What If…? has concluded its three-season run simply in time to deliver 2024 to a detailed. Debuting in 2021 on Disney+, What If…? was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s deep dive into the huge realities that The Multiverse Saga opened up. Narrated by The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), audiences have seen a lot of their favourite heroes and villains reimagined. For 26 episodes, followers received a glimpse into realities totally different from the MCU sacred timeline, together with tales that drew from iconic storylines like Marvel Zombies and 1602.
3.5
/5
What If…?
- Launch Date
-
August 11, 2021
- Forged
-
Samuel L. Jackson
, Stanley Tucci
, Michael Douglas
, Sean Gunn
, Mark Ruffalo
, Karen Gillan
, Tom Hiddleston
, Jeffrey Wright
, Michael B. Jordan
, Toby Jones
, Sebastian Stan
, Paul Rudd
, David Dastmalchian
, Natalie Portman
, Josh Brolin
, Dominic Cooper
, Jeff Goldblum
, Hayley Atwell
, Djimon Hounsou
, Chadwick Boseman
, Taika Waititi
, Chris Hemsworth
, Neil McDonaugh
, Jeremy Renner
, Michael Rooker - Seasons
-
3
With numerous potentialities in an unlimited multiverse, there have been additionally many alternatives for Easter eggs and references to Marvel Comics’ historical past. What If…? Season 3 was no totally different, with the collection making an attempt to function loads of references and callbacks to previous episodes and the broader Marvel pantheon. From a Frog Thor to a potential trace at The Unbelievable 4, listed here are the most important Easter egg and references in What If…? Season 3.
15
Gamma Monsters Name Again to Marvel’s Early Day
The debut episode of What If…? Season 3, “What If… the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?” on the floor, appears like not only a send-up of giant-mech and kaiju animes but additionally a Marvel remake of Pacific Rim. The concept of Marvel Comics and big monsters goes again to Marvel Comics’ early days earlier than they had been even known as Marvel. Between the late Nineteen Forties and the start of the Sixties, superhero comics had fallen out of favor amongst comedian ebook readers. Marvel, then known as Atlas Comics, was publishing many several types of comics, with a preferred subgenre being big monster comics.
These big monster comics printed in comics like Tales to Astonish and Unusual Tales led to the creation of iconic characters like Groot and Fin Fang Foom. When Marvel dipped its toes again into superhero comics with the publication of The Unbelievable 4 in November 1961, they bridged the hole by having a large monster on the quilt of the comedian. That first Unbelievable 4 subject did not have the characters in superhero costumes, nevertheless it did function big kaiju-like monsters. Marvel would name again to their historical past of big monsters within the 2017 occasion collection Monsters Unleashed and now has achieved so on this What If…? episode with a Hulk-centric spin.
The second episode, “What If… Agatha Went to Hollywood?” sees Agatha Harkness try to enact a magical ritual to siphon the facility of Celestial Tiamut from the Earth’s core utilizing Howard Stark’s manufacturing of Cosmic Queen to lure Everlasting Kingo to Hollywood and use his energy. The episode is a sendup of the Golden Age of Hollywood, which means on this actuality, Howard Stark received into the movie enterprise about twenty years earlier than his sacred timeline counterpart did in Agent Carter.
The episode’s Hollywood-centric story permits Marvel to get a number of meta jokes at their very own expense, much like what they did in She-Hulk: Legal professional at Regulation and Deadpool & Wolverine. When Howard Stark calls over his assistant, Edward Jarvis, and informs him that they’re doing one other spherical of rewrites and reshoots, it’s a reference to the everyday Marvel reshoot course of that has grow to be a much bigger story within the lead-up to Captain America: Courageous New World.
Jarvis additionally seemingly outlines a listing of criticisms of Marvel Act 3 set items, saying, “One other mind-numbing motion spectacle? Massive fights? Greater explosions? I believe we have seen it.” It’s good to see the MCU can giggle at itself.
13
Did Obadiah Stane Additionally Work with HYDRA within the Sacred Timeline?
Within the third episode, “What If… the Purple Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?”, audiences get a potential glimpse of the chemistry followers can anticipate from Alexei Shostakov/The Purple Guardian (David Harbour) and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). The episode sees Purple Guardian cease the Winter Soldier’s assassination of Howard and Maria Stark from the start of Captain America: Civil Struggle. The 2 are then despatched on a street journey to trace down a Russian informant, “Rook.” The duo arrives in Las Vegas and discovers it’s none apart from Obadiah Stane, the primary MCU villain from Iron Man.
