Season two of What If…? is a significant win for the MCU at a time when they need one. 2023 has been a rough year for the studio, as they’ve had multiple behind-the-scenes issues with key creative talent, not to mention both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumia and Secret Invasion getting incredibly poor reviews, and The Marvels being their first true box office bomb.
Now, just in time for the end of the year, What If…? season two comes along to show that the MCU still has what it takes to entertain, and also makes a case for being one of the most genuinely fun entries in the franchise and a real standout. It continues the delightful blend of different characters and story elements to create exciting new spins on stories audiences are familiar with. Like the best remix of a song you love, the excitement is an amalgam of original elements with interesting rearrangements that make for something new.
What If It Was Connected? What If Not?
Release Date 2020-00-00
Seasons 2
Of all the post-Avengers: Endgame announcements, What If…? certainly was one of the most interesting. It was the first animated MCU project. Marvel is no stranger to animation; after all, X-Men and Spider-Man had animated series in the 1990s that helped those characters reach new heights of popularity. Yet What If…? was something different. It would explore alternate takes on popular MCU stories, featuring many iconic actors reprising their roles in vocal performances and opening the door for exciting possibilities. While it was originally believed these would be stand-alone episodes, by the end of the season, it was revealed that these episodes would use Marvel’s new multiverse to tie these storylines together.
While some fans might prefer the more stand-alone concept of What If…?, as was the case with the original comics, blending them together in some form of continuity through the multiverse sticks true to the thematic intent of the series, ponders the infinite possibilities, and explores what happens when universes collide and characters from other realities meet. Star Wars had successfully blended animation and live-action stories into one continuous story, so why not the MCU? What If…? is so tied to the live-action stories that it’s clearly tethered to Loki; season one builds off the events of Loki season one, and season two wouldn’t make sense to air until after Loki season two, with the God of Mischief rewriting the multiverse.
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The Star Wars comparison is also apt for a number of reasons. What If…? season two is very much like Star Wars Visions, where each episode is so brimming with ideas and worthy of their own analysis (yet What If…? is more connected in terms of an overall story). Hopefully, Star Wars takes a lesson and realizes that if they want to keep revisiting old characters like the Skywalkers and Han Solo, the best move is to do an animated series instead of CGI-deep fakes. What If…? is able to bring back characters from across the franchise, sometimes with the original actor but others with new voice actors, which allows their stories to continue in ways live-action never could.
The Episodes of Season 2 Tell an Unknown History
What If…? season two delivers on more of the same fun season one did, with the episodes rolling out similarly. Where season one adapted one of the most popular alternate universe stories with Marvel Zombies, season two puts a spin on Neil Gaiman’s 1602. There is a sequel episode to the Captain Carter episode, modeled after The Winter Soldier (this points to season three most likely featuring a Captain Carter: Civil War episode), and the episode “What If… Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?” was originally supposed to air in season one but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic (although the Gamora in this episode was still included in the season one finale).
The biggest change to What If…? from the past season is, of course, the expansion of storylines and characters from Phase 4. Season one was the fifth Phase 4 title released, so it was clearly playing in the sandbox of the Infinity Saga. In season two, the show uses an overriding creative idea for season two and makes it a major part of the story: unknown history.
Season two of What If…? features many alternate takes on how the entire history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe could have shifted during its early years. The most talked about episode is “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?” which features the first original superhero created for the MCU, Kahhori. It follows a young Mohawk woman who obtains the powers of the Tesseract during the early years of Europe’s Colonization of the Americas and muses about an early history if that did not occur. It is fascinating to see Marvel use this platform to tell an original story, and one so tied to actual history. The episode is one of the standouts and one that Marvel will revisit sometime in the future.
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Episodes like “What If… Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?” gather various heroes whom audiences know were operating in the shadows before Iron Man revealed himself to the world and kicked off the age of the Marvel superhero. The series also has a lot of fun blending genres with the premiere episode, “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” That’s a sci-fi noir in the vein of Blade Runner, while the delightful “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” is a comedic Die Hard spoof that’s simply great. Mixing genres and characters into new stories is the magic alchemy that makes What If…? so fun to watch for both casual viewers and hardcore fans.
Who Are You In This Vast Multiverse
MCU’s Phases 4 and 5 are part of The Multiverse Saga, and there has been a lot of discussion about how all-in Marvel has gone with the concept, which may have painted them into a corner. Aside from the very obvious issues of now needing to rework their central antagonist, Kang, there was always the concern that in a vast multiverse of stories, it would undermine the main MCU. How can audiences get invested in the fate of a hero if another version of them exists out there and can be plucked into the story?
Of all the multiverse titles in the MCU so far, What If…? might be the one that best tackles the concept in exciting ways. Each episode explores how just one small change can have ripples on a major story. While there is certainly fun to be had in mashing up elements from Thor and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, two movies released 10 years apart, the real joy is exploring how these characters change. To see how villains we know can become heroes or how heroes can fall and lose their way, that’s what’s interesting.
The MCU flourished because of its characters. That is what audiences invested in, not Infinity Stones or threats of a big bad on the horizon. What If…? remembers that and gives audiences new spins on characters they know and love while adding new dimensions to previously known characters and stories, which gives them new context. In a vast multiverse of stories, anyone can be anything, and that is exciting.
Season two of What If…? is a nice holiday treat to end one of Marvel’s most difficult years, and it is a great way for the whole family to gather together for the holidays, as it is accessible and fun for everyone. The show can move between being silly, thoughtful, exciting, and wonderful, and shows that canon and continuity don’t need to be a detriment or a crux, but a springboard for some exciting ideas. Hopefully, as long as Marvel keeps making MCU movies and shows, they will keep making episodes of What If…?
Disney+ is releasing one new episode of What If…? season two each day from December 22 to December 30, 2023. You can watch the series through the link below:
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