Marvel Studios' WHAT IF...? (2021)

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

It's a fun pitch I saw on YouTube
.

[Frontier]

Who knew they could bring so many episodes together? Even ones we didn't even watch?

So the Watcher gathers the Guardians of the Multiverse and we check in on the various protagonists we've spotlighted:

Captain Carter is now in Winter Soldier mode, complete with being besties with Black Widow and Natasha trying to weigh in on Peggy's love life. And then she even fights Batroc. Like, is there literally anything really divergent about this woman's history that isn't just hitting Steve's best hits? Although I guess Bucky can't be the Winter Soldier so that would probably change, and we see at the ending that there might even be a deeper divergent point...

Has Widow had the most looks and hairstyles of any character in this show? I was always fond of her Winter Soldier hairstyle.

Star-Lord T'Challa and the Ravagers end up saving Peter from Ego, so I guess it really was the best timeline all along (assuming Ego doesn't just succeed off-screen).

Turns out Killmonger has basically set off a Wakandan civil war and ravaged the kingdom, with Pepper and Shuri rushing to take him into custody...only for Uatu to basically spirit him away. I question why he would have even needed Killmonger, especially when it becomes more and more obvious how he was going to betray them all, but I guess he planned for that too.

Y'know, I really hope people don't look at Party Thor and really think that's what Thor is like now, even knowing how Hemsworth plays him in the movies now isn't all that different.

Oh look, it's Gamora and Tony! From an episode we didn't get to see! Which makes their appearance and whole part of the plot so random. But hey, a version of Tony Stark actually survives! Although it is kind of funny how Uatu wants nothing to do with him.

Wait, I thought Natasha didn't know her birth father's name was Ivan until Red Skull told her on Vormir?

Supreme Strange...is not the best at inspirational speeches.

I guess without the Soul Stone Infinity Ultron wasn't able to use the Infinity Stones together but it still felt like he kind of forgot to use them at times so our heroes would have an easier time fighting him.

Oh hey, the zombies! And zombie Wanda! Although this time Ultron actually wins:.

If you had told me we would see Arnim Zola, in Vision's body, with his comic-accurate chest robot face in a What If? cartoon...I would not have believed you. But there it is.

Did anyone else get a sinister vibe from Supreme Strange's last comment about watching the prism with Vision!Zola and Infinity!Killmonger? I wonder if he really might just try and use that to revive his world and potentially endanger the Multiverse again.

That was nice of Uatu to do Widow a solid and bring her back to the world of the murdered Avengers so she could help in the fight against Loki.

So the implication is that Steve went into stasis in the Hydro-Smasher so he could see Peggy again...? I mean, I guess that's kind of romantic but like...he had nothing else to live for? I guess that's the same problem with main!universe Cap in that he ended up giving it all up to be with Peggy, but I kind of hope there's a bigger reason why he went into stasis. Assuming that's really Steve in there.

[Midvillian1322]

Who knew they could bring so many episodes together? Even ones we didn't even watch?

So the Watcher gathers the Guardians of the Multiverse and we check in on the various protagonists we've spotlighted:

Captain Carter is now in Winter Soldier mode, complete with being besties with Black Widow and Natasha trying to weigh in on Peggy's love life. And then she even fights Batroc. Like, is there literally anything really divergent about this woman's history that isn't just hitting Steve's best hits? Although I guess Bucky can't be the Winter Soldier so that would probably change, and we see at the ending that there might even be a deeper divergent point...

Has Widow had the most looks and hairstyles of any character in this show? I was always fond of her Winter Soldier hairstyle.

Star-Lord T'Challa and the Ravagers end up saving Peter from Ego, so I guess it really was the best timeline all along (assuming Ego doesn't just succeed off-screen).

Turns out Killmonger has basically set off a Wakandan civil war and ravaged the kingdom, with Pepper and Shuri rushing to take him into custody...only for Uatu to basically spirit him away. I question why he would have even needed Killmonger, especially when it becomes more and more obvious how he was going to betray them all, but I guess he planned for that too.

Y'know, I really hope people don't look at Party Thor and really think that's what Thor is like now, even knowing how Hemsworth plays him in the movies now isn't all that different.

Oh look, it's Gamora and Tony! From an episode we didn't get to see! Which makes their appearance and whole part of the plot so random. But hey, a version of Tony Stark actually survives! Although it is kind of funny how Uatu wants nothing to do with him.

Wait, I thought Natasha didn't know her birth father's name was Ivan until Red Skull told her on Vormir?

Supreme Strange...is not the best at inspirational speeches.

I guess without the Soul Stone Infinity Ultron wasn't able to use the Infinity Stones together but it still felt like he kind of forgot to use them at times so our heroes would have an easier time fighting him.

Oh hey, the zombies! And zombie Wanda! Although this time Ultron actually wins:.

If you had told me we would see Arnim Zola, in Vision's body, with his comic-accurate chest robot face in a What If? cartoon...I would not have believed you. But there it is.

