History AbortedArc / ComicBooks

* Jason Aaron was setting up a big team-up between Comicbook/{{Thanos}} and Comicbook/{{Hela|Marvel Comics}} in the pages of ''Thor'', one that promised to be big. Thanos' attraction to death extended to Hela, and the two were planning... something. It is handwaved away with Thanos basically saying he didn't really care about Hela, and the plot is dropped within the span of about half an issue.

* Jason Aaron was setting up a big team-up between Thanos and Hela in the pages of ''Thor'', one that promised to be big. Thanos' attraction to death extended to Hela, and the two were planning... something. It is handwaved away with Thanos basically saying he didn't really care about Hela, and the plot is dropped within the span of about half an issue.

** During the "Planet X" storyline, Comicbook/TheWasp and Havok had a daughter together named Katie while in the alternate future created by Earth's destruction. Katie was eventually kidnapped by Kang the Conqueror, who used her as leverage to get Havok to play along with his plans. Just prior to ''Comicbook/{{AXIS}}'', Immortus showed up and gave the couple hope by telling them they could get Katie back by conceiving a child at the right date and time, which he claimed would allow Katie to be reborn in the prime timeline. Both Wasp and Havok were written out of the series after ''AXIS'', and the subplot was later abandoned entirely once Remender left the book after ''Comicbook/SecretWars2015''. The romantic relationship between the two also ended offscreen by subsequent writers, pretty much removing any remaining hope for Katie's rebirth.

** During the "Planet X" storyline, Comicbook/TheWasp and Havok had a daughter together named Katie while in the alternate future created by Earth's destruction. Katie was eventually kidnapped by Kang the Conqueror, who used her as leverage to get Havok to play along with his plans. Just prior to ''Comicbook/{{AXIS}}'', Immortus showed up and gave the couple hope by telling them they could get Katie back by conceiving a child at the right time and date, which he claimed would allow Katie to be reborn in the prime timeline. Both Wasp and Havok were written out of the series after ''AXIS'', and the subplot was later abandoned entirely once Remender left the book after ''Comicbook/SecretWars2015''. The romantic relationship between the two also ended offscreen by subsequent writers, pretty much removing any remaining hope for Katie's rebirth.

** During the "Planet X" storyline, Comicbook/TheWasp and Havok had a daughter together named Katie while in the alternate future created by Earth's destruction. Katie was eventually kidnapped by Kang the Conqueror, who used her as leverage to get Havok to play along with his plans. Just prior to ''Comicbook/{{AXIS}}'', Immortus showed up and gave the couple hope by telling them they could get Katie back by conceiving a child at the right time and date, which would've allowed Katie to be reborn in the prime timeline. Both Wasp and Havok were written out of the series after ''AXIS'', and the subplot was later abandoned entirely once Remender left the book after ''Comicbook/SecretWars2015''. The romantic relationship between the two also ended offscreen by subsequent writers, pretty much removing any remaining hope for Katie's rebirth.

** ComicBook/UltimateWolverine: At the end of the series, Jimmy gets a Wolverine suit. He never actually used it.
* Rick Remender's second volume of ''Comicbook/UncannyAvengers'' ended with Comicbook/TheVision learning a horrible secret about Comicbook/ScarletWitch and refusing to divulge it in order to spare her feelings, and the High Evolutionary claiming that his genocidal actions were meant to safeguard the world from some unspecified oncoming threat. Both plot points were dropped when the book was cancelled and relaunched with a new creative team.

** In ''The Man Without Fear'', David Liss introduced an EvilCounterpart for T'Challa named the American Panther. The story ended with the villain defeated, but with his costume and mask unaccounted for. The final shot showed someone putting on the American Panther mask and cryptically saying "The world has been waiting for my return. Well...here I am," but the mystery of who this was ended up going nowhere. WordOfGod is that it would have eventually been revealed that the new American Panther was Kasper Cole, the young man who had briefly replaced T'Challa as the Black Panther near the end [[Creator/ChristopherPriestComics Christopher Priest]]'s run. The next time Kasper officially appeared, it was revealed that he'd given up on crime-fighting altogether, and there was no indication that he'd ever worn the American Panther suit.