The codename Rook was an early trace that the informant was Obadiah Stane, because the character within the comics had a proclivity for chess and even had brokers named Chessmen. A minor trace of Obadiah Stane’s chess obsession was seen in Iron Man with a chess board in his room.
What If…? seemingly implies that whereas the second that diverged the timeline from the Sacred Timeline was Purple Guardian interfering with the assassination, the start circumstances are the identical. That signifies that within the Sacred Timeline, Obadiah Stane was accountable for the demise of Howard and Maria Stark in Captain America: Civil Struggle years earlier than he tried to kill Tony Stark in Iron Man.
12
Howard the Duck and Darcie’s Daughter Is a Multi-Layered Reference
“What If… Howard the Duck Bought Hitched?” was the fourth episode of the collection, and one time to air on Christmas Day. That Christmas launch date appeared acceptable because the episode centered on the reveal that Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Howard the Duck (Seth Inexperienced) from the Season 1 episode “What If…Thor was an Solely Little one” received married and have a child (within the type of an egg) that’s destined for cosmic greatness that places the egg on the radar of many threats together with Kaecilius from Physician Unusual, Malekith from Thor: The Darkish World, Zeus from Thor: Love and Thunder, S.H.I.E.L.D. and even Thanos after it.
Regardless of all of the cameos from previous Marvel faces, the most important Easter Egg is the importance behind Howard the Duck himself. The concept of Howard the Duck being romantically concerned with a human girl has been a horrific thought for anybody who noticed the 1986 Howard the Duck movie. In that movie, Howard’s feminine companion Beverly says that Howard the Duck might need been dropped at Earth for some larger function, a cosmic trigger. Now, in one other department of the multiverse, Howard the Duck’s child is destined for greatness. The eventual reveal of Howard and Darcy’s child, Byrdie, units the stage for the ultimate two episodes of What If…?
11
The Hood Multiverse Variant Debuted Earlier than the Sacred Timeline Model
In “What If… 1872?”, audiences get a glimpse right into a timeline out of sync the place the MCU heroes are reimagined within the Previous West. The episode facilities on Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), going by the identify “The Ten Rings,” and his companion, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld). The 2 are looking for a mysterious villain referred to as The Hood, whose identification is saved a secret till the top of the episode. The reveal of who The Hood is a dramatic second, however it’s odd as a result of audiences are assembly a variant of The Hood earlier than their correct MCU debut.
Associated
Greatest Easter Eggs in X-Males ’97’s Episodes 1 & 2
Listed here are all the main easter eggs and comedian ebook references within the X-Males ’97 two-part premiere.
The Hood, actual identify Parker Robbins, debuted in Marvel Comics The Hood #1 in July 2002 and was created by author Brian Okay. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell. The Hood was purported to make his MCU debut in Ironheart, the place Anthony Ramos will play him, because the collection was initially set to debut in 2024. But delays to Ironheart, which is able to now be launched in the summertime of 2025, now imply that audiences tuning into this episode will not register The Hood as a very noticeable identify, however may be somewhat shocked when he debuts in Ironheart and is a drastically totally different character.
10
Shang-Chi 2 Teased
The reveal of who The Hood is in “What If…1872?” may be one which hints at large implications for what’s in retailer for the Sacred Timeline. After believing that The Hood kidnapped his sister Xu Xialing, Shang-Chi is shocked to find that his sister has been working because the villain for a while. Xu Xialing fought and killed the unique wielder of The Hood and took up the mantle after being possessed by its energy. Audiences seeing Shang-Chi and his sister Xu Xialing combat is paying homage to their combat in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but additionally may trace at what’s in retailer for Shang-Chi 2.
Regardless of being one of the common post-Endgame releases within the MCU, no official affirmation has been given on Shang-Chi 2 in three years. The movie ended with the reveal that whereas Shang-Chi would stick with it the legacy of his father with the precise weapons, the Ten Rings, Xu Xialing inherited one other Ten Rings, the legal group. The implication was that Shang-Chi 2 would pit brother and sister in opposition to each other, together with his sister taking up a extra villainous position. What If…? might need supplied a touch on the battle that may come within the Sacred Timeline’s future.
9
Iron Fist
“What If…1872” options Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop, joined by a younger boy named Kwai Jun-Fan. Whereas that identify might sound acquainted to many, for these with their ears perk up, Kwai Jun-Fan is among the many individuals to wield the mantle of the Iron Fist in Marvel Comics. Within the 616 Marvel Comics timeline, Kwai Jun-Fan was the Iron Fist through the Previous West. The top of the episode alludes to Kwai Jun-Fan’s eventual destiny when Kate Bishop feedback on his “Iron Fist.”
