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

[Derek Metaltron]

My guess is that Season 3 we get a Captain Carter version of Civil War to keep the Cap movies parallels going.

[Sensational C]

This was a great second season which I felt really took advantage of the what if concept to have characters interact or give some side characters more of a spotlight as well as introducing a completely new one.

ep 1- Nebula is the perfect character for a gritty cyberpunk setting being a cyborg on the path of redemption, I laughed hard for the Krog-Groot-Meik being the Rock-Paper-Scissor trio.

ep-2 Its fun seeing what the previous generation of Avengers would have looked as with Thor being a consent with him having the obviously much longer life span, I was fully expecting Winter Soldier to follow orders.

ep-3 - It was fun seeing Happy, Maria and Darcy deal with Justin Hammer and his goons for a relatively low stake mission and having the avengers deal with Holiday hijinks especially Clint having to hold onto the last toy for his kid with children swarming him and Bruce yelling at him to fork it over. Bruce noping out and just happy to just watch the fight with gammafied being was great.

ep-4 - Great chemistry with these characters, Tony and Valk bonding over chasing the demon in the bottle, Tony and Gamora with daddy issues, Tony and Gandmaster played well off each other. It was very satisfying to see Gamora take down Thanos after what mainline MCU Thanos did to her. I wonder since Thanos is soundly defeated Tony probably doesn't have the anxiety he has in Age of Ultron/Iron Man 3 of another alien attack coming to Earth and he may not remove his arc reactor in his chest especially since he used it as a boost for his new car/suit.

ep-5 - This was a fun twist on Winter Soldier with Steve being imprisoned in the suit and a little Black Window thrown in since Steve and Bucky were able to stomp out Hydra in this timeline. It was sad to see Steve "Iron Giant" himself to save the day and while Carter believes he is still alive I kinda hope he isn't. Part of What If is that things go badly and don't work out so I feel Steve being gone for good works for this series even if breaks my heart a little to see Peggy sad when she's so committed to helping everyone else.

ep-6 - This was a very pretty episode from the backgrounds to the character design. Kahhori fits right in with other superheroes being arrogant but willing to give her all to do what is right even giving up paradise to save her family and friends. I would love to see more of her in the future and her world.

ep-7 - I love Hela's design and Blanchett killed as the goddess of death so I enjoyed that we got a whole episode focused on her getting the tough love Thor teaching treatment. It was interesting to see Odin in the start of his own redemption path, giving up his conquests but not having his trademark wisdom, and with his banishment of Hela ironically pushing them both to be become better. Puppy Fenir was adorable and it was badass to see Hela ride Fenrir into battle on the bifrost. Her redemption came a little quick but that's probably the best they could do for a self contained episode.

ep-8 - Loki being a Victorian actor fits so well, with being third instead of second in line to rule seems to have eased his ambition or maybe whatever happened with Odin and Freya in this universe helped him chill out. It was fun to see the Destroyer Armor again. It seems that the this version of the Watcher cannot unreveal himself to people who he has revealed himself to given that he was surprised Peggy could hear his great as always narration. Wanda filling in the Merylin role was great to see, too bad she didn't have much to do. The old timey smack talk was a blast to listen to, Hulk Smite Thee!

ep-9 - Poor Strange dealing with so many demons in his head, nudging him to do the "right" thing to fix his mistake. Being isolated from anyone besides them and his prisoners certainly hurt his mental health. Kahhori teleporting Killmonger out of the infinity armor was a great tension killer and avoided having a repeat boss battle. The overloaded Gamma Hulk looked cool, looking forward to see what his deal is in the future. Carter did alright with the infinity stones nothing like last season's eat the galaxy move Ultron used, mostly relied on the power and space stones which I suppose she wanted to stick to what she knew being physically enhanced and always spacing out her shield throws/positioning herself in a fight. Stephan played dirty but smart giving Cap a 'black mercy' fantasy. It was great to see the prisoners toss the heroic duo their various weapons to held tip the scales to their favor.

Overall I think I wanted one more episode to have a downer/dark ending per season and hopefully some characters that didn't show up this time will appear next season, otherwise I have no other complaints.

[Frontier]

I'm hoping next season they scale back on Peggy and characters obsessing over dead loved ones and also throw in a few more tragic episodes again.

[Derek Metaltron]

They probably want to include some What Ifs for the tv shows as well. I get why Spider-Man can’t probably appear more but we definitely need a Moon Knight meets someone episode at least…

[Sutekh]

They probably want to include some What Ifs for the tv shows as well. I get why Spider-Man can’t probably appear more but we definitely need a Moon Knight meets someone episode at least…

Agreed. We've seen a fair bit of Wanda (too much as a zombie, IMO), but not nearly enough of folks like She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, Elsa Bloodstone, Hawkeye/Kate, etc.