** Reginald Hudlin's first run ended with Erik Killmonger's son swearing vengeance against T'Challa after watching Comicbook/MonicaRambeau kill his dad. The son hasn't been seen since then, and his planned revenge has yet to occur.

* For readers versed in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] {{superhero}}es, it is almost obvious that supporting character Mary Kramer from ''ComicBook/StarsAndSTRIPE'' was intended to be the new Merry the Gimmick Girl. She had a similar name (Mary Kramer vs. Merry Creamer), had red hair and was good with technology. She was even seen looking into a box with Merry's costume. This never happened, however, since ''Stars and STRIPE'' was canceled and the Star-Spangled Kid moved to Creator/GeoffJohns' other book, JSA (where she eventually became Stargirl) and Creator/GrantMorrison ended up creating a brand new "Gimmick Girl" homage for the Comicbook/SevenSoldiers of Victory mini-series.
** In the other direction, Geoff Johns kept implying that Stripesy's biological son (who was screwed over by Courtney stealing the Star Spangled Kid identity from him as well, and his dad openly favored his new step-daughter over his flesh and blood son and was quite neglectful of him in order to play super-hero with Courtney) would become a villain/his half-sister's rival. Sadly, while Stripesy's son would appear in Stares and STRIPES and JSA, ominously looming over Courtney and reminding her how she ruined his relationship with his father, the plot never culminated into anything.

** At the end of ''The Avengers'' #16, the departing Comicbook/IronMan told the new Avengers that they should track down Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk and convince him to rejoin the team, as they currently lacked the raw strength of the original lineup[[note]]As Iron Man, [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]], and [[Comicbook/AntMan Giant-Man]] all took a collective leave of absence.[[/note]] Despite the end of the issue promising "The Search for the Hulk!" the following month, issue #17 instead dealt with the Avengers facing the Comicbook/FantasticFour villain Mole Man, with the Hulk subplot essentially being abandoned within the first few pages.

*** The ending implied that the Reverse-Flashes of the Silver and Modern Age would be teaming up again (they had briefly worked together one time previously). Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse-Flash, had lost his powers but approached Eobard Thawne, the first Reverse-Flash, and told him that they could make each other "better". Within the story itself, Eobard had used one of Hunter's signature moves and even explicitly said he learned the trick from Hunter. Then ''Flashpoint'', a Flash story ''by the same writer'' rebooted the DC Universe, and Zolomon and Thawne didn't exist in this universe for ''years'', as a new Reverse-Flash was introduced and seemingly was the first. Later, Eobard would be reintroduced (and even later, he'd regain his pre-Flashpoint history and memories) and use some more of Hunter's signature moves. About a year later, Hunter ''would'' return, but by the time Hunter returned, ''Thawne'' was dead! However, the scene ''was'' followed up on: Eobard broke Hunter out a while later and explicitly brings up Hunter's offer. This SequelHook is eventually resolved, and we learn that Eobard and Hunter travelled into the future and worked together before a disagreement divided the two, and Eobard ended up dead.

** When the title and it's spin-off series, ''Sonic Universe'', was ultimately cancelled due to various factors, this left a ''lot'' lingering plot threads behind that the writers were hinting to explore later in rebuilding the new universe.

* In one of the issues of the ''Comicbook/{{Daken}}'' solo series, the title character reads a news article about the new ComicBook/CaptainAmerica being outed as ComicBook/BuckyBarnes, the man who killed Daken's mother. He's shown looking at Bucky's picture with an intense stare, and there is a strong implication that Daken is planning on confronting Barnes. The book was cancelled before this fight could occur.

* The end of the ''Jean Grey'' series had the younger Jean confronted by her older, modern day self, who said she wanted to talk. This isn't followed up on, young Jean goes back to ''X-Men: Blue'' while older Jean goes to ''X-Men: Red'', and the two have barely interacted since.

