"I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me, and dare to face the unknown, and ponder the question: what if?"
The MCU's first attempt at an animated show, and it is a great first step. The animation may look a little awkward at first, but I think they hit their stride near the end of the season. Given this an anthology show, with each episode exploring a different universe within the MCU multiverse, you have to judge this by an episode by episode basis.
What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?
The first episode is the introduction of Captain Carter (Peggy Carter as Captain Am... er... Britain :wink:) and this was basically a retelling of Captain America: The First Avenger but instead of Steve Rogers it's Peggy Carter. While some people didn't like this episode, I understand why they started with this episode. They wanted to ease you into this concept of the multiverse, and this was a perfect way to do so.
What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?
This episode was an absolute blast to watch. Seeing Chadwick Boseman one last time in this series was great. Seeing him interact with the cosmic side of the MCU was a delight to me. Another great thing about this was seeing that T'Challa convinced Thanos not to snap away half the universe, which says a lot about T'Challa's character.
What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?
This episode is set up like a murder mystery, as a unseen killer is killing off the Avengers candidates before Nick Fury could get to them. One great thing about this episode was we got to revisit the locales of The Incredible Hulk movie and see Betty Ross again. This episode also show how easy it is to push Hank Pym into insanity.
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
The strongest episode of the season without a doubt. Instead of Stephen Strange losing his hands in the car crash, his girlfriend Christine Palmer dies in the car crash. A time duplicate reverses time over and over again trying to save her, but the original Doctor Strange tries to stop him. "Demon Strange" at this point absorbs the original and is able to save Christine, but at this point his whole universe was being destroyed. It is a really heartbreaking and tragic episode.
What If... Zombies?!
A rather fun episode after the emotional weight of the previous episode. Hank Pym, after trying to save his wife from the Quantam Realm, ends up transmiting a zombie-like virus that spreads to the rest of the world. Like I said it was a lot of fun to see Zombie Hunter Spider-Man as well as Hulk vs Zombie Scarlet Witch.
What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?
This episode was a bit of a downer in my opinion. Having the villian kill Black Panther (to soon man) just made me have mixed feelings on this episode. Although it was cool to see T'Challa in the afterlife realm, consoling Killmonger.
What If... Thor Were an Only Child?
Yet another fun episode, since Thor didn't grow up with Loki as his brother, he ends up being a spoiled brat. This episode is just hilarious and fun having a great world spanning battle between Thor and Captain Marvel. There is even a funny moment where Thor quips at her "Why don't you smile more?" and Captain Marvel beats the crap out of him as punishment. Also the ending reveal of Ultron in posession of the Infinity Stones is great.
What If... Ultron Won?
I absolutely loved this episode! We really get to see the full power of Ultron and the Infinity Stones. We also get to see The Watcher for the first time, and he's pushed to his limit, being tested to interfere or not. Also, a great Hawkeye moment, sacrificing himself to save Natasha from the Ultron drones (nice reversal of the situation from Avengers Endgame). This episode also ends with Uatu asking for "Demon Strange's" help.
What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?
This brings the main characters from each episode together to form a "Guardians of the Multiverse" to take on Ultron. Unfortunatley this season we didn't get an episode focusing on Gamora (with Thanos's armor), but despite that, they put on an epic finale to this season. With an awesome fight between the Guardians and Ultron.
Overall, impressively good for their first outing in animation. I just can't wait for more of this. With this concept, the skys the limit, so I think it's going to get crazier from here.
I’m diligently watching each of the episodes but I don’t see what value is being added by this show.
E7 Thor is an Only Child: This is just a Fan Service episode. Made for teens by teens. Weaker* Weakest episode of WhatIF so far. Very tiny momemts of good. Tries too hard to be funny & the whole episode is ruined by background music - skippable episode unless you wish to see some Jotun Loki. The female characters were all written badly in this one. Watchable with a cringe.
What if feminists got their way and sucked out all the joy in the multiverse?
That is the real title of this show.
They had a chance for some really creative reality level stuff, but instead we got this... S2 was straightforward disappointing. It felt like a Peggy Carter fest... One of the least interesting characters in the show. S1 was better, darker, and riskier. The writers said they went crazier in this season, but I disagree. Many of the concepts were crazier, but the execution wasn’t. Villains like Hella and Wenwu got downplayed and used poorly to create happy endings. So much logic nonsense like seriously, why are they all falling helplessly? They’re literally throwing weapons that could save them. Also, why are they always shooting laser beams? It seams like with these weapons, the only thing you can do is shooting laser beams. The creativity of this show has left the chat.
They literally had endless possibilities of story telling, but in the end they choose a cheap cameo fest with explosions and epcial effects.
Season 2 is feminism at its peak :unamused:
Refreshing take on alternate universes. It's fun to watch thinking of several what ifs.
However, it has several plot holes mainly in some weak episodes and the silly choice of heroes from the multiverse. With so many choices that's the best the watcher can muster?
