"Marvel's What If...?" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

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Marcus Carr

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I think that was debunked. Still looking for a source.
After seeing this again, probably wishful thinking:
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Spider-Man

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I've been finally able to caught up on What If? and for the most part I find this to be a pretty frustrating show. A lot of the stories seem pretty random and it seems half the episodes just end without any real resolution. I can kinda see what they are trying to do with the last episode and building everything up but it's been such a mixed bag of quality. The animation has been really fantastic and some of the stories and ideas have been neat but the execution is just lacking. It's like Marvel and DC have the opposite problem with their animated work. DC seems to have great scrips but the animation isn;t the best while Marvel has great animation but lackluster writing. I am really hoping this season can still turn around since What If? is one of my all-time favorite Marvel comics ever.
 

Frontier

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I've been finally able to caught up on What If? and for the most part I find this to be a pretty frustrating show. A lot of the stories seem pretty random and it seems half the episodes just end without any real resolution. I can kinda see what they are trying to do with the last episode and building everything up but it's been such a mixed bag of quality. The animation has been really fantastic and some of the stories and ideas have been neat but the execution is just lacking. It's like Marvel and DC have the opposite problem with their animated work. DC seems to have great scrips but the animation isn;t the best while Marvel has great animation but lackluster writing. I am really hoping this season can still turn around since What If? is one of my all-time favorite Marvel comics ever.
Well, I personally appreciate DC's traditional animation, if nothing else...
 

RoyalRubble

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Don't miss the season finale for What If...?, premiering today on Disney+! Who watches the Watcher?
whatif_card.jpg

Marvel's What If...?
Season 1, Episode 9
- What If the Watcher Broke his Oath?
Episode Debut
- October 6, 2021

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Neo Ultra Mike

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"What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?" - This is one of those "I mostly kind of have nitpicks" sort of episodes honestly as it does work well as a whole though this one I can nitpick more then others. Again the original episode Order for What If was suppose to be 10 as there was suppose to be called for an episode that was obviously "What If Tony went to space and became a guardians of the Galaxy" that I believe is coming for season 2. Which is where the Gamora from this one came from but without that ep she seems kind of random especially since the Infinity Crusher didn't even technically do anything. I do really wish we actually got to see more of the characters from the various universes get to really interact more before being pulled into the mission. I know this series is on a time crunch but much more grounded universes like Captain Carter suddenly finding out there's a multi verse should of caused much more of a reaction then we got. Could of balanced that out with less jokes from Party Thor who wasn't annoying and some of his bits worked ("I told you I was good at attracting attention" and him talking about trying to get ready for a date with Jane before the Ultron robot invasion) but again the pacing of this show really only allows for a lot of banter either in more general down time scenes or in goofier episodes which this one certainly wasn't trying to be. It's also still hard to really get the Captain Carter/Steve connection. I guess we're suppose to parallel it to the one we know but honestly based on the BFF connection they had in this episode I much more got a vibe from Captain Carter and Natasha really though yeah even in the multi verse heaven forbid main marketable Avengers ever get so "progressive". So the whole tease of Hydro Crusher Steve being alive which is suppose to be Carter's big happey ending doesn't hit me the way it really should. And though I appreciate the connection to seemingly the one episode that seemed like it had first been left out of bringing together this team up, putting Natasha on the "What if all the Avengers were killed" earth feels weak when it's one where Hawkeye is dead. I guess like most of the other people she knows are alive (maybe tracking down Russia will also make her want to make amends with her family quicker) but weird the one that she's went to. Also I don't object to Killmonger making a play for the stones but did he really have a "join me" moment because that just feels off. I guess he isn't a full 100% "every white person is evil and needs to die" uber exteremist but the "oh you're worlds will be better" just feels off for him and just there to show no one else would be tempted which we didn't really need.