* ''ComicBook/SupermanRebirth'' had the interesting idea that New Earth Superman was keeping an eye on "potential" villains on Prime Earth based on his old history, and in particular had reached out to Prime Hank Henshaw and set him on a different path. Then ''Comicbook/SupermanReborn'' happened, much of New Earth Superman's history got ported to Prime Earth, and suddenly Hank's the Cyborg Superman again and working with General Zod.
* ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' was clearly developing a major villain who had been working behind the scenes and was never able to be named on panel before Flashpoint happened. Prior to this the Ünternet arc was cut short of its intended length and had its consequences watered down by executives.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'': Spotlight Blaster established the rivalry between the communications officers Soundwave and Blaster for the IDW continuity. Blaster was a significant Autobot soldier in charge of morale which caused Soundwave to attempt to assassinate him by brainwashing Beachcomber (which ultimately puts Beachcomber into a coma because of the brain damage). Blaster swears revenge on Soundwave and this is never followed up on. Beachcomber recovers completely offscreen, Blaster fades into the background, and Soundwave pulls a HeelFaceTurn with their rivalry never building to anything. The only thing the issue served to do was create a plot-hole around the Decepticon Bombshell which was dismissed with a hand wave.

*** ''Flash War'' had Wally West learn about his missing family from Hunter Zolomon, who had managed to bypass Flashpoint by travelling into the future alongside Eobard Thawne. The ending of the story resulted in time-travel being closed to speedsters, Wally's children still missing and Hunter on the run and in hiding. Wally resolves to find his children and Hunter... but before he can, he agrees to go to Sanctuary, a secret counselling facility for superheroes, in order to get some help with his personal issues. He's killed there, and Barry Allen gets wrapped up with investigating the new Forces, with Wally's kids and Hunter not being involved.

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' has had multiple versions of them: the Baby version of Age of Apocalypse, how Comicbook/{{Psylocke}} and ComicBook/JeanGrey switched powers, evil Nurse Annie being sold off into bondage to Elias Bogan by her evil son, Sebastian Shaw being courted by Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}}, ComicBook/{{Magneto}} joining forces with the Neo, Comicbook/KittyPryde supposedly having some sort of connection to the Neo, the mystery mutant that was present outside the Sentinel base in Uncanny X-Men #57-59, etc. One of the most infamous examples was the "Externals" plotline from Creator/RobLiefeld's ''Comicbook/XForce''. This secretive bloodline of mutants, all possessing immortality in addition to their mutant power, were built up to be the next big thing, with two former {{Big Bad}}s revealed to be members of the group, as was a member of the team, whom the others seemed to have various vaguely-defined "plans" for. However, Liefeld left the book before he could tie up all the plot threads, and the next creative team was quick to sweep everything about this story under the rug, with one of the three established characters in the group killing all the new ones and the other two revealed to not actually be Externals anyway. This happened so suddenly that many fans pointed out the fact that the story was essentially ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff and suspected Marvel canned the story to avoid litigation, though WordOfGod assures us this was not the case. There was also a subplot during Joe Kelly's run that hinted Jean might end up transforming into the Phoenix again. Kelly left the book before this could happen, though Creator/GrantMorrison ended up bringing back Jean's Phoenix abilities in his own run. There was also a plotline, dating back to the early nineties, where Bishop referred to Jubilee as "the last X-man", but that plot line has never resurfaced again.

*** The ending implied that the Reverse-Flashes of the Silver and Modern Age would be teaming up again (they had briefly worked together one time previously). Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse-Flash, had lost his powers but approached Eobard Thawne, the first Reverse-Flash, and told him that they could make each other "better". Within the story itself, Eobard had used one of Hunter's signature moves and even explicitly said he learned the trick from Hunter. Then ''Flashpoint'', a Flash story ''by the same writer'' rebooted the DC Universe, and Zolomon and Thawne didn't exist in this universe for ''years'', as a new Reverse-Flash was introduced and seemingly was the first. Later, Eobard would be reintroduced (and even later, he'd regain his pre-Flashpoint history and memories) and use some more of Hunter's signature moves. About a year later, Hunter ''would'' return, but by the time Hunter returned, ''Thawne'' was dead! However, the scene ''was'' followed up on: Eobard broke Hunter out a while later and explicitly brings up Hunter's offer.

