Retcons, short for retroactive continuity, get a pretty bad rap in comic book circles. Usually, when you mention retcons it’s to call out how much you dislike something they did, or the negative impact it would have on a character going forward. Nobody likes it when their favorite characters or stories are fundamentally changed for arbitrary or bad reasons, after all. However, retcons are actually very important to the comic book medium. They allow for writers to finagle with certain plot threads and facts to better elevate the story they want to tell, streamline certain confusing aspects, or get rid of something that bogs down a character. When done correctly, retcons actually elevate the story and character instead of tearing it down.
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In fact, some of the most beloved and normalized facts in comics are retcons themselves! Just look at a universally known event like Captain America being frozen in ice at the end of World War Two. It was a massive retcon, but became a core piece of his entire character, making him a man out of time. So, to bring in some positivity about a usually looked-down on subject, we’re going to be looking at ten Marvel retcons that changed things for the better, but don’t quite get the love or attention that they deserve.
10) Wolverine’s Healing Factor
If anyone knows about retcons, it’s Wolverine. Although he’s known for being able to heal from anything, that wasn’t always the case. When Wolverine debuted as a villain for the Incredible Hulk and later as an X-Man, his only powers were his retractable claws, adamantium skeleton, and animal-like senses. In fact, he didn’t develop this ability until Uncanny X-Men #142, seven years after his first appearance. His ability to heal faster than normal was mentioned off-hand once or twice before, but this is the first time we see him healing from a near-fatal wound in the middle of combat, and even then, his healing factor is much weaker than what it will one day become. Healing from anything is so intrinsically tied to Wolverine’s character that it’s hard to imagine him not, but there was a significant time when he couldn’t.
9) Cable Is Nathan Summers
When Cable was first introduced, he was pretty much nothing more than a Terminator knock-off. He was a mysterious time-traveler who clearly had a connection to Marvel’s present day, but that was kept purposefully vague because his origin wasn’t ironed out as of then. Several possible theories floated around through a couple stories, with some very strong teasing that he was actually the time-traveling father of Mister Fantastic, but his actual origin was codified in Cable (1993) #7. He was revealed to be Nathan Summers, the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor who was taken away from them due to the actions of Mister Sinister. He’s since become a core member of the wild Summers family tree, but back in the day, his origins remained a mystery to everyone, including his writers.
8) Joe Fixit
Everyone knows that the Hulk is the Jade Giant, but back when he first appeared, he actually had grey skin. However, that color was pretty hard to keep consistent back with old school printing capabilities, so they changed him to be green instead. While this story could have ended there, an explanation for this discrepancy in colors was provided in Incredible Hulk #324, which explained that the Grey Hulk was sort of the first stage of the Hulk transformation, being less powerful but a bit smarter. This was expanded on in Incredible Hulk #347 with the introduction of the Joe Fixit identity for Grey Hulk. This change of saying there were two forms of the Hulk opened the doors for all the awesome other versions of the Hulk down the line, and gave us a pretty great character in Joe to boot.
7) Uncle Ben’s Famous Quote
Everyone knows the phrase that defines Spider-Man’s character; with great power, there must also come great responsibility. Originally, this was said by the narrator at the tail end of Spidey’s introduction issue, but was retroactively changed to something Uncle Ben specifically told Peter instead of just teaching him. The first instance of this came in Spider-Man vs Wolverine, where Peter recalled this phrase as being said by Uncle Ben. This change allowed for this famous motto to be something that Peter can pass on to others in these words, instead of just in idea form. It allowed for Marvel’s most famous hero to say their most famous quote, which is worth this retcon in and of itself.
6) Sam Wilson’s Real Origin
When he was first introduced, Sam Wilson was a social worker whose dedication to helping people led him to a chance meeting with Steve Rodgers, and the two became close friends and superhero partners. However, it was later revealed in Captain America #186 that this origin was a lie implanted in his head by Red Skull with the Cosmic Cube to turn him into a sleeper agent to destroy Captain America.
