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

[Immortal Weapon]

So, Episode 4...

spoilers:

This episode has a lot of conceits in it and continues the issue with no concrete rules about how time travel works, but presumably this must have turned up after the TVA changed the rules (makes me wonder if this is the universe Mobius and B-15 were arguing about) otherwise they'd be all over it, unless magic time travel doesn't count or Christine's death is a nexus point or whatever it's called where changes aren't detected... regardless I am surprised this Strange didn't tap more into the multiverse and find something like the MCU's reality. Despite this I found Strange's fall to power engaging and the visuals were fantastic. We get the tentacles again - I think they're definitely setting up Suma-Gorath as a future big bad in Season Two of What If - and finally the Watcher reveals himself and his conversation with Stephen was an awesome and touching one. I don't especially understand the limits of the Ancient One's power post death, but I guess it led to a Good vs Evil Strange fight which was fun (if likely only to trick us into assuming Good Strange was MCU Strange). Those who wanted a real downer universe get it this week, that's for certain. And I think this confirms that Supreme Strange isn't the Strange we see in S:NWH - I can't see this Strange shifting yet from remorse to arrogance again, unless something inspires him to in the final episode when he returns. Overall a fun if depressing episode that continues the confusing conflicting rules of MCU time travel vs multiverse stuff.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I don't think this evil Strange is the one we see in Spider-man. Given he is the only survivor of his universe I can see him coming back. Probably to try to bring back his Earth without learning his lesson

end of spoilers

[SpiderClops]

That was bleak as hell.

I think this honestly deserves a warning who have not watched this episode. The ending is really really really REALLY not happy. Go ahead at your own risk.

I liked the episode but damm.

[Vic Vega]

spoilers:

Well, THAT was a classic 70's "What If" downer ending. Yikes. Well done though.

end of spoilers

[Vworp Vworp]

What I love about this series is that it has almost limitless possibilities of telling different stories...

spoilers:

Episode 3 - Heroic male character turns evil, due to death of female character Episode 4 - Heroic male character turns evil, due to death of female character

end of spoilers

boring-unimpressed.jpg

[CosmiComic]

What I love about this series is that it has almost limitless possibilities of telling different stories...

spoilers:

Episode 3 - Heroic male character turns evil, due to death of female character Episode 4 - Heroic male character turns evil, due to death of female character

end of spoilers

Maybe we'll get the reverse some day

[j9ac9k]

Maybe we'll get the reverse some day

Paging Wanda Maximoff... (she's endured the death of 4 male characters (not even counting her parents) so maybe she'll be extra evil)

I thought this ep was just okay. More than the others, it seems like a setup for something else more than wanting to be its own thing. I was mostly bored by the fact that a big part of the episode was two montages - him "Groundhog Daying" it with Christine, then his "eating" montage. Two scenes with the Ancient One was redundant and the ending was inevitable. I never thought of Christine as being that important to him, so that also undermined the impact of this ep for me.

[useridgoeshere]

Paging Wanda Maximoff... (she's endured the death of 4 male characters (not even counting her parents) so maybe she'll be extra evil)

I thought this ep was just okay. More than the others, it seems like a setup for something else more than wanting to be its own thing. I was mostly bored by the fact that a big part of the episode was two montages - him "Groundhogging" it with Christine, then his "eating" montage. Two scenes with the Ancient One was redundant and the ending was inevitable. I never thought of Christine as being that important to him, so that also undermined the impact of this ep for me.

Proof that those ungrateful folks in Westview need to get over themselves. It could've been a lot worse if MCU Wanda was a dude.

[Immortal Weapon]

That was bleak as hell.

I think this honestly deserves a warning who have not watched this episode. The ending is really really really REALLY not happy. Go ahead at your own risk.

I liked the episode but damm.

The ending is not that serious.

[Castle]

The ending is not that serious.

I thought the ending was serious.


I just finished watching it. I skipped episode 3 because the story did not seem interesting to me, although I have always found anything ant man stuff kind of meh.

However this episode was good and an upgrade from episode 2. The two issues that I have with it, was there was a lack of character interaction with other characters. it felt as if dr strange was the only one in this episode. Also the voice acting was quite bad.

However the overall plot was pretty good, Marvel should be commended here for choosing to do this type of time travel story.

[Derek Metaltron]

The biggest plot hole in this episode is the absence of Mordo. Given the fact that they apparently implied everything in the 2016 film still happened (minus Christine helping heal Stephen up) you would think he’d have something to say about Strange’s impending destruction of reality.