Again nitpicking because so much of this episode worked. Honestly to me this episode is worth seeing alone when the Soul Stone is taken out of Supreme Ultron and everyone is scrambling for it. I guess I would of liked less time to be on the stone itself but the actually fight with everyone being knocked around and some of the epic attacks (espiecally Natasha and Carter doing the double Shield tackle) are just so freaking cool that this is probably the best fight out of any of the What If episodes. Plus one of the best fights in any of the MCU quite honestly and is just the super team work kind of fights I really love. I also dig the idea that though Supreme Dr. Strange is the only one who can enchant and be somewhat near the level of Supreme Ultron that they needed more of an actual plan to take him down. Even if it came from an episode that was pushed to the next season and doesn't fit in this one I do like the idea of an Infinity Crusher being something alternate Gamora had on her adventure. And I also like how that was a "oh crud that only works on one universe not another" way of explaining why it didn't take on Ultron (i guess that also means most universes have infinity stones that work in their universes) and that they won with Carter and Natasha's epic combo and had Zola take him on from the inside. And though I don't like his "join me" moment I do like Killmonger using that as an opportunity to take the stones and then Zola fighting for it and that being an opening to trap the two of them in a pocket universe for Strange Supreme to watch over. It's one of those "oh crud don't let that thing get out" moments that quite honestly is pure comic book but I admit if done well I still get a kick out of it. I also do like how this does tie up all the various lose ends shown in the other episodes. Star Lord T'Challa and Peter are obviously going to team up to take out Ego; the Zombies all being dumped on Supreme Ultron and him offing Zombie Wanda (I assume Zombie Thanos and his ilk were taken as well), Thor and Jane getting together and though weird for the Watcher to put her on a Hawkeye less world I do really like Natasha just kicking Loki and taking the scepter to control him. That was a really cool shot.

And not like the comedy here was awful. The Watcher gathering everyone had some amusing moments (especially Pegger's disbelieve of him to Batroc and Killmonger being taken just as shuri and Pepper were charging him in Wakanda's keep), and I like the send up of Winter SOldier with Natasha trying to date Captain Carter but her seeing through it and shutting it down more effortlessly and smarier then Steve would have. Supreme strange being awful at speeches worked and though not comedic I am glad someone told off the Watcher once again as I guess he did learn a lesson of "okay I have to do more then watch and protect sometimes and break my oath when needed" thus him helping out at the end. So yeah some more nitpicks then usual but some epic action good jokes and a satisfying conclusion to all of these episodes and overall this is a good series. Some series yeah are stronger then others and I wish with their shorter running time they would commit mostly to one style and tone and not cram in others as this isn't a more full on series or movie that has the time to balance out more bits but this still worked and I am certainly down for more seasons seeing where this one went. I guess season 2 will have more stuff from early phase 4 which I'm good with so yeah pretty good finale and still want more whenever that happens. Until then guess in a few weeks Eternals (aka more beings that need to know more about when to interfere) and next up for Disney plus is Hawkeye which again sure will all come out before Christmas with either the first or last week being a two parter more then likely.
 

bigdaddy313

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That was fun really enjoyed this episode and this season in general, really looking forward to season 2.
Knew Killmonger was going to turn on them, I thought Captain Carter was very cool love the heir and incredible fight sequences as always.
I really want to see the missing episode, luckily it will be in season 2 more likely the first episode cause I liked the designs of Iron Man and Gamora.
I really think that Agent Carter animated series is a great idea, I’ll be down for that and it will be cool if that is what the woman from Harley Quinn animated series was hired to do.
 

Neo Ultra Mike

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Upon reflection and because like a bunch of other people are doing it, now that all the episodes are out of the first season I'm going to go over them all again really quick starting from the worst going all the way up to the best.