This Iron Fist is the primary official reference of Iron Fist in a Marvel Studios venture. Iron Fist did star in his personal collection that aired on Netflix for 2 seasons, with Finn Jones taking part in the extra iconic Danny Rand model of the character. Iron Fist received horrible opinions from critics and audiences alike, with specific criticism being leveled at star Finn Jones’s appearing and the collection’ choice to fall into the problematic storytelling conventions of the white savior story.
Regardless of Iron Fist’s connections to Daredevil, which is being made MCU canon with the upcoming Daredevil: Born Once more, there aren’t any plans for Danny Rand’s Iron Fist to make his manner into the MCU anytime quickly. But the inclusion of Kwai Jun-Fan exhibits that Marvel Studios is fascinated with Iron Fist as an idea.
8
Previous Episode Connections
The final two episodes of What If…? kind a two-part season finale that ties varied episodes from the collection collectively. The episode begins on Xandar, the place Nebula is working as Nova Prime, final seen within the Season 2 debut, “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” Then arrives Captain Peggy Carter, the star of the very first episode of What If…? and has since been seen in a number of episodes, together with “What If…The Watcher Dealer His Oath”, “What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?”, “What If… The Avengers Assembled in 1602?” and “What If… Unusual Supreme Intervened?”
Different main episode callbacks embody:
- Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) from the episode “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?” is a part of Peggy Carter’s crew after teaming up in “What If…Unusual Supreme Intervened?”
- A grown-up model of Brydie (Natasha Lyonne), the daughter of Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis, from “What If…Howard the Duck Bought Married”, itself a sequel to “What If…Thor Was an Solely Little one?”
- A variant of the Ultron from “What If…Ultron Received?” seems as one of many final hope to avoid wasting the Multiverse
- The heroes should journey to the truth that Unusual Supreme created in “What If…Unusual Supreme Intervened”, which was initially destroyed in Season 1 episode “What If…Physician Unusual Misplaced His Coronary heart As a substitute of His Arms?”
7
The Exiles Make Their MCU Debut
“What If…The Watcher Disappeared?” begins with a bang as a gaggle of multiversal heroes arrive on Xandar to help Nova Prime from a tentacle monster attacking the planet. The crew consists of Captain Carter, Kohhori, Brydie, and a Mljonir-wielding Storm from the X-Males, voiced by X-Males ’97‘s Alison Sealy-Smith. This crew of multiversal heroes isn’t the Guardians of the Multiverse proven in What If…? Season 1, though members like Star-Lord T’Challa and Social gathering Thor are proven in a gaggle photograph with the brand new crew. The crew Captain Carter is main is The Exiles.
The Exiles had been created in 2001 by Judd Winnick and Mike McKone and had been a crew of heroes from totally different universes, or realities, which have been faraway from time and area to appropriate issues in varied alternate worlds and divergent timelines within the multiverse. What If…? adapts this idea, though the numerous distinction is that The Exiles had six heroes on their crew within the comics, whereas there are solely 4 right here.
6
Peggy Carter Rides Kang’s Time Ship and Makes use of TVA Weapons
When Captain Carter arrives on Xandar, she is available in a very notable machine that MCU followers will acknowledge: the time journey chair utilized by Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It turns into clear that the time chair is a drone that Peggy Carter and The Exiles use to journey and hop between alternate realities within the Multiverse.
How they acquired this machine isn’t defined. One of the best clarification is that they could have acquired it from the Time Variance Authority (TVA), because it was later established that they stole time pruners from TVA earlier than the group phased them out following the organizational adjustments in management in Loki Season 2.
Whereas it’s by no means defined how or why Peggy Carter was the identical chair as Kang the Conqueror, it doubtless was a part of Marvel Studios’ unique plans to have Kang be the massive villain of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. With Kang the Conqueror now being scrapped in favor of Physician Doom, this time vessel is a enjoyable Easter Egg for followers since now a Kang the Conqueror-centric episode of What If…? is off the board. It’s a good reference to a chunk of the MCU that’s seemingly over.
5
Madisynn
When the record of individuals The Watcher has saved by interfering is introduced, most of the names are ones audiences have seen within the collection, together with Riri Williams from “What If…The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” and Kwai Jun-Fan from “What If…1872”, however one identify was not proven in What If…? however one other Disney+ collection. It’s revealed that one life The Watchers saved was Madisynn “however with two N’s and one Y, nevertheless it’s not the place you suppose” from She-Hulk: Legal professional at Regulation.
