beam to get at Cyke.

So Aquaman is left in charge of the base, and could even hold it successfully if we grant him his usual Atlantean mililtary. Er, except that Namor rules Atlantis at this time. Or would there be two Atlantises? Anyway, after the X-Men fail, the Avengers might try to save the day, seeing as how they were already Earth's Mightiest Heroes, with a current line-up at that time that included: Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Wasp, and Ant-Man. Except the Avengers don't have Quinjets yet, so Thor travels to Australia by himself and smites Aquaman without any help. After that, I see Aquaman as being more of one of the under-powered Thor rogues of the day, though nowhere near as weak as Mr. Hyde and Cobra. Aquaman wouldn't have any particular mutant agenda, for or against, so he would rarely if ever face the X-Men again.

Definitely don't see Aquaman aka most likely named something else Underwaterman? Sea King? being a lowlevel Thor rogue. He'll definitely be a planetary problem read my other post here.

Not to mention if other characters in his mythos join up with him, Mera, Orm, Garth and Atlan would all be problems.

[Marvel-Studios Rep]

So basically Aquaman accomplishes what Magneto couldn't?

At least the X-men's will be alive as I don't see Arthur going out of his way to kill all of them, although he can be damn ruthless when it comes to protecting his people/kingdom. As for the avengers, I doubt they want to go to full-scale war with a guy who can literally drown the Earth population if he desires.

[Shellhead]

Where does this scenario leave Magneto? Is he not in the Marvel Universe?

Because no Magneto would mean no Scarlet Witch or Quicksilver (or Polaris). Which would lead to a fun alternate scenario for Avengers #16. What two other villains would reform and join Cap's Kooky Quartet in place of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch? Maybe Black Widow and Mimic.

And what would happen to the various evil mutants that followed Magneto? They wouldn't have any common cause with Aquaman. Maybe Unus and Blob would join Ringmaster's Circus of Crime. Mastermind maybe joins the Hellfire Club sooner. Toad might try crime once and give up after getting whupped by Daredevil or something. The Savage Land Mutates never get created.

[Beadle]

There'd be a Wanda, Pietro and Lorna. They'd just be called The Turbot Witch, Quicksilverfish and Polestarfish.

Heh. A Fish Called Wanda.

[Shellhead]

There is a popular observation about Marvel's mutant culture having polarized around two competing visions: Professor X as the Martin Luthor King of mutant rights, and Magneto as the Malcolm X of mutant rights. If there is never a Magneto in the Marvel Universe, it is possible that Xavier's dream is more successful. The same mutants still get recruited directly by Xavier while others initially use their powers for selfish ends. But as the X-Men defeat each criminal mutant, many could be more quickly reformed without Magneto around presenting a more confrontational model of interaction with humans.

Or more likely, an alternative mutant rises to take Magneto's role as Malcolm X. But who? Mesmero could just directly mind control mutants, so he wouldn't bother becoming an inspirational leader. Mystique is too secretive. Mister Sinister is brilliant but crazy. Maybe the Hellfire Club, since they operated their own dark version of Xavier's school for a while.

[Shellhead]

Does Arthur also displace Namor in this scenario? Or are there two Atlantises?

No Namor would retroactively have an impact on World War II, since he was a key member of the Invaders, unless maybe another stepped into his role, like Namora. No Namor would mean no Captain America, unless Aquaman makes that discovery instead. And Reed wouldn't need to worry about Sue and Arthur, because Aquaman is happily married to a beautiful redhead. Does Aquaman start working with Doctor Doom? And would Aquaman join the Defenders and then much later the Avengers?

And maybe eventually join the X-Men? It just occurred to me that Aquaman actually is a mutant, because most of his people lack the ability to telepathically communicate with sea creatures. So maybe Aquaman would get wrapped up in all the mutant drama. However, he would still have a different stance than Magneto since Arthur is accepted by his people as their ruler. Aquaman is much more likely to be concerned about ocean pollution and other environmental issues.

