Editor’s Note: Column contains spoilers to Marvel’s “What If…?” series
What if Marvel never existed?
If that were reality, the popular Spider-Man meme would have never existed. Actors who got their fame through Marvel films would not be household names. Large portions of superhero related content would disappear, leaving us at the mercy of DC Comics.
What if instead, we had different storylines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe than the current ones? What if Tony Stark never became Iron Man? What would the Marvel Cinematic Universe look like then? These are questions I like to think about, and ones that were answered in Marvel’s animated series “What If…?”.
When Marvel announced “What If…?”, I was all in. Not only has the animation style of this show met and even exceeded my expectations, but the episodes each focused on different scenarios of what could have happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For starters, the show includes an episode where Tony Stark never became Iron Man, but with a twist, he was saved by Killmonger. I would have never asked or considered this specific scenario, but others are ones I have been waiting to see play out.
The show consists of nine episodes with eight being individual tellings of different universes, which have spun off from the original Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. In these alternative universes, a world might be destroyed or a character might not get their hero arc.
Whether a Marvel fan or not, this show is made for anyone to watch. Speaking as a Marvel fan though, it was fascinating to see different scenarios play out, like the episode centered around Captain Peggy Carter as the first Avenger instead of Captain America. Another episode focused on a less niche and targeted scenario, one where there is a zombie apocalypse.
Context to the characters and their motivations helps in making more connections throughout the show, but watching without previous Marvel knowledge would not hurt either and leaves room for more speculation.
When I first started watching “What If…?” I did not have many theories of how it would play out. From what I knew, I assumed each episode would be independent from the next. But deep down, I hoped the Marvel writers would have something else in store, and they did. When the villain gets introduced, I knew my wishes for the multiverse to be connected had been answered, and the finale hits hard with that connection.
The first eight episodes focus on the alternative universes, slowly building out the show’s multiverse. As we inch closer to the finale, there are little hints of the universes being connected or of the entire show having an overarching storyline.
The show is narrated by a character called the “Watcher”, who introduces each alternative universe and explains what makes them different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. He sits in a protected bubble above the multiverse and, as his name suggests, watches as the events of the universes unfold. Until himself and the entirety of the multiverse are at risk of destruction, the Watcher does not interfere— no matter how dire the situation is.
If you watch the show closely, you can see that in each episode, the Watcher gradually gets bigger and closer to the characters. In episode one, titled “What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?”, the Watcher is merely a transparent figure in the sky, which the characters in the show cannot see. But as the show progresses, the Watcher becomes more opaque and characters sense him watching, progressing to them actually seeing and interacting with him.
It took me a few episodes to notice this was happening, but when I did, I was impressed. Although the animation of the show is lackluster in comparison to other animated superhero movies, like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, the small details like the Watcher becoming bigger and clearer made me enjoy the design even more.
With the finale, my hopes were answered and characters from across the entire multiverse were brought together by the Watcher to defeat the villain in a dramatic and mesmerizing way.