9. "What If... Zombies?!" - Look I don't have a problem with this show trying to be silly as you'll see later, but you need the right premise and idea for that to work. If you want to be more farcical with the Zombies then you needed to like the comics and have them actually be intelligent beasts just focused now on quelling their hunger as they search for more humans to eat. But this wanted to have the zombies as more standard horror icons which fair enough but that also means you can't have the character more non stop quipping and jabbing then usual. The idea of Spider Man doing a Zombieland esque vlog about the zombie apocalypse and Scott Lang being only a head would work in some context if like the rest of the episode was a spoof but it plays the Zombies for the most part serious and especially with the stuff with Wanda and Vision wants you to treat it seriously... but just throws that out the window when characters won't just shut up to let a moment play. And yeah I know "we're trying to be funny to not give into grief" but there had to be a better way to show that then we got. Honestly for one of the most interesting concepts especially if you know anything about Marvel Zombies this had the worst execution because the fate of the world was left to a lot of the more B-tier heroes who half the time wouldn't shut up or did stupid things that felt off for what these characters should be like. And if the premise was a silly one fine but this ain't Shaun of The Dead and though it doesn't make the episode bad throughout it makes it the most bad of the ones we got this season.

8. "What If... Captain Carter Was The First Avenger?" - Though a lot of people really like the character of Captain Carter, I think at this point now that we've seen the entire season people who just aren't in love with her swellness can agree this plays it the most safe when it comes to the overall concept of What If which does make it sort of the most boring. And I get that this is the pilot so it probably feels the most like it needs to have the training wheels on before it can let loose more and we certainly don't keep the feel of this one in the other 8, but it does hinder your enjoyment if you're just waiting for them to hit the various moments from Captain America First Avenger except now Peggy has the shield. I admit I probably wouldn't be bothered by this too much since I do think Peggy getting the super soldier serum does allow her to be this new fun interesting take on the character and it does lead to some really cool awesome scenes (her taking out guys on the plane is still boss) if it weren't for the fact that her and Steve here do not have like good chemistry. And since a lot of this episode hinges on that it is a problem. This is probably one the cases where not getting back one of the prime actors is a major hinderance as yeah it was Hayley Atwell and Chris Evans that sold those scenes more in First Avenger and even there it wasn't as much of a prime factor as we get in this episode. Add on the fact there are some groaner references to other Marvel movies and shows, (Bucky talking about almost losing an arm, bringing back that guy from I think the Agent Carter one shot just to be a sexist jerk) does lessen the fun of this one. It's not awful as the animation and fludity do really show off how well this show looks, but it shows chemistry is really needed even if you're just getting actors for their voices and this doesn't have that. And it's not just because it only has 30 minutes to tell that story as that's not a problem between Strange and Christine Palmer or even Thor and Jane. Heck Captain Carter and Black Widow had better chemistry then Carter and Steve do here so yeah this one just didn't sell it well which hurts the episode.

7. "What If... The World Lost It's Mightiest Heroes?" -Thankfully this wasn't as much of a tonal mis match as the Zombies episode. Probably because this wasn't playing up the drama as much as a tragedy like you were suppose to get there and instead played it more up as a murder mystery. And I admit I'm not bothered by who it was and the fact you wouldn't really guess that until at the very end of the episode. Because the point was we were in the other character's shoes trying to figure out exactly what was happening and because you had the entire MCU history to play with it allowed for a lot of unique potential culprits and the idea of it being a bitter vengeance seeking Hank Pym was great. Honestly the end of this one was great from that "Nick Fury" and Yellowjacket fight before finding out it was Loki to Loki taking over the Earth and Fury getting Captain America and Captain Marvel together to Avenge what happened. Very good stuff there and though a little wonky and maybe a bit too smary, Lake Bell's Natasha Romanov really works as Black Widow and if we can't get ScarJo back for season 2 (Since they have to do a Black Widow related episode right?) I'm more then fine seeing her come back. Why is this one so low though? At this point we're away from the "kind of middling episodes that could be good" and in the "good but there are some flaws" camp so there is stiff competition. Plus yeah even if the tone isn't as bad as Zombies, it's still bad. They flanderized Coulson's Captain america and fanboy love in just plain out there ways (sniffing the dead Thor's hair... really? We're doing THAT joke? That may be the most cringe joke in What If even more then "I think I got Sharon on me" or one of Scott Lang's many terrible dad jokes) and it is constantly distracting to still having characters joke and banter despite all the dead going on. And this one doesn't even have the Zombie's excuse of characters wanting to make light of a bad situation to give into dourness. I think this is also hurt because our two view point characters here, Fury and Black Widow are either mostly just in reaction mode or wind up dying themselves which makes it a bit harder to grasp onto their journey. And considering What If at it's best is some really high quality story telling and intrigue if your entry isn't able to grab you as much by it's characters, then that is a problem. Not the worst one but enough to give it this ranking.

