Marvel’s animated series What If…? is a change of pace to the usual live-action productions of the studio. The show explores alternate realities of the pivotal moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with The Watcher, voiced by Jeffrey Wright, narrating the events as they unfold. Gorgeously animated and wonderfully cinematic, some of the scenes mimic their live-action counterparts frame-by-frame. The voice acting is also well done, with most of the actors from the live-action films reprising their roles.
My initial assumption was that the series would be an anthology, where each episode is a different story, and they would all be unrelated. However, to my (pleasant) surprise, that wasn’t the case. So, to those of you who were thinking you’d just pick and choose between episodes, my advice is that for the best experience, watch it in order—and specifically leave the last two episodes last on your watchlist.
My personal favourites were What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (I’m a sap for a heart-wrenching romance), and What If… Ultron Won? Both episodes had events and endings that left me in such a shock at their bleakness and the implications they had for the rest of the MCU. What I thoroughly enjoyed about this series, and what I think sets it apart from a lot of Marvel’s other live-action work, is that it’s clear the writers are having fun with the stories, and they’re a lot looser with dishing out fatal consequences to the actions of our favourite heroes.
“What If… Marvel continued to be bold with their story choices?”