If there is still a Namor, and two Atlantises, would there be war between the two realms? Or would they be allies? And if there is just one Atlantis, I can't see either Arthur or Namor being thrilled about handing over the crown to the other guy.

[Marvel-Studios Rep]

Where does this scenario leave Magneto? Is he not in the Marvel Universe?

Because no Magneto would mean no Scarlet Witch or Quicksilver (or Polaris). Which would lead to a fun alternate scenario for Avengers #16. What two other villains would reform and join Cap's Kooky Quartet in place of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch? Maybe Black Widow and Mimic.

And what would happen to the various evil mutants that followed Magneto? They wouldn't have any common cause with Aquaman. Maybe Unus and Blob would join Ringmaster's Circus of Crime. Mastermind maybe joins the Hellfire Club sooner. Toad might try crime once and give up after getting whupped by Daredevil or something. The Savage Land Mutates never get created.

Well, while Magneto as the mutant with the powers he had would no longer exist, I believe Erik would still be born and struggle in the camps. The difference this time is that he would just be an unfortunate bot whose Latent Mutant gene never gets activated. So Wanda and Pietro would still probably be born in theory, but they may have an entirely different upbringing. Hell, I see Magneto actually be a rather sympathetic, albeit raged filled father at the unfair treatment of Jewish people and eventually mutants. Guy might be much like the Magneto of old, but one who now only fights with words and in political debates.

There is a popular observation about Marvel's mutant culture having polarized around two competing visions: Professor X as the Martin Luthor King of mutant rights, and Magneto as the Malcolm X of mutant rights. If there is never a Magneto in the Marvel Universe, it is possible that Xavier's dream is more successful. The same mutants still get recruited directly by Xavier while others initially use their powers for selfish ends. But as the X-Men defeat each criminal mutant, many could be more quickly reformed without Magneto around presenting a more confrontational model of interaction with humans.

Or more likely, an alternative mutant rises to take Magneto's role as Malcolm X. But who? Mesmero could just directly mind control mutants, so he wouldn't bother becoming an inspirational leader. Mystique is too secretive. Mister Sinister is brilliant but crazy. Maybe the Hellfire Club, since they operated their own dark version of Xavier's school for a while.

There is always the possibility that another could have taken someone's place. Moving over to the world of fiction, I think many of the lost lambs Magneto turned into lions may still flock to their shepard.

Does Arthur also displace Namor in this scenario? Or are there two Atlantises?

No Namor would retroactively have an impact on World War II, since he was a key member of the Invaders, unless maybe another stepped into his role, like Namora. No Namor would mean no Captain America, unless Aquaman makes that discovery instead. And Reed wouldn't need to worry about Sue and Arthur, because Aquaman is happily married to a beautiful redhead. Does Aquaman start working with Doctor Doom? And would Aquaman join the Defenders and then much later the Avengers?

And maybe eventually join the X-Men? It just occurred to me that Aquaman actually is a mutant, because most of his people lack the ability to telepathically communicate with sea creatures. So maybe Aquaman would get wrapped up in all the mutant drama. However, he would still have a different stance than Magneto since Arthur is accepted by his people as their ruler. Aquaman is much more likely to be concerned about ocean pollution and other environmental issues.

If there is still a Namor, and two Atlantises, would there be war between the two realms? Or would they be allies? And if there is just one Atlantis, I can't see either Arthur or Namor being thrilled about handing over the crown to the other guy.

I didn't think about that, but it makes sense that there would be two Atlantises in Marvel now. After all, there was a story arc in Dc that there were many different similar Ocean Civilizations. As for war, even with Aquaman's agenda here, I doubt he'd want War. Namor on the other hand might not be able to leave with there being another man claiming to be King of the seas.

Really doubt Namor has any kind of chance against this version of Aquaman, but if he manages to survive long enough for events in Marvel to move where he gets the power-gem, it's an entirely different ballgame.