6. "What If... T'Challa Became A Star Lord?" - Let it not be said that tone issues can work in the reverse as well, even if admittedly it doesn't bother me quite as much. But like I said earlier if an episode just wants to be a silly romp and that works, I'm totally all for that. And when this episode wants to be a silly romp it totally does work. But this one also has this really rushed quite honestly kind of pointless (at least for the regular narrative anyway) thing where Yondu lied to T'Challa about his world dying when he finds out Wakanda sent this space ship for him and we have to have T'Challa angry about that then Yondu apologize and T'Challa forgive him and... honestly there really isn't time in this sort of narrative for that. If the emotional momentum between these characters was the focus yeah that could work but it isn't so having that in the story dries up a fair amount of the fun whenever it's brought up. I guess the ending of T'Challa and the Ravagers coming back to Wakanda is still amusing but the reason the Guardians movies can dive so well between the comedy and the emotion is because they have the time to, which this doesn't. And is more of a major problem for me thinking back on this one. The rest though is great and so much of this is a fun ride. I'm not someone who was ever against Chadwick's performance as the more Stotic T'Challa in the mainline universe because that really fits the character but it's to see him be more charming (which if you've seen movies like Marshall you know was in his wheel house) and see how much him being in The Ravagers changed it up (which makes sense as he wasn't the scared just lost his mom little kid Peter Quill was) and how that altered so much of the Marvel space stuff. I could see a lot of people not being into Korath now being this Starlord fanboy, Nebula being a tempting vixen character and Thanos being a hero who was talked out of his halving the population plan but this episode makes it clear the main focus is on this Ocean's 11 esque heist romp where the fun is all of these personalities pooling together to come up with a plan, the twists and turns of it and seeming betrayals and how to correct oneselves when it goes wrong. Aka that battle with the Collector and how he's utlimately handled. That stuff is all good and unlike the first episode shows "no these won't just be "here's character B in character A's story we are seriously doing different plots with these settings" that we got in the rest of the episodes. Just wish there wasn't any drama but still good and IMHO this is the last episode with what I feel is a "major" problem.

5. "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?" - I am willing to cut some slack to the fact the Gamora episode got cut because of Covid thus her being there with what winds up being a not even working final solution would of probably made more sense in context. But there are other elements of this that do bug me; we still have Captain Carter and Steve not really having chemistry (again Carter and Widow have wayyyyyyyyyyyy more in this episode then Carter and Steve did in the first), some examples of too much humor being added to the situation and yeah honestly if any episode did wind up feeling rushed and you could feel also thanks to Covid some of the time being taken from it, The Guardians of the Universe just meeting up with only some really interacting with one another before we get to the big battle felt off. And yeah Killmonger's "join me" moment still feels forced. However the reason this one ranks so high is because a lot of those issues are more minor in the grand scheme of things and don't detract from what is the major focus of this episode; the battle with Infinite Ultron. I really do like the idea of this group being gathered together and though magically enhanced by Supreme Dr. Strange to be able to fight the guy have to actually come up with a plan to actually best him and being able to improvise another one when the first doesn't work. And as someone who loves super hero team up action one of the best MCU fight scenes ever that makes the price of this worth it alone is that epic struggle when Starlord T'Challa steals the Soul stone and everyone trying to get it back and away from Infinite Ultron. That's just such a cool moment that I know I'll be coming back to when watching great fight scenes of this franchise. Plus a lot of the comedy in gathering up everyone and some of their interactions was good and I did appreciate how a lot of journeys ended. After what Killmonger pulled I really like how he is now stuck battling Zola Ultron for those stones for infinity because of his own greed and lust for power; getting to see T'Challa Starlord and Party Thor back on their worlds was cute and though the cliffhanger with potential "winter soldier Steve" didn't sell me I did like Captain Carter and Widow back together. And I admit I'm warming more up on the idea of Widow back on the Lost Avengers Earth. Like yeah after what she's been through just having her wind up on desolate earth would be weak so she deserves some reward and quite honestly the idea of building a new Avengers team from that world does interest me. Still what makes this one so great is the battle and what makes it kind of middling are some already discussed issues but hey for this show, Middling is still pretty good. These four though are great... for the most part.