[CosmiComic]

Paging Wanda Maximoff... (she's endured the death of 4 male characters (not even counting her parents) so maybe she'll be extra evil)

I thought this ep was just okay. More than the others, it seems like a setup for something else more than wanting to be its own thing. I was mostly bored by the fact that a big part of the episode was two montages - him "Groundhog Daying" it with Christine, then his "eating" montage. Two scenes with the Ancient One was redundant and the ending was inevitable. I never thought of Christine as being that important to him, so that also undermined the impact of this ep for me.

I forgot about her. But she didn't become outright evil

[useridgoeshere]

The biggest plot hole in this episode is the absence of Mordo. Given the fact that they apparently implied everything in the 2016 film still happened (minus Christine helping heal Stephen up) you would think he’d have something to say about Strange’s impending destruction of reality.

My explanation would be that Stephen's evil work was in the past. Felt like by the time he showed back up in the present, it was too late. No cosmic beings even showed up to save their universe.

[j9ac9k]

Is there any reason during all those times Christine died that he couldn't use magic to save her? He still has the time stone, so rewinding time didn't take that away and he should still have his knowledge of the mystic arts. Yet every time he restarts it, he lets it play out as though he's not a sorcerer... ?

[Frontier]

Who knew the best decision Christine Palmer ever made was breaking up with Stephen Strange? It saved them both a lot of heartache.

Am I mis-remembering or was Benedict Cumberbatch reported to not be back for this? I thought it was a solid impersonator for the whole episode up until the credits. I guess it would be kind of weird if they got back everybody save for the lead star himself.

So instead of losing his hands from working while driving, Stephen Strange's life spirals out of control because of a simple traffic accident...Sometimes life just isn't easy.

"Now this is my favorite shirt!" Probably the most explicitly sexual scene in the MCU since Peter Quill talked about the Jackson Pollock painting in the Milano in Guardians 1. Heck, fantasy Christine is shown wearing nothing but that shirt.

It's kind of interesting that despite the divergence, Strange still ends up fulfilling his role in his first solo movie exactly down to defeating Dormammu (who actually looked trippier in animation than he did in the movie, in my opinion). But while the main Stephen could live with not having his hands restored, this Strange couldn't let Christine's death go.

Does Stephen and Christine's relationship seem deeper here than it did in the movie? I guess in the context of this universe they never broke up and were much more in love, while in the movies their breakup and Stephen focusing entirely on his work made it more complicated. To be honest I feel like this could have been resolved if only Strange had met Clea earlier.

It's kind of funny to me that they've made so many changes to Wong so he's not manservant Wong from the comics but he still practically lives with Stephen, talks to him, makes coffee, and adds personal motivation for Stephen to do stuff just like comic Wong.

Jeez, this universe really wants Christine dead in increasingly exaggerated way. I was reminded a lot of Steins;Gate and Yu-No, along with that episode of Arrow where Quentin Lance keeps dying in a time loop.

Oh hey, a Christine Everhart cameo! They even got Leslie Bibb back! I totally missed that before I saw the credits.

It felt like there was a lot more to O-Bengh than what we saw in this episode. I thought for a second Ike Amadi might be filling in as Mordo, and I think he would've done a good job.

It's kind of surreal to see the Ancient One doing that thing the Ancient One does of appearing to Strange from beyond the grave before she actually does it in the movies...

They really made good use of the animation medium to depict all the Supernatural creatures Strange kept absorbing and morphing into. And a tentacle monster, because I guess that keeps being a thing in What If. That Raven reminded me of Raven's soul self from Teen Titans. Of course Strange couldn't resist having his own evil cloak.

We see for the first time where Uatu actually considers intervening, but decides against it, and with Strange's newfound power he can actually see The Watcher. We even see Uatu's physical form for the first time. I assume this is likely building up to the point, probably in the season finale, where Uatu does commit to intervening to save the Multiverse.

Things get trippier when the Ancient One uses a split version of Strange who didn't go back in time to try and stop Demon Strange, and we get as close as I guess we're going to get to a battle between the normal Dr. Strange and Demon Strange as magic contends against demons. I wonder if the Strange from the main universe would've actually won?

Even after seeing through the Christine illusion, Good!Strange is defeated and Demon Strange brings Christine back to life...which rings hollow when she sees what he's become and dies anyway with the rest of the world as Demon Strange is left alone in a reality marble unable to fix everything he destroyed. That got pretty darn dark.

[CosmiComic]

Her dying anyway is the best part because it's so ironic.