The new ‘What if…?’ TV show follows the Watcher, an omniscient presence that observes all possible timelines, never intervening. He narrates each episode, as the animated T.V show presents the question of ‘What if…?’
Each episode features a timeline identical to the one seen throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, except for one small detail which is changed. The butterfly effect is showcased through the comparatively insignificant changes that lead to completely different outcomes. There is an episode where Hank Pim goes into the Quantum realm, and it leads to the Zombie apocalypse, and in another one, Captain America becomes Captain Carter as Peggy receives the serum. There was widely accepted distaste for Captain Carter specifically, as it felt that as soon as Sam Wilson stepped into the mantle of Captain America, Captain Carter was there to overshadow him. Instead of going back that far, many fans wanted to see the current or original Avengers lineup deal with these changes.
‘What if…?’ proves that animated superhero content can be serious, sad, and have high stakes. The show also has the added pressure of understanding each character and their motivations enough to realistically depict the way they would explore completely different timelines.
Although it can sometimes feel like it cheapens the characters, as tiny changes make the characters that are hailed as heroes turn around and do terrible things. At the same time, the series demonstrates the importance of relationships for the characters. What if these characters got along? What if these characters did not have each other?
Although these are not the primary questions of the episodes, they are what is answered. What is at the core of these characters is the people around them. When that changes, so do they. The show was an interesting character study, and it did highlight the growth seen throughout the franchise.
Although the premise itself could have gone on forever, assuming that all stories were used as one-offs, never to be used again, the series finale unexpectedly intertwined the episode premises, making the resolution feel definitive. The stakes at the end seemed too high to raise again for other seasons without cheapening this one, so this will probably be the only ‘What if…?’ season.
Still, this series did raise questions about some characters and how close they really are to being of the flipside of morality. It blurred the line between heroes and villains in a way that Marvel does not typically do. The heroes of the MCU did unforgivable things and the biggest villains were shown as regular people who never went bad.
Despite its interesting premise and animation, and the compelling character study, a lot of the character beats fell flat, and they felt inconsistent with the established characters. This show gets a 6/10.
Laura Pinto Alton // Staff Writer