4. "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" - Quite honestly if it weren't for the end of this one I might of put this even above the third best for just how consistently good and well paced this entry was. Honestly in terms of pace this one probably might be the best in how events unfold until that end which yeah before I praise the rest of, I want to get to. I really think we should of gotten the scene of Shuri and Pepper meeting at the top of the 9th episode and then have them ready to confront Killmonger before he's taken away because quite frankly especially now that we know this Erik's fate, having that ending is sort of pointless. Maybe someone at the team wanted a bit of hope as most endings are dour or kind of empty but that's suppose to be the point of these what if Tales and we have seen now how most of the overall worlds endings work out so having this one, especially with how pointless it winds up being just doesn't work for me. Just have it end with seemingly Killmonger getting away with it especially when you know he ultimately won't. Still the rest of this one is good enough where that is a more minor issue. And what makes it so good is yeah Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger is such an awesome villain and this episode is pretty much all of his but coming up with honestly an even more solid scheme to play the two sides against one another. No offense to his BP plan but I just love the idea of him helping save Tony's life and getting Stain taken away so he would be in Tony's good graces so the two would develop these war ending automated mechas and then suggesting a Vibranium deal involving Klaw to use that as a way of taking out Rhodes and T'Challa and then managing to free style defeat one of Tony's mechs to take him out and have that blamed on Wakanda and use that as a way of getting the drones in while he reveals his royal birthright to get into Wakanda and prove himself as a hero to the people to get the mantra of Black Panther. Like it's one of those "character has this master plan which isn't perfect but he can easily adapt and make changes to get what he wants playing off both sides" that is so awesome to see in a villain. And this one too where the tone is just perfect. You do have jokes with Eric and Tony bantering in the first half when things are lighter but yeah you note they stop trying to really be funny and just play the situation straight once characters we care about start dying, which yeah not most What Ifs seem to know how to do. And quite honestly this is a meshing of world I never thought of that works so perfectly with this kind of story all connected around this awesome performance by one of the MCU's best villains getting a chance to really take center stage. Again if the ending was just Killmonger being warned by T'Challa in the astral plane he will have to pay for his sins and Killmonger doubting it maybe have the Watcher hint Killmonger will get his but even he doesn't see how yet that would be enough but as it stands ending aside, great episode. The next three though are more great throughout thus why I rank them higher.

