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In What If? v.2 #66, the main story is framed by scenes of Destiny, Pyro, and Avalanche in prison. They're planning the escape that was seen in Avengers annual #10. The narration in the opening Brotherhood scene says "Some years ago...", and the editorial box notes the Avengers annual #10 reference.
(The main part of the issue is a story about Rogue absorbing the power of Thor, a take-off from Avengers annual #10 with different events and results. This is definitely not in continuity.)
The other Brotherhood-in-prison scene is at the end of the issue, and the narration says "Ryker's Island, our reality", with 'our' written in bold. These two scenes are strongly implied to be in continuity, and take place shortly before the events of the annual, so I think it's fair to say they are canon, and am thus adding them to the characters' chronologies. These scenes do not contradict any events in Avengers annual #10, merely add to them.
They're really two very simple scenes: Destiny gets a vision, the others ask her about it, and the vision is used to introduce the main story. Eventually the vision ends, and she announces "the prison break will proceed as planned", which pleases the others. Obviously, the escape in the annual didn't work out in the end, but Destiny probably wouldn't have known that prior to the breakout, or she wouldn't have bothered attempting it in the first place (particularly since she saw probabilities, not exact futures).
The artist clearly did his research when drawing the What If? story, as the Brotherhood members are wearing the same grey uniforms seen in Avengers annual #10, and their hairstyles are very similar (with some artistic licence).
I asked Tom Brevoort, one of Marvel's top editors (and a continuity fan himself) about this on his forum at Comixfan. He was not involved with the production of either issue, but I described the evidence to him, and this is what he replied:
“It sounds to me like the framing sequence in question was intended to be set in the prime Marvel reality, so I don't see why it wouldn't count (presuming that there's nothing in it that places it outside of continuity--without checking the story myself, I'm trusting to your description.)”
As stated above, the What If? Issue does not contradict anything from the Avengers annual, so I believe it is safe to consider it canon. The two scenes are very short and contain nothing particularly important, but they add a bit of colour to the Brotherhood's chronology, and for this reason I'm pleased to include them.
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| The Brotherhood escapes in Avengers annual #10 | The Brotherhood waits in prison in What If? v.2 #66 |