You can argue that's the point since he knows all and sees all but still. Fun, boring, entertaining but mostly meh.
worth seeing if you are marvel fan but not all stories stand on their own because they either expect you to have already seen all the mcu movies or they just try to cram a lot of action without much exposition in just 25-30 minutes
jeffrey wright as the watcher's voice was cast spot on. some of the artistic direction (cartoon wise) was not that good.
ep 1 - captain carter - 6.5/10 - too much talk about women empowerment
ep 2 - tchalla star lord - 7/10 - nice positive spin... maybe too positive?
ep 3 - avengers dead - 7.5/10 - like the story but not enough time to explore this properly
ep 4 - dr strange - 7/10 - probably very simillar to dr strange 2 movie
ep 5 - zombies - 6/10 - didn 't like the story direction they went with (or even the characters chosen)
ep 6 - kilmonger stark - 6/10 - they didn't go with the voice of robert downery jr and it kinda showed
ep 7 - thor only child - 5/10 - way too goofy story for me
ep 8 - ultron won - 7/10 - nice idea but the characters are not great (eg captain marvel, black widow)
ep 9 - whatcher helps - 8/10 - finally some of the other episodes make sense and it feels like it falls into place ; too bad it's this short.
Some are good and some terrible, It does annoy me now Marvel seem hell-bent on turning Thanos into a pussy
T'Challa Starlord:
Decent Episode again, I liked this episode so will wait for E3 but
Animation quality is not as good as DC/Disney. The colours used (alot of purple & blue tones in E2) not easy on the eyes.
Story is good but unsure how it fits or leads into the MultiUniverse of MCU (Is it supposed to? Only Kevin Feige knows or we find out in last episode). What If? is a show that works better if watched as a standalone short stories of an alternate life of an MCU character.
The vocals are decent but made me remember we will no longer hear Chadwick as T'Challa anymore.
The dialogues sounded preachy but then they suited T'Challa's Kingly & 'wise/mature' character but I kept thinking it was going to go into borderline woke lecture which would have annoyed me alot. I don't mind social messages done subtly but I hate when they are shoved into everything because teens/woke activists today need a Neon Sign (Virtue-Signalling) to say 'Look how Bad World Is & How Righteous & Kind We Are' in everything. I have a feeling the 'Wokeness' may increase over each of the next episodes and this will bring my overall verdict of the show from positive so far, to full negative.
I can't believe I'm saying this but watch out DCAU.
I’ve seen two episodes now and I’ve got to ask: what’s the point of watching this?
There’s nothing inherently satisfying about the show itself.
Just putting a twist on existing lore and calling it a day isn’t enough to hold my attention for 30 mimutes, nor any sane person, I imagine.
Are people only watching this because it sets up future stuff?
Why would anyone watch something that’s just set-up?
Projects are always supposed to function as an isolated piece of art, and not just as a piece of a larger machine.
This show is so empty, it’s the kind of format that lends itself for short 4 minute videos on Youtube.
But a feature series? Come on.
Edit: alright so there is an attempt to tie the loose ends together in the final episode, but still, it kinda fails to justify its existence.
It's important to the timeline, but it's so cringey.
Here's what I don't understand...
Isn't this supposed to be a show that asks questions that we legitimately want to know the answer to? As far as I can tell, WHAT IF simply pulls out a number of questions that nobody seems to care about. The multiverse is infinite...that's the point. Sure, the episode questions/answers are valid, but it doesn't defeat its main issue...nobody cares.
I'd instead propose to have the show answer questions fans might have asked themselves at one point...like What If The Avengers Battled the DCEU?
Or, how about What If Spider-Man (2002) ran into the X-Men (2000)? All the Marvel universes are SUPPOSED to be canon now, aren't they? Why limit it only to the current MCU? Here's another idea - what if the Avengers traveled the multiverse and discovered the actors Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Sam Jackson, etc - who were all playing them in a movie version. Make it meta!
Answer questions we want to see...and stop asking the most random questions nobody ever once considered.
Captain Carter:
Decent Episode. I feel indifferent about it. Waiting for E2.
Felt odd watching MCU in animation.
Agent Carter is good fighter but her dialogues sounded too much like a male child excited at finally getting to be a superhero. Agent Carter was alot more cool, calm & mature in movies and tvshow - the super serum does not change personalities so maybe in this universe her personality is like an exciteable girl child/woman before the serum? There was no backstory or character development as the episode starts just prior to Nexus points.
this is charming and entertaining but if you're not actually a comics fan i don't think you'll see value in watching it. i have a feeling most of the comments complaining about the "point" of this series are from people who are fans of the superhero genre in movies/tv but not necessarily comics. if you're familiar with comic books, this feels a lot like comic books but animated, honestly.
something intresting ,and diffrent only problen is alot of the episodes ended on cliffhangers. But if there is gonna be a season 2 that would be awesome.
It's good, not great... But if you love the MCU, you'll love some of these episodes too. It's just cool to see the stories we like with a small twist and to see the characters we know in different settings. It obviously gives lots of nods to the movies, which is great. I think the T'challa, Thor and Ultron episodes were my favorites. The ending doesn't make a lot of sense (partly due to a missing episode with Stark/Gamora), but I was glad they decided to tie it all together in the end. That's always better than standalone episodes imho.