** Comicbook/{{Stargirl|DC Comics}}'s backstory in the 2013 ''Justice League of America'' volume. In the first issue, it was stated that A.R.G.U.S. had been keeping her under close surveillance due to the unspecified fate of Sylvester Pemberton, the man who wielded the Cosmic Staff before her. After entering a burning building to rescue civilians, Stargirl discovered a glowing pentagram that'd been burned onto a wall, which led to the visibly scared heroine muttering Pemberton's name. As this was happening, Steve Trevor's narration mentioned that Stargirl always sleeps with her bedroom lights on, due to suffering from night terrors brought on by an unknown psychological trauma. All of these hints were seemingly meant to indicate that she was terrified of Pemberton, who'd been menacing her or had attacked her in the past. However, Creator/GeoffJohns left the series before this could be explored any further, and the new writer concocted an entirely different backstory for Courtney, one that firmly established Pemberton as a heroic figure who'd died quite some time ago. While Courtney's fear of the dark was seemingly explained by Shadow Thief having killed her little brother, both the pentagram and the suggestion that she was being stalked by Pemberton were never brought up again.

** At the end of ''The Avengers'' #16, the departing Comicbook/IronMan told the new Avengers that they should track down Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk and convince him to rejoin the team, as they currently lacked the raw strength of the original lineup[[note]]As Iron Man, [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]], and [[Comicbook/AntMan Giant-Man]] all left the Avengers that issue.[[/note]] Despite the end of the issue promising "The Search for the Hulk!" the following month, issue #17 instead dealt with the Avengers facing the Comicbook/FantasticFour villain Mole Man, with the Hulk subplot essentially being abandoned within the first few pages.

* During the ''Comicbook/{{Ultimatum}}'' crossover, Comicbook/TheWasp was [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed after being eaten off-screen by the Blob]]. Before pulling a HeroicSacrifice, [[Comicbook/AntMan Yellowjacket]] was seen telling Comicbook/IronMan to take the Wasp's body into his lab and activate something known as "The Jocasta Project", hinting that her life might somehow be saved (since in the mainstream comics, Jocasta was an android with the Wasp's brain patterns). This was never mentioned again. In the same event, Comicbook/DoctorStrange was slain by Dormammu. Upon Stephen's death, a mysterious figure appeared in front of his corpse and teleported away with it. Like the business with the Wasp/Jocasta, this was never addressed or even mentioned again.
** ''Ultimatum'' caused a lot of these. In ''Comicbook/UltimateXMen'', it had been revealed that Comicbook/EmmaFrost (who was thought to be a hero and ally to the X-Men) was actually a [[TheMole Mole]] working for the Hellfire Club. Emma was killed in ''Ultimatum'' (''offscreen'' no less) before this subplot could be continued.
** In an ''[[Comicbook/UltimateXMen Ultimate Comics: X-Men]]'' arc following ''Ultimatum'', it was revealed that Havok was still alive and in a mental institution. He was released by Nathaniel Essex and introduced to Layla Miller, with the implication that there were plans for the boy. This plot point was never resolved, as the book ended up changing writers who never followed up on any of this.
** Connected to this was a thread of several characters seeing "ghosts" of loved ones telling them to follow plans that made everything worse for everyone, much like Havok, with the implication that Apocalypse was the one behind it all, and that he was looking for a rematch with The Phoenix (after his last appearance had him be [[CurbStompBattle Curb-stomped]] by it), along with William Stryker Junior's mind being uploaded to all the Sentinels. Then Nick Spencer left, and the incoming Brian Wood didn't even pay lip-service to any of this.
* Mary Jane supposedly had the OZ formula purged from her body at the end of the "Clone Saga" arc in ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'', but there were still scattered hints that some of it remained. She briefly grew claws at one point during a tense argument between Peter and Comicbook/KittyPryde, and was shown having nightmares where she transformed back into the Demogoblin and killed Peter. This whole subplot was quietly dropped after a while.

* ''Franchise/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'':

* ''Comibook/SupermanRebirth'' had the interesting idea that New Earth Superman was keeping an eye on "potential" villains on Prime Earth based on his old history, and in particular had reached out to Prime Hank Henshaw and set him on a different path. Then ''Comicbook/SupermanReborn'' happened, much of New Earth Superman's history got ported to Prime Earth, and suddenly Hank's the Cyborg Superman again and working with General Zod.