Skull said that Sam was actually an L.A. pimp in bed with the mafia, who met Cap after the plane of contraband he tried to commandeer for himself crashed on the island where Steve was. This origin was hated because it had about every negative stereotype it could shoved together, and it was retconned away in All-New Captain America #3, where it was revealed that Red Skull implanted the second origin as fake memories to try and discredit Sam. All in all, I’d much rather accept that a Nazi threw a bunch of harmful stereotypes at a wall because he was salty, and keep Sam’s incredible original origin in tack any day of the week.
5) MJ Knew Peter’s Identity
For a long time, Spider-Man kept his identity a secret from everyone, even the people he loved. That even included Mary Jane, but that all changed in Amazing Spider-Man #257, which revealed that she knew Peter was Spider-Man from the very beginning. This completely recontextualized MJ’s character, making every reread of previous issues all the more fascinating with the idea that she knew the entire time. It made her into a far more interesting and assertive character, covering for Peter whenever things got tight instead of being oblivious, and it did it without actually changing any of the actual events. It’s a fantastic retcon that only adds instead of taking away, and really helped develop a lot of who MJ was.
4) Alicia Masters the Skrull
While plenty of relationships in comics tend to only last a single run, others are simply meant to be, and that’s the case with the Thing and Alicia Masters. However, this wasn’t always true, as back in the day Ben and Alicia broke up, and she actually started dating Johnny Storm after the Thing refused to return to Earth from Battleworld. The two wound up even getting married, though many fans weren’t happy with Johnny marrying his best friend’s ex.
This was resolved in Fantastic Four #357, when it was revealed that Johnny’s wife was actually a Skrull named Lyja, sent to infiltrate the team after they captured the real Alicia, who the FF later rescued. This not only cleared up the weirdness of why Alicia would fall for Johnny, but paved the way for the return of one of Marvel’s best relationships in Thing and Alicia, who today are not only a loving couple, but loving parents.
3) The Second Steve Rodgers
Like I said earlier, one of the best retcons ever was having Captain America be trapped in the ice at the end of WWII, but the reason it was such a massive retcon is because Cap and Bucky had adventures in the 1950s. This was explained in Captain America #153, which revealed that Captain America-obsessed fanboy William Burnside rediscovered the original Super Soldier Serum formula. He had plastic surgery to look like Steve, even legally changing his name to Steve Rodgers, alongside a Bucky superfan who did the same. They both injected themselves with the formula, but because they weren’t exposed to Vita-Rays like the original, they wound up going crazy. This was a perfect explanation that provided a really interesting new villain, and tied up any and all loose ends.
2) Scarlet Spider
Way back in the first-ever Spider-Man clone storyline, the Jackal created a clone of Spider-Man that was thought to have died at the conclusion of their battle. However, Spectacular Spider-Man #216 revealed that he had actually survived and created his own identity as Ben Reilly. While his return heralded the arrival of the much-hated “Clone Saga,” it also gave us one of Spider-Man’s most interesting and best supporting characters, bringing him back from the ashes of the smokestack he was left in to go on and be a truly spectacular superhero in his own right.
1) Weapon Plus
Easily one of the smartest and most accepted retcons in all of Marvel was the reveal that Wolverine wasn’t Weapon X, but Weapon 10, part of the Weapon Plus initiative to create the ultimate super soldier. Not only that, but the original Weapon I was Captain America, and every entry after that had been trying to mimic his success. New X-Men #128 completely changed the game of everything we thought we knew about Wolverine and his past, and perfectly tied him and Captain America together in this beautiful web that spanned the entire Marvel Universe. This is the gold standard for a retcon; it changed everything in a way that didn’t rewrite past events and only added new and awesome lore to the world, while pushing the story forward in really interesting ways. This one is so accepted that it’s almost always overlooked, but we need to pay it its due.
So there we have ten retcons that changed everything for the better, but are hardly ever called attention to like they should be. While retcons get a bad rap, when they’re done right, they can elevate the comic and every comic before and after it to a whole new level.
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