It's alright. Not sure if they're planning a second season, but going just off of season one, I think it's hard to recommend the show. Most of the episodes aren't very great and are probably better skipped than watched. But episodes 4 and 8 are both fantastic, and 8 specifically is something really special that I'd recommend watching. Without those two episodes, I'd be giving this show a 4 or 5 out of 10.
It was a bit hit and miss at times but some of the storylines were enjoyable and the animation was great to look at.
2nd episode black ironman, 3d episode transvestite spiderman...hey it sells in these times.
Other than that I liked it. waiting for more
I already saw the first chapter, it looks interesting :thinking:.
Decent enough series of alternate MCU-adjacent stories that springboard off built-in nostalgia and familiar MCU beats to form an engaging narrative that's brought to life with gorgeous and unique animation.
Still, to be perfectly candid, didn't reach close to the level of story quality as the first season.
However, I'm here for a third season if Disney decides to grace us with one.
The best of the MCU series by far!!!
Season 2 rated a 7
Season 1. I'm not really into animated things so the fact I love this must mean something. The episodes really depend on if your interested in what's going on, like I found myself bored on the black panther as star lord scenes. It feels premium.
Season 2 feels the exact same, which is good in terms of playing it safe but I would have enjoyed this alot more if they did mainstream 'What Ifs?', instead of Captain Carter and zombies and infinity stones all over again. That's why episode 6 is my favourite, it was brand new.
It got so much better starting episode 4
So far the second season has been a disappointment to me .. I don't feel stacks or I feel them but for nothing I just hope it gets better
This entire series is so entirely cringe and pathetic. Whoever is in charge of this project clearly has never read any of these comics back in the day.
Ridiculous.
At no point in watching this show did I feel like it justified its existence to me. The last 2 episodes were somewhat enjoyable, but the rest didn't really grab my attention. Maybe the show wasn't intended for me, because it certainly didn't feel like it. Solid from a production standpoint, but that's typically a given with Marvel.
episode 1 was kinda boring but episode 5 was the best, with zombies and stuff. we need a marvek zombies film.
When Captain Carter said "Don't I deserve a happy ending?", I think we all felt that one.
This was good for me. Im looking forward to the second season.
This isn't a great show, this is a chore with a supposed payoff at the end.
It drags quite a bit, and it cannot stand alone outside of the MCU. Half of these twists aren't even interesting, they're just half-hearted attempts to make content out of nothing.
Everybody tells me I should watch this, but I'm finding it increasingly likely 4 episodes in that I'll never finish it. Of all the original MCU stuff on Disney Plus, this is the least interesting with the worst writing. The less compelling the story, the less fulfilling the episode.
This is undoubtedly what gets produced when somebody looks at the successful DC animated adaptations of the work of Frank Miller and Alan Moore (or other one-offs like Flashpoint) and think that an mature-targeted nihilistic darkness is what drives the plot, not the story whose own bleakness creates a darker atmosphere.
That would be the whole story, except for every-other episode which needs kid-friendly content. This is Disney after all. So forget a coherent tone that would lead you to believe this is cohesive episodic content, for that you must rely on the single-ply adhesion of a pseudo-present character-narrator.
Undoubtedly you can't help but feel you could probably skip to the final episode, get the overdue payoff from the narrator, skip the filler content and not miss a thing. Assuming I ever get that far, I'll let you know.
GREAT SHOW. CANT WAIT FOR NEXT SERIES.
tl;dr: an 'okay' series that has horrendous power scaling and save for a 1-2 episodes fails to really ask engaging 'what if' questions.
Full Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTLR4A9j0nk
I thought this was surprisingly good. The animation was well done in my opinion. Out of all the Disney based shows, What If? is number 1 in my humble opinion. I really enjoyed them all.
On the one hand, this was a really good show. Delving a little into the various multiverse versions of events and heroes we know.
On the other hand, man this hurts my brain. Turning everything upside down and inside out going against everything that we know and love just hurts on many different levels.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
Probably the best of the Marvel series. It was interesting to see how many stories and people could have turned out differently.
The final episode was a blast!
Zombie Avengers: A good episode but feels like a step backwards from Ep4 with Dr Strange. Thus episode felt like it was trying too hard to be both serious and funny but falls flat. Fun but could have been so much better if same thought went in and san* same writu* writing and artist team as Dr Strange Ep. was used. So far mixed bag of ok, good to 1 really good episode.
Dr Strange: The best episode so far, best of everything compared to the other episodes. This is how all WhatIf episodes should atleast look/feel like. No spoilers - Just watch it.
Good television. It's cartoon, not real. Since when did play-play stuff become soo serious?!
Shout by Paul VincentVIP 5BlockedParent2021-10-08T17:21:01Z
I waited until season 1 ended to write this so I could fairly judge the show. My takeaway? It's "okay". I think it would be a fun cartoon for children, but as an adult I do admit to finding it a bit shallow and childish. It's not terrible, and from someone who honestly doesn't care much for animation as an adult I will say it's one of the better cartoons I've seen, but when you line this up to the other marvel shows on disney plus it comes in a distant last place. The episodes are too short to truly tell the stories they're alluding to and consistently end just when things get interesting. Fun idea, but it didn't work out as good as it could've.