I just kinda hope that request isn't taken as 'let's have four episodes about Ms. Marvel!'

And if we're never going to be given Teddy Altman as a Young Avenger in live action, could we at least see him in the multiverse?

For that last episode, Peggy and Kahhori with all the weapons felt a little too much like retreading the end of Infinity War/Endgame with Steve throwing Mjolnir around and Tony with his Infinity gauntlet. I would much rather have seen the falling down and falling up and falling down threats like Hela get involved in the fight directly, throwing her black metal knives, or Atarahks (?) throwing a blue energy enhanced tomahawk, or cyborg Rocket firing some missiles, or one of those Thor variants throwing a hammer, or one of those Lokis using an illusion to mess with Strange, or the 10 rings user making some direct attacks on Strange, rather than everyone just tossing their gear to Peggy and Kahhori... Make it credible that they are standing so well against the mess that Strange is unleashing, since it wouldn't be 2 (with extra gear) on 1, but dozens of uncoordinated attacks on 1.

Hela, in particular, but also almost any version of Thor, seems more likely to *attack* directly, than toss their weapons to someone else and let themselves be saved while they just sort of bob like apples and watch the fight happen while their lives *literally* 'hang in the balance.'

[Frontier]

They probably want to include some What Ifs for the tv shows as well. I get why Spider-Man can’t probably appear more but we definitely need a Moon Knight meets someone episode at least…

I wonder how willing they are to feature characters if they can't get their actors back.

[useridgoeshere]

I thought it was a strong season. The stories, the fight scenes, and the characters worked.

I'm hoping next season they scale back on Peggy and characters obsessing over dead loved ones and also throw in a few more tragic episodes again.

I agree with all of this. I’m not used to What If with so many happy endings. I feel like What If the comic mostly showed the bad ending. Maybe for TV, they don’t feel like that would sell.

[Jokerz79]

Really Enjoyed Season 2

Favorite Episodes were Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Loved the 80's Avengers), Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper, The Avengers Assembled in 1602, & Strange Supreme Intervened.

Episodes I really enjoyed Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster (I just found this one Fun), Hela Found the Ten Rings (Love Cate Blanchett), & Nebula Joined the Nova Corps (Loved the Blade Runner Vibe and Howard the Duck).

Episode I thought was good Kahhori Reshaped the World. & While it was a bit fun, I found Happy Hogan saves Christmas very Mediocre.

A future story I'd like to see is something explored in Agents of Shields which is What If Hydra won in Captain America the Winter Soldier. Ideas.

Point of Diversion: Bucky kills Cap on the Helicarrier and Project Insight Kills it targets including Tony Stark, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Maria Hill, Thor (Asgard hasn't intervened over the murder of Thor due to Loki posing as Odin), Stephen Strange, Hawkeye, & Natasha Romanoff.

Hydra Avengers: Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Brock "Crossbones" Rumlow, & Abomination.

Hydra Elite Forces: Iron Guard (Drones based off Stark Tech developed by the recently released from Prison by Hydra Justin Hammer) & the Yellowjackets (Developed by Darren Cross).

Secret Avengers/The Resistance:
Nick Fury (Survived because at time of attack he was listed as dead).
Falcon (Sam wasn't a notable threat when Project Insight was programed).
Daredevil (In 2014 Matt wasn't really active as DD yet so he wasn't on their radar).
Hulk (Much like Banner said before he shot a bullet into his mouth and the other guy spit it out. While the attempt was made Hulk survived).
Sif (Came to Earth to Avenge Thor).
Wasp (Hope Van Dyne her father was murdered by Project Insight. After his death she found the Wasp suit and file on Scott Lang).
Ant-Man (Recruited by Hope).
Black Widow (Yelena Belova, there to avenge Natasha).
"Iron Man" (Armor controlled by Jarvis who downloaded himself into it when Insight Happened).

Resistance Support Cameos Happy Hogan, Luis, Dave, and Kurt.

Possible Wild Card Appearances Captain Marvel who Fury has sent a message of help to and Mordo who became Sorcerer Supreme after the Ancient One died in this world due to Strange never having met them due to his death at the hands of Project Insight, & Spidey could also show up.

[Frontier]

I agree with all of this. I’m not used to What If with so many happy endings. I feel like What If the comic mostly showed the bad ending. Maybe for TV, they don’t feel like that would sell.

I think they got a littler overly-indulgent this season (Peggy, Hela, the positive vibes, etc.).

[Adam Allen]

I enjoyed this season better than the first, and in fact, this season both made me appreciate the first season more (previously considered second-worst MCU series for me, just ahead of Secret Invasion) and see more clearly what I feel like the series unfortunately gets wrong.