3. "What if... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands?" - Honestly this easily has the best emotional highs of any of the What Ifs. After having done such a good job setting up Strange and Palmer as a couple (which is why I give so much flack to Steve and Peggy here considering Strange and Palmer weren't even really a couple in the movie but you feel that connection here) they do a really good job selling the trauma and heart break as Strange tries literally EVERYTHING he can think of to change that night. Maybe if he didn't get so wreckless driving, they took another path, they went in to eat, even just leaving still results in her dying and that's played for the pathos it deserves. A lot of death even when it works in What If doesn't feel like it hits that hard but they knew to sell the premise they needed it to hit so that's what the focus was. And then that ending of Supreme Strange finally getting her back having turned into this monster as the world collapses in around him finally realizing how playing god has literally doomed not only the one he was trying to save but literally everyone else and being told by the Watcher not even he can do anything to save him and ending on that image of him alone... just chills man. So well done. Admittedly though this is something with a fantastic opening and ending but a middle which though not bad isn't anything to really comment on. The stuff with O'Bengh isn't obnoxious and and it is nice seeing this Dr. Strange gaining more of his dark twisted powers absorbing those creatures and becoming more derranged and I do like the reveal that there was another Dr. Strange that didn't go down this path so yeah ending with a battle between the two of them and having evil win out after that seemingly "okay good Strange is going to win" makes that impact work even more. Still though it's not nearly as engaging. It's certainly not bad per se and I do give major props that the Dr. Strange cast seems like the only full cast in these movies to come back (I guess technically no one in the Ant Man cast that was shown was recast but we didn't get to see them really interact with one another here) and despite this only focusing on the Dr. Strange world it did come up with such a unique new concept for it other then just reusing something from the original movie, but man when you open that well and close that well, the rest just being pretty good (not tonally annoying here as Strange cracking jokes worked due to it feeding into his ego and drive to "fix" his problem) does lower it to me. I mean it's still a great episode and I get why it's most people's favorite (I also get why some may not be able to get into it) but that middle build up wasn't really that engaging. And there is a way to do that and have it work. For example...

2. "What If... Ultron Won?" - See "What If... Zombies" THIS is how you have an episode whose point is to have a dismal and horrifying tone work while still throwing jokes in; have them in places where it makes sense. Nat and Clint are bantering with one another sure but it feels like something they would actually say and between Hawkeye breaking down at first not being able to find the files and then wanting to make the sacrifice being too "tired" to fight anymore it still portrays the heaviness of the situation very well. Like yeah we'll joke about Indiana Jones and Russians and Nat taking the Red Guardian shield and even how little Zola knows but it doesn't detract from the horror of the situation. Plus this one also allows us to have fun with the villain as well. I didn't think Ultron was too short changed in Age of Ultron but allowing him access to the full power of all the Infinity Stones and showing him as this huge cosmic era threat really did justice on a level you couldn't do in the movies. Tearing through Thanos, blowing up planet after planet, even blasting apart Carol Danvers are some pretty solid feats. But then you had him not only realize the Watcher's presence but also have that epic throw down with the guy which though not the best battle of the season (mostly because of the lack of the teamwork factor which pushes the last fight to me higher) has the most scope as they literally punch each other through differing universes. Plus this one actually felt like the most one actually about our title narrator. With him desperately trying to hold onto his mantra and then getting involved and being told off by Infinite Ultron "you really think watching people and not doing anything about it actually matters" and then schooling him. Again I always love a trope when this all powerful being has their code thrown in their face and they have to eat some humble pie and yeah this one had that in spades. And you wouldn't really think that this huge mega cosmic scale battle mixed with this desperate scramble with the non powered heroes would really work but I was griped by both plots and felt both ended really well leading of course to the finale I already talked about. Quite honestly the more I sit on this one the better I dig it though I have to admit when going through all the episodes in my head on which one I not only would enjoy the most but would watch the most (as I'm someone who if I want to rewatch part of a movie or full ep that means a lot as I'm more "one and done" with a lot of shows and films) I have to admit that title would belong to...

