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One version of the Dark Phoenix Saga from a classic issue of What If…? revealed how poorly things could turn out if Conan the Barbarian showed up.
One of the most dangerous characters in Western fiction is Conan the Barbarian, a violent warrior/adventurer who throws himself into serious conflicts regardless of the danger to himself and others. This has led to Conan being involved in some incredibly dangerous situations that get out of hand in the worst ways possible.
In a classic issue of What If…?, Conan the Barbarian traded places with Wolverine right in the middle of the X-Men’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” — and his intervention ended up getting the entire universe wiped out.
What If…? #16 (by Glenn Herdling and Gary Kwapisz) focused on a world that was in the middle of their own “Dark Phoenix Saga.” While on the Blue Area of the Moon, the X-Men were tasked with defeating the Shi’ar Imperial Guard to save the life of their teammate, Jean Grey. While there, Wolverine encountered the Watcher, who sent him flying through multiple realities to keep him out of his affairs. In the core-Marvel timeline of Earth-616, the feral mutant returned in time to play a pivotal role in stalling Dark Phoenix. However, that was not the case on Earth-90816. In this reality, the Watcher ended up leaving Wolverine stranded in the ancient realm of Hyboria, home to Conan the Barbarian. Wolverine became a major figure in this realm, falling in love with Red Sonja and becoming a noble warrior.
At one point during his early adventures in that realm, Wolverine ended up in a confrontation with Conan. After battling a demonic force, Conan was sent back to the Blue Area of the Moon in Wolverine’s place. Confused and unaware of the chaos taking place on the moon, Conan mistook Jean Grey for Red Sonja and the X-Men as her enemies. Sneaking up behind them, Conan knocked out Cyclops with a blow to the back of the head. This shattered the psychic rapport between Scott Summers and Jean Grey that had kept the Dark Phoenix at bay, letting loose the full might of Jean’s uncontrollable power. As a result, the Dark Phoenix was unleashed, wiping out the X-Men, Conan, and the entire universe.
With Conan now a powerful figure in the modern Marvel Universe — recently fighting alongside the rest of the Savage Avengers to save the world from the machinations of Kulan Gath — it’s worth remembering just how dangerous of a wildcard the barbarian can be. Even now, Conan has turned his back on the other heroes and made an alliance with Kang and Doctor Doom. The barbarian might be a dangerous enough warrior to hold his own against Wolverine, but he’s also a massive brawler who doesn’t have the experience or knowledge of someone who’s lived in the present day.
While Conan’s experience in the Marvel Universe has made him a valuable ally, his unpredictability still makes him dangerous. Events like the ones that resulted in the end of Earth-90816 remain a possibility, with Conan’s lack of awareness of the major players in the world making his potential intervention capable of ruining entire realities. If he’s not careful, Conan could make a similar mistake in the core Marvel Universe and bring about some serious damage. It’s something that the heroes might want to keep in mind, especially as Savage Avengers comes to an end and Conan potentially becomes more of a fixture in the current universe.
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