This is the Marvel Comics 2 Universe. This particular reality has been designated Earth-982. First appearance: What If..!? vol. 2 #105. Most of the writing comes from Tom DeFalco.
The Marvel Comics 2 Universe is set in the present day, but suggests that the main Marvel Universe was set around fifteen years ago, One example of this being Captain America being on the verge of retirement as he is so weakened. Although many characters are in this universe exactly as they are on Earth 616, due to the time difference some characters are of a different age, and some younger characters have come through as main characters.
Main Characters
Daughter of Spider-Man (now retired) and Mary Jane.
J2 aka Zane Yama
Son of Juggernaut (Cain Marco and Sachi Yama). He discovered his powers whilst being bullied at school. Although his father is missing, he eventually reunites his parents with the help of Doc Magus. He has romantic feelings for Thor's daughter, Thena.
Daughter of Wolverine and Elektra
Son of Ben Reilly, he inherited his powers genetically as well as having the powers of the souls of Daredevil and Zarathos. Although unsure about her allegiances at first, Darkdevil is now a strong ally of his 'cousin' Spider-Girl, whom he constantly teases.
The new sorcerer supreme, he had the title handed down to him by Doctor Strange when he retired.
Shannon Carter grew up idolizing Captain America. She was offered Avengers membership when A-Next formed because they knew of her obsession since she started working there as a tour guide. She was eventually given a version of Captain America's shield from another dimension.
Only Human Torch and Thing remain from the original Fantastic Four. Lyja, Johnny's wife, the robot Big Brain (storing all of Reed's intelligence) and Franklin Richards (Reed and Susan's son) make up the rest of the team. Invisible Woman is holding together holes in reality from the negative zone with Mr. Fantastic at her side.
The new team of Avengers who formed after the current Avengers disbanded. Members include:
Stinger (daughter of Scott Lang)
Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson, son of Eric Masterson)
Argo (son of Hercules) Sabreclaw (son of Wolverine)
Thena
Blacklight (daughter of Photon and Duane Freeman)
Coal Tiger (son of Black Panther)
Stature is Sting, and a Avenger
Differences
Aunt May is deceased.
Peter Parker retired after his final battle with the Green Goblin cost him his leg. He decided not to let Reed construct him a new biological leg, choosing instead to dedicate his time to his new family. Peter and Mary Jane are still together.
Captain America was killed by Loki.
Wonder Man is still deceased.
Thor is the ruler of Asgard, he did not destroy it.
Scott Lang is alive.
The event Avengers Disassembled never happened.
The Fantastic Four later became Fantastic Five.
Story Arcs
The two major story arcs to take place in the MC2 universe are Last Hero Standing and Last Planet standing.
Loki begins to kidnap heroes and turn them against each other in order to defeat the Avengers. Loki is the one responsible for the formation of A-Next in the first place, they came together in order to defeat him. The Avengers and the Fantastic Four look at different suspects for what happened including Mole Man. However it's Wild Thing's scent of her father Wolverine that leads Captain America, Spider-Girl, Thunderstrike, J2 and herself through a portal to Asgard. At this time, Loki begins to release heroes back to the real world including Spider-Man, who starts a battle with Daredevil. After Captain America, Wild Thing and Thunderstrike are captured, they begin to think that Spider-Girl and J2 have ran away and left them, but J2 breaks them out of their prison where they are captive. Loki then releases The Hulk to fight with the brainwashed heroes. He brushes past everyone with ease until Doc Magus intervenes.
All the Avengers, including reserve Avengers try to figure out what Reed and Susan were trying to say in their message from space before they got cut off. What the Fantastic Five find out, is that Galactus is currently making his way through the galaxy, on his way to earth. The Avengers stop battling the Revengers to help see off the threat to Earth. Meanwhile, Dominas battles Gladiator and the Shi'ar Empire. Before Galactus reaches Earth, the Silver Surfer finds out about Galactus' plan, which is to destroy the universe to allow a new Big Bang to happen and a new universe to form. The surfer defeats Dominas and 'merges' with Galactus using his newly absorbed powers. The Silver Surfer then undoes all the damage that Galactus caused.