1. "What If... Thor Was An Only Child?" - Yeah this is probably a controversial choice as I doubt many others would put this episode as their favorite. You know the Episode that takes it's cue from 80's College Party movies right down to an ending with the main character scrambling to make everything appear presentable to a parental figure coming in their direction. And fair enough if you feel that way since this more then any ep you do kind of have to be in the mood to swim in it's sheer absurdity but... yeah I had no problem doing so and just had a blast with this one. It probably helps that because the stakes are honestly pretty low and we're not really dealing with like major serious injury or death that everything could just be taken as this silly little farce. Though the epic awesome battle of Captain Marvel and Thor is pretty sweet and I love how they knock each other around the planet, even that allows for a lot of lunacy from Captain Marvel desperate to protect Stonehenge even if she has no idea what it's about to Thor's lightning not working to her or even Thor giving her a "time out". Like so much of this episode had me laughing and even stuff that started off as a bit weird like Darcy being hit on by Howard the Duck got funnier as the episode progressed and quite honestly the banter here was just on full blast. IMHO one of the funniest marvel scenes in the entire MCU is when Darcy is fangirl chatting with Carol who wants her to be more at a 2 instead of an 8 and then Darcy saying they should just blow up South Dakota saying no one can tell it apart from North and Carol saying "it's the lower one". It's so stupidly absurd but hilarious at the same time. And honestly that's the vibe you get from pretty much everyone here even the ones trying to stop the good time; that this is just silly fluff they can't take too seriously. Even Maria Hill calling off the attack once Frigga arrives and Crossbones muttering how they never get to blow up anything is great. Really there's just a charm to this one I really like, heck the romance between Thor and Jane again works even better then in the movies to how she falls for him and how he crushes on her and just makes sense for these two to wind up together. Add in actually friendly "brother from another mother" Ice Giant Loki (I admit him saying that has actually grown on me), the various cameos of Nebula, Grandmaster, Surtur and so many others having fun in the background and just the enjoyable atmosphere and yeah this is the one I like the most. It's consistently amusing, the characters have great exchanges and yeah the tone is just perfect. Even the ending with the Ultron bots arriving works as just a quick shift to you know set up "oh yeah this show's finally starting to show it's series arc". But this was just such a fun time I have to give it the most props for that. Which I'm sure other people would see this as lesser but hey different tastes and all that. This is from someone who didn't hate Thor The Dark World afterall so take that for what it's worth.
 
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Frontier

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

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 :rolleyes2:.

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) :proud:.

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 o_O.

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 :sweat:.

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 :confused:?

Supreme Strange...is not the best at inspirational speeches :knd1:.

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 :shrug:.

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

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 :D.

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 :eek:.

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 :oops:.
 
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Yojimbo

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Hey a Tony variant lived and a new armor! :D

Wow, Arnim Zola saved the Multiverse. And those others helped a little, too. :p

We did get the see that Avengers murdered universe again! Loopholes now, Uatu? lol.

Weird twist the HYDRA Stomper and presumably Steve were on the Lemurian in this universe. Shrug. Maybe he got sick with some rare disease and Stark adapted the Stomper to serve as a cryogenic chamber until a cure could be found.
 

Freddy

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The finale was basically what The Avengers was when it came out. Maybe not the deepest story, but a fun fireworks show. I guess the shorter runtime and all the actors recording their parts at different times meant that there couldn't be any spontaneous moments of character interactions and said interaction was more limited in the first place, but it was still entertaining. Gamora variant and Infinity Crusher do come out completely out of nowhere, which will make this season forever feel clunky, even when we do get to see the missing episode. Maybe they could have put the finale on hold instead and made Ultron finding out about the multiverse a giant cliffhanger, but I guess that would have been too risky.

Overall, while there were weaker episodes along the way and even the good ones had their flaws, this was a fun season and I’m looking forward to the next one.

My ranking of the episodes from the best to worst:

1. What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?
2. What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
3. What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?
4. What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?
5. What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?
6. What If... Ultron Won?
7. What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?
8. What If... Zombies?!
9. What If... Thor Were an Only Child?
 