I think "What If" works best as a series of one-offs. Just ideas literally of, "Hey, you know these characters and stories you're all familiar with? Well, what if we made this change?" Then just play that out for a bit. This is distinct from a continuous series, specifically I think because it creates no canon. I think that's crucial to enjoying these stories, because beyond the Watcher's commentary, they should seem more like flights of fancy ... so, when your favorite heroes die, when they make tragic choices, when you see them fail, and actual worlds of millions fall as a result ... you know, it's a sad story, but it's just a story.

I think the show gets it wrong by establishing continuity for its Watcher character, making him clearly and distinctly a part of the stories he's watching even, and -- you know, as cool a character as Kahhori is, she's problematic because where exactly does she fit in the MCU, if we don't consider "What If" as completely separate from the rest of the MCU? She's extradimensional on a level that puts Disney+ Loki and every other established character to shame, at this point. They're barely learning to deal with timelines, she's already saved the entire multiverse.

Off the top of my head, two favorite episodes are Tony versus the Grandmaster, and Party Prince Thor. It was the stuff about "Guardians of the Multiverse" Gamora tacked on to the Tony v Grandmaster episode that made me go back to review some of the first season, watch the stuff that I skipped. And yeah, both seasons have an arc and a climax, and ... kinda think both would have been better without. I think their epic finales are ... I dunno, hard to follow, because once you're dealing with "Everybody is Infinite Level Power", it's kind of weird to try to conceptualize the fight.

And I kept finding myself thinking -- yeah, doesn't matter. Because it's just "What If" anyway, which always was outside of canon. So -- yeah, kind of gotta wonder why they chose to go the route of establishing continuity and characters, when ... kind of not what the comic series was about.

[Frontier]

I enjoyed this season better than the first, and in fact, this season both made me appreciate the first season more (previously considered second-worst MCU series for me, just ahead of Secret Invasion) and see more clearly what I feel like the series unfortunately gets wrong.

I think "What If" works best as a series of on-offs. Just ideas literally of, "Hey, you know these characters and stories you're all familiar with? Well, what if we made this change?" Then just play that out for a bit. This is distinct from a continuous series, specifically I think because it creates no canon. I think that's crucial to enjoying these stories, because beyond the Watcher's commentary, they should seem more like flights of fancy ... so, when your favorite heroes die, when they make tragic choices, when you see them fail, and actual worlds of millions fall as a result ... you know, it's a sad story, but it's just a story.

I think the show gets it wrong by establishing continuity for its Watcher character, making him clearly and distinctly a part of the stories he's watching even, and -- you know, as cool a character as Kahhori is, she's problematic because where exactly does she fit in the MCU, if we don't consider "What If" as completely separate from the rest of the MCU? She's extradimensional on a level that puts Disney+ Loki and every other established character to shame, at this point. They're barely learning to deal with timelines, she's already saved the entire multiverse.

Off the top of my head, two favorite episodes are Tony versus the Grandmaster, and Party Prince Thor. It was the stuff about "Guardians of the Multiverse" Gamora tacked on to the Tony v Grandmaster episode that made me go back to review some of the first season, watch the stuff that I skipped. And yeah, both seasons have an arc and a climax, and ... kinda think both would have been better without. I think their epic finales are ... I dunno, hard to follow, because once you're dealing with "Everybody is Infinite Level Power", it's kind of weird to try to conceptualize the fight.

And I kept finding myself thinking -- yeah, doesn't matter. Because it's just "What If" anyway, which always was outside of canon. So -- yeah, kind of gotta wonder why they chose to go the route of establishing continuity and characters, when ... kind of not what the comic series was about.

It feels weird to have an overarching storyline to an anthology show. It just felt like an excuse to have more Peggy.

[Adam Allen]

It feels weird to have an overarching storyline to an anthology show. It just felt like an excuse to have more Peggy.

Considering her origin story is episode one, she's pretty well the central character, at this point.

Having a central POV character or characters as you travel alternate versions of the MU is kind of more Exiles than What If, tho. Eh, close enough for government work, I guess.

[Frontier]

Considering her origin story is episode one, she's pretty well the central character, at this point.

Having a central POV character or characters as you travel alternate versions of the MU is kind of more Exiles than What If, tho. Eh, close enough for government work, I guess.

I think they went a bit too far with it in this season in my opinion, especially the way it kind of hijacked the plot or a few episodes.

But I'm also a little Peggy'ed out so that might effect my opinion.

[Colossus1980]

I like Captain Carter but next year she should be sidelined. Maybe an episode at the most.

[Frontier]

I like Captain Carter but next year she should be sidelined. Maybe an episode at the most.

I guess they have to do Civil War to make her story feel complete .