Time Travel can be tricky business. Sometimes, not even the Superheroes have the acumen to pull it off successfully. Here are some glaring examples.
The Flash Creates Twisted Alternate Reality
The Flash is one of the most powerful superheroes in existence. With access to the vast energies of the Speed Force, Barry Allen can run faster than light itself. The laws of physics do not apply to The Flash. He can run back and forth in time if he wants to all thanks to his Speed Force powers. Barry once tried to save his mother who was killed when he was a child, by running to the past and stop the murder. Though he succeeded, he broke time itself. The resulting butterfly effect led to the creation of the twisted Flashpoint Timeline. Bruce Wayne was dead. There was never a Superman. Themyscira and Atlantis were locked in a war threatening the entire planet.
Also Read: Alternate Reality Versions of the Flash Faster Than the Original
Iron Lad is Kang the Conqueror
Iron Lad is a superhero hailing from the far future of the Marvel Mainstream Universe. His real name is Nathaniel Richards. Realizing that a grave threat is about endanger the entire timeline of the planet putting Earth’s existence in jeopardy, Nathaniel Richards dons up a suit of armor and travels to the past. Richards gathers a team of superheroes called the Young Avengers to stop this threat, which is revealed to be Kang the Conqueror, the Time Travelling Warlord. Nate reveals himself to be a future descendant of Reed Richards. It is revealed in the end that Iron Lad is actually an adolescent Kang and his journey to the past is what would push him over the edge and one day make him a super villain.
Teen Titans Take over the Planet
The Teen Titans are not as popular a team as the Justice League. But they do have some interesting story arcs for the comic book fans. One of those arcs is Titans Tomorrow. The Teen Titans and the Legion of Superheroes team up to stop the Fatal Five Hundred. After the enemy is defeated, the Titans find themselves 10 years into the Future. In this future timeline, the Titans have gone rogue and taken over the planet. Each Titan is now a tyrant. Titans East is a rogue superhero faction that opposes the new Titan Dictators. The evil future Titans even travel back to the past to make sure the Titans Tomorrow timeline happens at all costs.
Wolverine Creates Age of Ultron
After being distraught with the world, Hank Pym sets his mind to creating a guardian angel for humanity. Hank Pym is the Smartest Mind in the Marvel Comic book Universe. He uses the neural framework of his brain to create Ultron, a powerful A.I. Ultron goes rogue and creates the Age of Ultron reality. Only a few remaining heroes survive Ultron’s rampage who easily takes over the world. Wolverine and Invisible Woman travel to the past to stop Hank Pym from creating Ultron. Wolverine kills Pym so that he never gets to create Ultron in the first place. When Logan returns to the future, it is revealed that Hank Pym’s death was what drove Ultron to deem the entire human race as unworthy.
Also Read: 10 X-Men Comics We Want the MCU To Adapt
Superman Makes the Moon Explode
A Super Villain known as Linear Man was hell bent on dragging Booster Gold back to the future. Superman tried to stop Linear Man from doing so. As a result, Superman found him-self bouncing through time. Each of his time trips were powered by some mysterious but massive explosions. Superman found himself in the Wild West, Ancient Arthurian England, and even the 30th Century with each jump. The time travel jumps end with Superman trapped in the future. He has defeated the Linear Man but the twist in the tale is that the very explosions that helped him travel across time to defeat Linear Man were also responsible for destroying the moon. Ripping apart the Moon had been Linear Man’s original intention all along.
Legion kills Charles Xavier
Legion is the son of Professor X. He is an Omega Level Mutant with many abilities linked to the many personas that hid within his fractured psyche. Legion has multiple personality disorder and each of his personas has a specific mutant super power that can only be activated if the said persona takes over. One of the many powers Legion has is the ability to time travel. He uses it to go to the past and kill Magneto so that he never gets to lead a mutant extremist faction, thus making the world a better place. When he is about to kill Magneto in the past, he accidentally kills Charles Xavier instead. Without Professor X leading the X-Men, a new bleak timeline called the Age of Apocalypse arises.
Death of Super Boy
Crisis on Infinite Earths had some ever lasting impact on the entire DC continuity. The repercussions of that time travel arc were felt even by the Legion of Superheroes. After Crisis, the rewritten timeline meant there was never a Super Boy to lead the Legionnaires. That was because Superman never traveled to the Future and became a member of the Legion of Superheroes. To correct that continuity error, DC came up with a crossover story arc between Superman and Action Comics. Super Boy and the Legion fight the Time Trapper, who has trapped the world ina pocket dimension. Super Boy is forced to sacrifice his life to save countless innocent lives, thus correcting the error in time.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
The Crisis on Infinite Earths story arc is one of the most definitive and genre-defining plot lines ever concocted by DC. It shows us heroes from all over the universe and from all over history – past, present, and the far future, coming together to stop the Anti-Monitor from re-writing the Multi-Verse. The story ends with the use of Dawn of Time to rewrite the entire history of the DC Multi-Verse. But Crisis on Infinite Earths has some lasting effects on the DC Universe the likes of which are still felt today. One of the major impacts of the arc was the absence of Barry Allen for more than 23 years. Barry returned decades later to the official DC franchise.
Shadow Cat Dooms Her Timeline
Kate Pryde travels back to the past to restore time and erase the dark toned Days of Future Past reality. What she instead does is create an entirely new timeline that is completely different from the original future timeline. Her timeline stayed the same. In fact, it got way worse.
