7 Great Marvel Comics Time-Travel Stories, Ranked

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Marvel Comics has explored time travel extensively throughout its history, and while often associated with the X-Men, it’s not limited to them. The concept really took off with the ‘Days of Future Past’ storyline, which established that changing the past doesn’t alter the present, but instead creates alternate realities and new Earths within the multiverse. Before that, time travel themes appeared in ‘The Fantastic Four’, and later in stories featuring the Avengers and the Hulk, among others. Great time travel narratives are a widespread element within the broader Marvel universe.

Here’s a ranking of seven great time-travel stories from Marvel Comics. To ensure fairness, we’ve limited the selection to just one story featuring the X-Men.

7) Fantastic Four #291-292

Following the success of the X-Men’s time travel story in Days of Future Past, the Fantastic Four tackled the concept in issues #291-292 of The Fantastic Four. The story began with the team believing Reed Richards had died in space. When they returned home, they found themselves in New York City in 1936! This time-travel adventure, which also featured Nick Fury, focused on Invisible Woman, She-Hulk, and the Human Torch as they attempted to return to their own time.

Okay, so this story was wild. Apparently, Nick Fury tried to go back in time to assassinate Hitler, but the Fantastic Four actually tried to stop him! It only works if you completely ignore the fact that Marvel has tons of alternate realities. Otherwise, you’re left wondering why Fury didn’t just take Hitler out and save everyone! It wasn’t about changing history, though. It was more of a moral question, like Sue Storm pointed out – the people Hitler killed were already gone, and killing him in this timeline would just create a whole new set of problems. It was a really unique take on time travel, and honestly, it messed with the idea of paradoxes in a way I hadn’t really seen before.

6) Hulk: Future Imperfect

The Maestro is an incredibly powerful version of the Hulk. He initially lived a life similar to Bruce Banner on the main Marvel Earth (Earth-616). However, after a devastating event wiped out most of humanity, the Hulk took control of the remaining survivors in America. This led to a complex time-travel plot where the original Hulk traveled to the future and discovered the Maestro ruling as a ruthless dictator.

This version of Hulk was less powerful than Maestro, but he cleverly outsmarted him, defeating him by sending him back in time. This story was so well-received that Marvel revisited it later, and in 2020, they finally revealed how Maestro originally gained his power.

5) Kang the Conqueror

Kang the Conqueror is known for traveling through time, but the 2021 comic series bearing his name is a standout. Created by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Carlos Magno, the story features an older, defeated Kang who pushes his younger self toward a dangerous path to alter the past.

I’ve seen a lot of stories featuring Kang messing with the timeline – whether it’s his earlier incarnations like Rama Tut or Immortus, or the Iron Lad phase. This series felt a lot like the Iron Lad story, with a young Kang determined not to become the villain everyone expects, and desperately trying to rewrite his own future. Honestly, I think this might be one of the strongest Kang narratives I’ve ever read. It really drives home the idea that time is totally meaningless to this guy, the Conqueror just operates on a different plane.

4) Avengers Forever

The 1998 comic storyline Avengers Forever spanned 12 issues and featured Kang the Conqueror. However, unlike other stories, Kang wasn’t the central figure. Instead, it brought together Avengers from various points in time for a time-traveling mission. Their goal was to prevent a devastating war between Kang and Immortus that could shatter the timeline. The story began when Immortus attempted to kill an older Rick Jones, but Kang intervened and saved him.

To end the war, Rick needed to gather Avengers from different points in time. This included Captain America, who had become disheartened after the events of the ‘Secret Empire’ storyline, an unstable Hank Pym who had lost his memory, Hawkeye after fighting in the Kree-Skrull War, the present-day versions of Hank Pym and Wasp, a future version of Songbird, and Captain Marvel from even further in the future. The resulting battle spanned across time, making for a thrilling and fun time-travel story in Marvel Comics.

3) Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine

Wolverine and Spider-Man make a fantastic team, and they’ve teamed up in Marvel Comics many times. One memorable adventure is found in the 2010 six-issue miniseries, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine. The story begins with both heroes mysteriously transported back to the distant past – 65 million years ago – after a fight with a villain called Orb.

The story took an amazing turn when Spider-Man and Wolverine were unexpectedly sent through time. Their travels included a terrifying glimpse of the future, where Doctor Doom, empowered by the Phoenix Force, had destroyed the world. They also visited the Old West, where Spider-Man fell in love with a woman named Sara before being brought back to the present by the Time Variance Authority. The team-up between Spider-Man and Wolverine was fantastic, and the story itself was incredibly well-written and engaging.

2) Age of Ultron

Age of Ultron’s time-travel plot is a bit confusing because the story spends a lot of time on time travel and not enough on Ultron, who was meant to be the main focus. But if you can overlook that, it’s a compelling story that shows how trying to prevent a bad future by altering the past usually fails. The story depicts a future where Ultron succeeds in taking over and destroying the world.

When Wolverine traveled back in time to prevent Ultron’s rise, his attempt to fix things actually made the situation worse. He tried to stop Ultron by killing Hank Pym before he could create it, but this led to Earth being conquered during the Kree-Skrull War. Pym’s death created a new, equally terrible future, forcing Wolverine to go back again and prevent himself from killing Pym – creating a confusing paradox. The story ultimately showed that changing the past always leads to unforeseen problems, a common idea explored in Marvel comics.

1) X-Men: Days of Future Past

The classic time-travel story that launched many others in Marvel Comics began in 1991 with Days of Future Past. It famously opened with a bleak future in The Uncanny X-Men #141, showing most mutants either dead or imprisoned in camps. The story revealed that an assassination attempt by Mystique in the past led to the creation of Sentinels, robots designed to control the mutant population.

Though brief at just two issues, this story established the blueprint for Marvel’s time travel narratives for years to come. It involved Kitty Pryde traveling to the past to prevent Mystique from altering the timeline, and while she succeeded, the story also introduced the concept of alternate realities created by these changes. This idea became a major element in future storylines like Age of Apocalypse, expanding on the innovative concepts first explored in this pivotal Marvel Comics event.

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2026-02-27 18:16