What If...? - 25 Biggest WTF Moments

Coming off the back of Thanos’ step away from trying to restore balance to the universe, he created something of a power vacuum. He left a big empty place at the head of the table, with the person stepping up to fill it being Taneleer Tivan.

This reality saw the Collector become the most ruthless kingpin of the outer space underworld, and with the Black Order at his command, was someone you simply didn’t mess with. Even Yondu had to think twice about it before ultimately being convinced by T’Challa.

In the main MCU continuity, Tivan had assembled an impressive collection, no question. He had the Reality Stone in his possession for a time, though this was ultimately his ticket to being murdered by Thanos, and the Power Stone destroyed his entire museum when Karina decided she had had enough of him. All this to say, he wasn’t particularly intimidating.

However, in a world without Thanos’ infinity quest, the Collector’s collection grew to be far more impressive. Malekith’s dagger, Korg’s arm, Hela’s necrosword, Captain America’s shield, and Thor’s hammer were all in Tivan’s possession, and though it’s hard to say whether the previous owners of these artefacts were also in there somewhere, it’s clear that they went toe to toe with the villain and lost.