Did anyone else get a sinister vibe from Supreme Strange's last comment about watching the prism with Vision!Zola and Infinity!Killmonger? I wonder if he really might just try and use that to revive his world and potentially endanger the Multiverse again.

That was nice of Uatu to do Widow a solid and bring her back to the world of the murdered Avengers so she could help in the fight against Loki.

So the implication is that Steve went into stasis in the Hydro-Smasher so he could see Peggy again...? I mean, I guess that's kind of romantic but like...he had nothing else to live for? I guess that's the same problem with main!universe Cap in that he ended up giving it all up to be with Peggy, but I kind of hope there's a bigger reason why he went into stasis. Assuming that's really Steve in there.

The way they play Thor in the movies is way different. Outside of Endgame when Fat Thor was drunk . Thor isn't a bafoon who's constantly doing the dumbest thing in each situation. Waititi just used a crap ton of situational humor around Thor. The dumbest shit he's done Outside drunk fat Thor was Throwing a ball at the window and it bouncing back in his face. He's very capable in the MCU. This Thor couldn't do one damn thing right to save his life. Fortunately Uatu counted on Thor screwing up the same way he counted on Killmonger and Zola fighting over the stones.

[Frontier]

The way they play Thor in the movies is way different. Outside of Endgame when Fat Thor was drunk . Thor isn't a bafoon who's constantly doing the dumbest thing in each situation. Waititi just used a crap ton of situational humor around Thor. The dumbest shit he's done Outside drunk fat Thor was Throwing a ball at the window and it bouncing back in his face. He's very capable in the MCU. This Thor couldn't do one damn thing right to save his life. Fortunately Uatu counted on Thor screwing up the same way he counted on Killmonger and Zola fighting over the stones.

I guess I just don't care for the situational humor the MCU puts the characters through. Including Spider-Man.

[The Watcher]

I've been meaning to comment here earlier but as you all know I've been quite busy.

And that's a 'no.' There wasn't.

This episode, probably more than any other, really embraces the 'don't think too hard about it, just enjoy the ride' mentality of What If...?
Why was Captain Carter needed to fight Ultron? Why Star-Panther, who did even less?

I recruited Captain Carter so that she could establish rapport and cooperation with the Natasha of Ultron's Earth fairly quickly, as well as for her tactical acument.

Star Lord T'Challa was needed both for his skills as a thief and his ability to smooth over any potential personality conflicts within the group with his charisma.

A good example of this... are we supposed to believe that Zola's AI willingly went back into a data arrow following the failed attempt with the drone in the previous episode? Granted he's crippled but I am a bit surprised he'd elect to return to digital nothingness for a spell just for the chance that he'd get to log into Ultron's body. Natasha must have been really convincing.

There was no need for Zola's AI to return to the data arrow because it never left the arrow in first place. When you download something from a USB drive the data is not erased from the drive. It is simply copied from the drive onto the computer or other device. You could plug the drive into another device and download the data that's on it again. The same principle applies to the arrow.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Who knew they could bring so many episodes together? Even ones we didn't even watch?

So the Watcher gathers the Guardians of the Multiverse and we check in on the various protagonists we've spotlighted:

Captain Carter is now in Winter Soldier mode, complete with being besties with Black Widow and Natasha trying to weigh in on Peggy's love life. And then she even fights Batroc. Like, is there literally anything really divergent about this woman's history that isn't just hitting Steve's best hits? Although I guess Bucky can't be the Winter Soldier so that would probably change, and we see at the ending that there might even be a deeper divergent point...

Has Widow had the most looks and hairstyles of any character in this show? I was always fond of her Winter Soldier hairstyle.

Star-Lord T'Challa and the Ravagers end up saving Peter from Ego, so I guess it really was the best timeline all along (assuming Ego doesn't just succeed off-screen).

Turns out Killmonger has basically set off a Wakandan civil war and ravaged the kingdom, with Pepper and Shuri rushing to take him into custody...only for Uatu to basically spirit him away. I question why he would have even needed Killmonger, especially when it becomes more and more obvious how he was going to betray them all, but I guess he planned for that too.

Y'know, I really hope people don't look at Party Thor and really think that's what Thor is like now, even knowing how Hemsworth plays him in the movies now isn't all that different.

Oh look, it's Gamora and Tony! From an episode we didn't get to see! Which makes their appearance and whole part of the plot so random. But hey, a version of Tony Stark actually survives! Although it is kind of funny how Uatu wants nothing to do with him.

Wait, I thought Natasha didn't know her birth father's name was Ivan until Red Skull told her on Vormir?

Supreme Strange...is not the best at inspirational speeches.

I guess without the Soul Stone Infinity Ultron wasn't able to use the Infinity Stones together but it still felt like he kind of forgot to use them at times so our heroes would have an easier time fighting him.

Oh hey, the zombies! And zombie Wanda! Although this time Ultron actually wins:.

If you had told me we would see Arnim Zola, in Vision's body, with his comic-accurate chest robot face in a What If? cartoon...I would not have believed you. But there it is.

Did anyone else get a sinister vibe from Supreme Strange's last comment about watching the prism with Vision!Zola and Infinity!Killmonger? I wonder if he really might just try and use that to revive his world and potentially endanger the Multiverse again.

