What If..?

I'd been looking forward to What If? The concept of the comic series has always really interested me, and I feel like a lot of the more intriguing ideas that Marvel has come out with have roots in the alt-reality canons that it creates. Plus, it means that they can just tell some short, fully encapsulated stories that simply wouldn't work in the wider MCU anymore, and that's always a good thing. The fun of What If? is that it lets you do anything with any of the characters!

So I was a little disappointed with the opening episode. They had a little bit of fun with things, and I enjoyed the duality of Peggy Carter and Steve Rodgers working together as a pseudo-Cap/Iron Man combo, but it also varied very little from the First Avenger movie. On the one hand, that feels right: Peggy and Steve are fairly similar people whose actions would be largely consistent, whilst the villainous plot of that film would remain unchanged regardless of who received the super-soldier serum. But it also felt a little dull to watch.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to see both Hayley Atwell and Dominic Cooper reprise their roles! In fact, Chris Evans is a notable MCU actor in that he didn't return to voice his animated counterpart. The cast list for this series is utterly ridiculous and likely more star-studded than even End Game was. Heck, even single-movie villains like Kurt Russell and Benecio Del Toro are back, though I feel like the biggest weight falls on the Wakandan plots, where both Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman return to voice their respective characters in multiple episodes.

The realisation that almost all of the OG cast were returning for the show buoyed me a little after episode one, and then we get right into true alt-timeline stuff in episode two with T'Challa as Star-Lord, which was a great episode with some surprisingly lengthy ramifications. From here, the show only goes from strength-to-strength, whilst taking a surprisingly dark turn. Episode three gives us a world where Hank Pym kills the Avengers in retaliation for Hope's as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, a twist that was generally unexpected and a plot driven by Widow that really twists and turns. We also see the classic Marvel Zombies franchise joining the MCU, proving yet again that Hank Pym can be a monumentally destructive force, which is just a whole lot of fun and has some great moments between the remaining heroes. And then there's Killmonger vs Iron Man, which almost feels like Marvel trying to retcon Eric's character to be more evil just so they don't have to try and redeem him in the main series; still a lot of fun and arguably a much better villainous scheme than the actual Black Panther plot.

Thor's comedic "only child" routine was a slight breath of fresh air, but otherwise fairly forgettable, until we launch back into Ultron gaining the infinity stones and a surprise twist finale where all the disparate plot lines come together in a multidimensional Avengers: Assemble! moment that lands surprisingly well. I was not expecting them to do this, but getting to see the Watcher fight, and generally returning to (and concluding) many of the prior episodes' arcs was a really fun way to go out. I found the sudden inclusion of a previously unseen Gamora a little odd (unless I'm forgetting something from episode two?), almost like an episode was scrapped late in development, but otherwise it was a really well-written conclusion with some genuinely great humour, action, and twists along the way.

And then there's episode four: What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? This is a highly acclaimed episode and I totally understand why. Not only does it play into the finale surprisingly well, but it's also such a different yet understandable journey for the character to take, one which Benedict Cumberbatch really brings to life via voice acting. Strange's descent into reasoned madness and his ultimate folly brought on through despair is a harrowing and tightly written tale that feels completely believable, despite the magical setting and incomprehensible outcome. It's an extremely well-done episode and worth the rest of the season alone 👏👏👏

So season one gave us the big fan-favourite What If...? moments, like zombies and Strange completely losing it and infinity-Ultron or whatever. We even had a multidimensional team-up, which worked surprisingly well and elevated the series considerably, as well as formally introducing the Watcher. How was season two going to watch (or improve) that?

At first, it looked like it wasn't. After a couple of interesting-but-midling episodes, we get the Christmas special, focusing on Happy getting to go all Die Hard, and... well, we just stopped watching. They were fun little one-shot episodes, but far fewer of the movie cast seemed to be back, the ideas just weren't as intriguing, and we forgot about it for a year 😅

Which is a shame, because coming back in many months later, the fourth episode is where this season really gets going! What happens if Iron Man never falls back through the rift during the Battle for New York? Well, turns out it would have short-circuited a bunch of plots, left Gamora alive, and radically altered the timeline for the positive ‒ and it's a pretty fun episode as a result!