Madisynn King, performed by Patty Guggenheim, debuted in She-Hulk: Legal professional at Regulation episode “It is Not Actual Magic” as a drunken social gathering lady who is shipped to a different dimension by an novice magician Donny Blaze. She later befriends Wong, and because the character’s debut, followers have been hoping to see extra of her within the MCU. Madisynn not solely survives her encounter within the fireplace dimension, she reveals, “I made a pact with a demon that I can’t focus on. In any other case, he mentioned he would ‘reap my soul and the souls of all I like,’ which, truthfully, is so dramatic.” What If…? implies that The Watcher may not have saved a variant of Madisynn, however her precise Sacred Timeline model.
4
Tease for ‘Unbelievable 4: First Steps’
One other identify that’s talked about for who The Watcher saved may doubtlessly be an enormous clue in an upcoming MCU movie, because the identify Reed Richards is particularly talked about. Reed Richards is, in fact, Mister Unbelievable of The Unbelievable 4, and the superhero crew has a protracted historical past with The Watcher because the character debuted in The Unbelievable 4 #13 in April 1963. The Watcher may have interacted with any model of Reed Richards within the MCU Multiverse, nevertheless it seemingly appears to be a touch at Pedro Pascal’s model that will probably be seen in The Unbelievable 4: First Steps.
Associated
How What If’s the Watcher May Influence The Unbelievable 4 in Their MCU Debut
The Watcher is the one character who may impression the Unbelievable 4 story in additional methods than anybody expects.
It’s confirmed that The Unbelievable 4: First Steps will probably be set in an alternate timeline other than the MCU’s sacred timeline. Uatu might need glimpsed into this different timeline and both interfered with the saving of Reed Richards through the origin of the Unbelievable 4, leading to them getting their powers, or presumably with the precise occasions of the film.
The Watcher is famously a part of “The Galactus Trilogy,” which is a serious inspiration for The Unbelievable 4: First Steps, because the film will function Galactus. Audiences may see precisely how The Watcher interacted with Reed Richards.
3
Uatu Earns His Title
What If…? establishes in its remaining episode prologue that The Watcher gave up his identify to be an observer of the multiverse, however within the episode’s remaining moments, he asserts his true identify for the primary time: Uatu. Followers of the comics have identified that this was Uatu because the collection was first introduced, as Uatu was the narrator of the What If…? comics the collection is predicated on. Nonetheless, very like Rocket not formally being known as Rocket Raccoon till Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, not having the character’s common identify revealed was baked into the collection’ story.
It’s also becoming that The Watcher was unnamed for What If…? till the ultimate episode, because the character went twelve years within the comics with out an official identify. It was not till Captain Marvel #39 in July 1975, greater than a decade after his first look in The Unbelievable 4, that the identify Uatu was named. After 27 episodes, the ending of What If…?, Uatu provides a barely revamped monologue from his opening title monologue, now with him lastly calling himself Uatu versus The Watcher.
2
Numerous Alternate Easter Egg Variants
At one level, the villainous Watchers threaten to destroy The Exiles and each model of them from throughout the multiverse. Audiences get a glimpse of a few of these variants by way of a ray of sunshine. Storm’s variant is carrying her basic costume from Large Measurement X-Males #1, which she not too long ago started carrying in X-Males ’97, establishing that the Goddess of Thunder is a Storm variant, not a Thor variant. In the meantime, one in every of Byrdie’s variants is her drawn as a full duck, within the model of the basic Howard the Duck.
Kahhori variants embody one modeled after the X-Males villain Apocalypse and Cloak from Cloak and Dagger. It’s Captain Carter that audiences get probably the most variants of. Peggy Carter is glimpsed as variants of the X-Males villain Sabretooth, the hero Black Knight, the Daredevil love curiosity Elektra, and even an Asgardian variant that resembles the armor of Valkyrie. It’s an Easter Egg extravaganza for followers of Marvel Comics.
1
Ponder the Query…
The collection ends with the way in which each episode of What If…? has begun, with the Watcher giving a monologue over a collection of pictures. Whereas the opening prologue tends to point out the MCU variations of basic Marvel heroes like Captain Marvel, Thor, Black Panther, and Iron Man, the What If…? finale ends with showcasing drastically totally different variations of iconic Marvel heroes. These embody however usually are not restricted to a multi-armed Spider-Man, a Thanos-inspired Wolverine, a Riri Williams model of The Punisher, and plenty of extra.
Whereas most of What If…? has used the MCU tales as the premise for its multiversal characters, the ending of What If…? implies a larger canvas to discover, one nearer to the comics. The place characters’ paths, origins, and appears can have a wider array of inspiration past the films. Whereas What If…? has sadly come to an finish, proper because the door for a greater variety of tales appears to be opening up, hopefully, Marvel Animation will revisit this idea sooner or later and go actually wild with the chances of What If…?