That was nice of Uatu to do Widow a solid and bring her back to the world of the murdered Avengers so she could help in the fight against Loki.

So the implication is that Steve went into stasis in the Hydro-Smasher so he could see Peggy again...? I mean, I guess that's kind of romantic but like...he had nothing else to live for? I guess that's the same problem with main!universe Cap in that he ended up giving it all up to be with Peggy, but I kind of hope there's a bigger reason why he went into stasis. Assuming that's really Steve in there.

Agreed with this. Captain Carter has a good look, but i wish she was more different from Steve. Like even only child thor was more different from regular thor despite being the same person. This was a good ending I'm not sure if I want a season 2 but i hope the Watcher makes some appearences in the mcu, even seeing his outline in the sky from time to time would be dope.

[Frontier]

Agreed with this. Captain Carter has a good look, but i wish she was more different from Steve. Like even only child thor was more different from regular thor despite being the same person. This was a good ending I'm not sure if I want a season 2 but i hope the Water makes some appearences in the mcu, even seeing his outline in the sky from time to time would be dope.

Yeah, it's like, I like Peggy but literally the only real selling point of the character seems to be showing off how awesome Peggy Carter is instead of just making her distinct from Captain America when she's so similar that she literally does everything he does. For all we know she's already leading her worlds' Avengers equivalent.

Now that they've introduced Uatu, I hope he shows up for major cosmic events like he did in the comics.

[Kirby101]

I was so happy they they undid the grim endings to most of the episodes. Trust in Feige.

[Frontier]

I was so happy they they undid the grim endings to most of the episodes. Trust in Feige.

I kind of preferred the idea that they ended tragically instead of everything just working out in the end, but I guess they didn't want to leave a bad taste in people's mouths.

Makes me wonder about the season 2 episodes.

[Vic Vega]

Some thoughts about the ending(s): If Steve IS actually in the Hydra Stomper he is physically 95+ years of age by now. That suit is probably his life support system by now and he can't come out even if he wanted to.

Also since Bucky never became Winter Soldier in Captain Carter's reality, it's probably Steve (or what's left of him) that got brainwashed. Why else is Steve on the SS Hydra?

For all the whining about how What If Star Panther invalidated Peter Quill you'd think someone would have mentioned that he does get to be Star-Lord in the end along with T'Challa. They were working as partners and each of them had an Element Gun, so I assume they are both Star Lord now.

If there can be two Hawkeyes there can be two Star Lords.

[Frontier]

Some thoughts about the ending(s): If Steve IS actually in the Hydra Stomper he is physically 95+ years of age by now. That suit is probably his life support system by now and he can't come out even if he wanted to.

Also since Bucky never became Winter Soldier in Captain Carter's reality, it's probably Steve (or what's left of him) that got brainwashed. Why else is Steve on the SS Hydra?

For all the whining about how What If Star Panther invalidated Peter Quill you'd think someone would have mentioned that he does get to be Star-Lord in the end along with T'Challa. They were working as partners and each of them had an Element Gun, so I assume they are both Star Lord now.

If there can be two Hawkeyes there can be two Star Lords.

Quill ends up becoming T'Challa's sidekick .

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

I was so happy they they undid the grim endings to most of the episodes. Trust in Feige.

except the zombie universe, those guys still have to face undead thanos. Hope we check in on those guys, I was really rooting for that version of headless Scott and Spider-man. I know covid screwed things up but it was weird season 2 Gamora was there but none of the survivors from zombieverse.

[Rincewind]

I kind of preferred the idea that they ended tragically instead of everything just working out in the end, but I guess they didn't want to leave a bad taste in people's mouths.

Makes me wonder about the season 2 episodes.

Out of 9 episodes, we saw 8 different realities. Both the Dr. Strange and Ultron ended with virtually all life wiped out. The zombie reality still has has zombie Thanos and is probably screwed. And the Killmonger and Hank Pym episodes still have many major heroes dead. So I don't think it's an accurate description to say that everything worked out in the end or that the tragic endings were undone.

[Frontier]

Out of 9 episodes, we saw 8 different realities. Both the Dr. Strange and Ultron ended with virtually all life wiped out. The zombie reality still has has zombie Thanos and is probably screwed. And the Killmonger and Hank Pym episodes still have many major heroes dead. So I don't think it's an accurate description to say that everything worked out in the end or that the tragic endings were undone.

Well, Killmonger basically got what he wanted when we saw how war-torn Wakanda looked, and Shuri and Pepper weren't even able to catch him.

It seemed like Natasha managed to take Loki down, but without the rest of the OG!Avengers they might not stand a chance against Thanos.

[Sutekh]

For all the whining about how What If Star Panther invalidated Peter Quill you'd think someone would have mentioned that he does get to be Star-Lord in the end along with T'Challa. They were working as partners and each of them had an Element Gun, so I assume they are both Star Lord now.

If there can be two Hawkeyes there can be two Star Lords.

Peter has to settle for being 'Star Prince.'