Warning: SPOILERS for What If…? episode 3.
Marvel's What If...? episode 2 kicks off with the death of Iron Man, making it Tony Stark's second death in the multiverse. MCU's first animated series revisits some events in its history and imagines how things would've panned out if some details were changed. Based on the '70s comic books of the same name, What If...? season 1 solely focuses on the Infinity Saga, with future outings set to also tackle later incidents.
After a cosmic adventure in episode 2, that centers on the idea of T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) being mistakenly abducted by Yondu's (Michael Rooker) Ravagers and becoming Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill, this week's story is set back on Earth. Chronicling Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) initial attempt to assemble the Avengers in MCU Phase 1, his plans take an unexpected turn when all his prospects end up dead. The string of assassinations is apparently masterminded by Hank Pym (Michael Douglass), who became the evil Yellow Jacket. The grieving genius was motivated to seek revenge against SHIELD after the death of his daughter, Hope van Dyne during a mission.
Titled "What If... The Wolrd Lost Its Mightiest Heroes," the events of What If...? episode 2 begins with Tony's murder. Lifting from his and Fury's conversation at Randy's Donuts in Iron Man 2, the genius, billionaire ended up dead just after Black Widow administered an anecdote for his Palladium poisoning. This automatically made Natasha Romanoff the suspect, especially since she was against recruiting Tony for the Avengers. But more than how he died, it's more interesting to examine the fact that he did. Reimagining the early days of the MCU only for Iron Man to end up killed is totally unexpected. In the real world, much has been said about what would've happened had Jon Favreau's Iron Man failed. Seeing the franchise's inaugural hero significantly derails Fury's big week. Even if Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and the rest of the Avengers didn't get murdered, the subsequent events after Tony's demise would still be very different.
Looking at what the three episodes of What If...? thus far, it appears as if each one aims to be very blasé to storytelling elements that are supposedly significant to the MCU. The premiere essentially strips Steve Rogers' his arc as Captain America. This is by no means a knock on Peggy Carter, who's equally capable and morally righteous as the original Star-Spangled Avenger, but her receiving the super-soldier serum effectively relegates Steve as a supporting character. Episode 2 alters both Black Panther and Thanos' respective stories in the primary universe, with the revelation that there's apparently an easier way to prevent the snap. In this week's story, not only does the fan-favorite founding heroes of the MCU not given the chance to assemble, the franchise's inaugural character and poster boy is killed before he could even meet his fellow Avengers.
With three episodes in, there are still six episodes left for What If...? The first two outings had a complete narrative, but the third one ends in some sort of a cliffhanger, with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) deciding to invade Midgard after dealing with the death of Thor. As for Iron Man, Tony Stark still has at least a couple more appearances in the animated show — one features him developing a friendship with Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) and another one where he and other heroes are zombies.
What If…? releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.
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August 26, 2021 at 12:12AM
