X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Discuss chronologies for characters in the main "Marvel Universe"

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metaldragon
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X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by metaldragon »

I was wondering if the back up stories of Apocalypse's life are canon? I know the main story in X-Factor Forever is an alternative timeline... but if that future diverged only at the point where Whilce Portacio took over the original title and Louise Simonson left, would Apocalypse's life up to that point still be part of the original timeline? Has there been anything in X-Factor Forever to specifically contradict his established backstory so far? Can this be used to supplement what has already been established (with caveats)?
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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by JephYork »

My take is, nothing in any "Forever" series is canon to Earth-616. Not even flashbacks to a point prior to the *presumed* divergence point when the creator originally left. If we get a flashback to prior to that point, my feeling is that the timeframe of that flashback should then be considered the divergence point.

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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by metaldragon »

JephYork wrote:My take is, nothing in any "Forever" series is canon to Earth-616. Not even flashbacks to a point prior to the *presumed* divergence point when the creator originally left. If we get a flashback to prior to that point, my feeling is that the timeframe of that flashback should then be considered the divergence point.

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Woah, so that means this timeline diverged when Apocalypse was a young warrior, before he discovered Ship then? He talks about the history of the Deviants and Eternals and how he subtly manipulated them and contributed to the destruction of Lemuria. We're talking ANCIENT history. Looks like he's been around since Conan the Barbarian's time or so. For X-Factor, their history is the same up until the end of XF 64 but for Apocalypse, something diverged the moment he first manifested his mutant ability and was banished from his tribe? Ouch.
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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by JephYork »

That'd be my take, yes. This timeline diverged thousands of years ago, but was remarkably similar to Earth-616 until the events of this mini.

(In other words -- I'm inventing a technobabble answer because I don't think any retcons from "Forever" series should be made canon. This series isn't intended as a "divergent reality story", it's intended as a fun exercise to let the original writer come back and keep writing where they left off. We shouldn't be beholden to whatever they decide to reveal about *their* versions of the MU's past.)

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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by Col_Fury »

Right. Over in X-Men Forever, they revealed that
Spoiler:
Sabretooth is Wolverine's dad
. That clearly doesn't fit with the regular Marvel Universe.
.
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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by DonCampbell »

metaldragon wrote:Woah, so that means this timeline diverged when Apocalypse was a young warrior, before he discovered Ship then? He talks about the history of the Deviants and Eternals and how he subtly manipulated them and contributed to the destruction of Lemuria. We're talking ANCIENT history. Looks like he's been around since Conan the Barbarian's time or so. For X-Factor, their history is the same up until the end of XF 64 but for Apocalypse, something diverged the moment he first manifested his mutant ability and was banished from his tribe? Ouch.
Actually, the point of divergence is located MUCH farther back in the past than when Apocalypse first manifested his mutant powers. For one thing, in the Earth-616 timeline, Apocalypse (despite his claims of being "Earth's first mutant") was born in ancient Egypt in the year 2957 B.C. (as shown in the RISE OF APOCALYPSE miniseries). As such, this new 20,000-year-old Apocalypse is about four times as old as Apocalypse-616.

Also, the dinosaurs in this new timeline were destroyed by the Celestial known as Gammenon the Gatherer but on Earth-616 the dinosaurs began to die out 65 million years ago because the Elder Goddess Gaea chose the mammals over them. Her brother Set opposed her plans and attacked her which caused Gaea's son Atum to come to defend his mother. The resulting battle between Set and Atum (transformed into Demogorge the God-Eater) disrupted Earth's climate so much that the dinosaurs were unable to survive, and they died out, thus allowing the mammals to prosper.

So, this timeline diverged from Earth-616 at least 65 million years ago. That's REALLY ANCIENT history.

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Re: X-Factor Forever - Apocalypse

Post by wolframbane »

It is even possible this is not even a divergent Earth. There are two kinds of alternate Earths, the parallel Earth and the divergent Earth. A divergent Earth is when a timeline diverges away from a core timeline, resulting in multiple Earths with a shared past. A parallel Earth is an Earth that is similar to a core universe, but has never diverged from it. Such as an Earth where things are similar, but where always separate from one another, like say the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe, which are similar, but have no shared origins.
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