Next up we get a return to Peggy Carter (with a couple of fun meta moments as the Watcher ponders why he's doing a sequel) that is a lovely continuation of her character, and a much more interesting Red Room arc than the film's gave us, but ultimately doesn't do too much new.

Then the series swerves entirely, giving us a completely wonderful episode around Kahhori, an entirely new-to-me character who seems really cool. In this universe, Ragnarok occurs early, causing the Tesseract to be shattered during Asgard's destruction. Shards of it fall to Midgard, where they land in the Americas and generate a sort of pocket universe, altering a tribe of Native Americans in powerful ways. It's always fun getting to see Spanish invaders have their butts kicked, but it also sets up a powerful new hero and ends on a surprise cameo.

The season then rounds out with three of their best episodes to date. Whilst the Hela/Ten Rings plot is completely disassociated from any of the other episodes, its another brilliant retelling/reinvention of the film character, giving us a much richer view of her motives and providing a stronger sense of two otherwise under-appreciated aspects of the MCU. Avengers 1602 is just a kickass idea that I absolutely adore, and loved how they put it together.

And then there's the finale. Strangest Strange is back, still wracked with guilt (ahem: yeah, not great that they just undo this, but I'll allow it), and now bending the multiverse to his warped mission to revive his universe. Kahhori lives up to her awesome introduction; Carter is just as brilliant as ever (damn it, give us a Hayley Atwell film already!); and I enjoyed the evolution of the Watcher's character too. Plus, the final battle is just awesome and a perfect example of the kind of ridiculous, over-the-top ideas you can come up with given an entire multiverse.

Yeah, we watched season two and three a little out of sequence. Woops! Still, I don't think that really impacted the overall impact of the season, bar the two-part finale, and even then, having gone back and finished season two, there's still plenty left open-ended and not really explained.

All-in-all, I think this is the weakest season. It does far more one-shot style storytelling, and whilst I enjoyed the greater focus on some of the more recent additions to the MCU, that lack of cohesion did make it a less interesting overall plots. I also figured they'd have to mention Loki, given that he is now the control layer for the entire multiverse according to his own series (which was basically shown at the end of season two of What If..? as well), but nah, we just get bigger, badder Watchers.

Don't get me wrong, they had to address how involved the Watcher had gotten. And I'm glad that they've finally given him his name as well. But as far as finale showdowns go, this was visually spectacular but hollow. The Watchers remain a fairly boring villain, because they're driven by pure ideology and dogma. I guess so, too, is Infinity Ultron (whose return here is one of the high points of the final episode), but that is a distinctly human dogma; it's understandable. The Watchers are just gods, with an utterly alien viewpoint, and that's fine, but boring.

That said, give me all the Captain Carter and Kahhori action, always. Also, Storm/Thor! Hell yeah! Why wasn't that a whole episode? And I don't love the whole Howard/Darcy/ultra baby arc, but it's pure What If..? nonsense and I really like that they came back around to it. So yeah, multiversal Avengers is kinda awesome ‒ though why no Widow? Has Carter totally abandoned her old friend? Seems out of character.

As for the rest of the plots, they're a mixed bag too. Mecha-Avengers is exactly what it set out to be, and it's just not for me. Red Guardian plus Winter Soldier was funny, but not that interesting. Ditto Agatha in Hollywood, which was a nice conflation of Eternals and the magic realm, lovely visuals, but also felt a lot like they know Eternals 2 just isn't going to happen, and wanted to at least use some of the ideas they thought they might have 😅

I will say that I enjoyed the Quentin Blake as master of reality plot (just not sure Riri was the best inclusion) and Wild West Shang-Chi was a lot of fun. Still, not enough to really elevate the series in the way other linchpin episodes had done.