Frontier

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Weird twist the HYDRA Stomper and presumably Steve were on the Lemurian in this universe. Shrug. Maybe he got sick with some rare disease and Stark adapted the Stomper to serve as a cryogenic chamber until a cure could be found.
Maybe Hydra Stomper Steve ends up being their take on the Winter Soldier :confused:?
The finale was basically what The Avengers was when it came out. Maybe not the deepest story, but a fun fireworks show. I guess the shorter runtime and all the actors recording their parts at different times meant that there couldn't be any spontaneous moments of character interactions and said interaction was more limited in the first place, but it was still entertaining. Gamora variant and Infinity Crusher do come out completely out of nowhere, which will make this season forever feel clunky, even when we do get to see the missing episode. Maybe they could have put the finale on hold instead and made Ultron finding out about the multiverse a giant cliffhanger, but I guess that would have been too risky.
Yeah, I think ultimately the show was a fun, fanservice-filled, production that really didn't benefit from thinking too deeply about it :p.
 

BigFatHairyDeal

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Just finished the first season. I absolutely give it an A for being a lot of fun, but I also give it a C- for certain attention-to-detail matters such as logistical setups, application of powers, and forcing me to look up all the episode guides on why I didn't recognize their Gamora. To be fair, the MCU itself wasn't strong in detail management, but I think they were way too loosey-goosey in this series. Still, I recommend it to all my MCU-fan friends, probably because none of them nitpick details the way I do. :)
 

Rick Jones

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It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed the hell out of this season. This was one of the shows I anticipated the most and it's the one I enjoyed the most so far. I hope that animation will become a bigger priority for Marvel and that this will just be the first step in the direction that they can go to.

The one personal thing I would like to see them do is to not be afraid of having episodes be complete standalone stories that don't need to continue. I'm not mad at how many of these were wrapped up to be happy and things with this finale but I am all for them doing the complete tragic and things like we got with Marvel Zombies or the Strange Supreme episode. I really hope we don't get any more ambiguous endings like the Killmonger episode. At least make me feel like it's wrapped up, even if it's not.

I hope that they brought in the limitations and that eventually we can maybe get episodes with different styles or touch on other universes besides the MCU like the comics or the Fox or Sony movies, etc. Of course they could probably just keep rattling out MCU alternate stories but it would be so cool if we could get a little more. Anyway, I'm looking forward to Season 2 and I hope that they step things up even more.


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Frontier

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I think it was a fun show. I think it ran more on fanservice and fun moments than, say, well-thought out and developed plots, and to some degree I feel like they were limited by just utilizing content from the movies, but it was fun to watch :).

I really hope future Marvel cartoons aren't so strictly tied to the movies.
 

Gold Guy

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I don't have much to say that others haven't, but I do want to highlight the animation, which I wasn't crazy about at first. The humans could look weird at times...but the animation really POPPED for the action scenes, especially the last two episodes. Infinity Stone Ultron was practically an anime villain, he was so overpowered, and I think the animation went a long way, visually, in showing us how powerful he was.
 

Frontier

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I don't have much to say that others haven't, but I do want to highlight the animation, which I wasn't crazy about at first. The humans could look weird at times...but the animation really POPPED for the action scenes, especially the last two episodes. Infinity Stone Ultron was practically an anime villain, he was so overpowered, and I think the animation went a long way, visually, in showing us how powerful he was.
Yeah, some of the character designs were a little plastic-y at times and the resemblance to the actors/movie designs could be 50/50, but they definitely flowed very well :).

I hope this doesn't mean less traditional animated cartoons though...
 

Yojimbo

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Yeah, some of the character designs were a little plastic-y at times and the resemblance to the actors/movie designs could be 50/50, but they definitely flowed very well :).

I hope this doesn't mean less traditional animated cartoons though...
Idk, the I am Groot shorts are going to be photo-realistic animation last I read.
 

the greenman

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So just finished What if Killmonger rescued Tony Stark?

I enjoyed going into this with no spoilers. Surprised so many actors reprised their roles. The idea was one I think came out of left field, but glad they were able to do this with most of the cast of BP. Showed just how ruthless Killmonger could actually be in the long run. Wasn't feeling Tony with the mech made of vibranium; felt slightly out of character. Then again he never had his Jensen cave moments of epiphany.

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