Another two months and another show has concluded, believe it or not.

What If? season 1 has been a great success, and it is now time to look into each and every episode to see our thoughts and feelings about each of them. Overall, Taylor and I have to say we really loved What If? and the premise of it. The ability to see all of the different ways one thing can change everything we know is amazing. It is especially cool when we now have the multiverse in our MCU, because we now have no clue if we are going to see some of the stories in What If? played out on the big screen. For the full extent of all our thoughts, make sure to listen to this week’s podcast episode:

https://anchor.fm/ltmft/embed/episodes/Episode-14-What-If–Reactions-e18gnrc

Episode 1: For the first episode, Taylor and I both agree it was only okay. As I make it very clear, I am not a Peggy Carter fan, so that already had the episode falling a little flat for me. However, the episode was slightly boring, as it was one of the only episodes that followed an MCU line very closely. One choice should change much more, yet a good bit of The First Avenger was followed in this first episode. I have seen The First Avenger about 20 times, so to see it redone with Peggy Carter as the head was meh. Then as the last episode shows, somehow Peggy’s arc as Captain Carter led her exactly where Steve’s arc did in The Winter Soldier. First off, SHIELD was partially formed because of Peggy, so if she went in the ice, how would this have affected SHIELD being created? Second, Steve stayed in SHIELD because of Peggy and her helping to create it, so why did Peggy stay? I just personally think there needed to be more changes in the long run if Peggy took the serum. And I haven’t even brought up the Steve and Bucky friendship issues that this episode posed, but I won’t try to get into that now because that’s pain.

Episode 2: The worst part of this episode is the initial shock that hits when hearing Chadwick’s voice come through T’Challa. As his last time playing the character, I would say that showing how pure T’Challa is, even if he never became king and was raised fully in Wakanda, was an amazing way to remember T’Challa and Chadwick. It also shows, on the flip side, how sucky Peter Quill really is. We see what T’Challa is able to do as Starlord, all the way down to convincing freaking Thanos that snapping half the universe away isn’t the answer. I also like this episode even more for the whole reason that we see how much more is changed due to T’Challa being Starlord, and I really enjoyed that.

Episode 3: I have to say, this episode for me also fell flat. The premise itself was pretty interesting, because what would happen if the Avengers were taken out before ever even being formed? However, as Taylor and I both bring up, the who done it was disappointing and honestly, just made no sense. If the moment that changed everything was when the Avengers were taken out, then how was Hope already involved with SHIELD? And even if she was, then we needed more of an explanation as to how this even happened before having Hank commit serial murder of five super heroes. I also didn’t need the damage that having five of the six original Avengers die did to me after seeing almost half die in Endgame, so thanks Marvel.

Episode 4: Dr. Strange has grown as a character for me during Infinity War and Endgame. So this episode based around him I was intrigued to see what we would get. It took a much darker turn than I imagined it would. I think it is fair to say that Taylor and I were both indifferent towards this episode, not finding it the best one, but also not close to the worse, just kinda floating in the middle. What I really want to understand is what an absolute point in time is and if we will be seeing that play out in our MCU. I also am interested in the reasoning behind an absolute point if it doesn’t happen in our universe too? If Christine was also meant to die, then is she going to die in our MCU, or should we be forgetting everything we know from What If?

Episode 5: I was waiting for this episode to come around. 100% my favorite episode and also the one episode that needed a for sure follow up episode. I have always loved the zombie comics, so being able to see it played out was amazing. Something Taylor points out in the podcast is how cool this team-up was, as we saw a lot of different characters work together that we don’t typically see. I do have to say, as a Bucky stan, this was my episode. Obviously, this episode has some underlying out-of-character moments, but other than that, it was perfect. I just need to see more of the whole zombie Thanos thing.

Episode 6: Killmonger is one of the best villains that the MCU has ever had to date. So the idea of him rescuing Tony Stark was something I was looking forward to, as it was bound to create a totally different timeline than what we saw. However, this was one of the episodes that just didn’t do it for me. I wish Killmonger would have been somewhat redeemable, not be the same version of himself that we see in our timeline. Granted, there are various Killmonger’s in various timelines, but seeing this one once again act the way our Killmonger did made me feel a little sad about the character.

Episode 7: Out of all the episodes, this one was the most fun. I think having this episode focus on Thor’s separation from Loki gives a really interesting parallel to our own universe. Thor is inherently still a good guy, just a little off his rockers cause he never had his brother to get in his head (whether for a good reason or not). Loki, on the other hand, was thriving as a Frost Giant. So I think it really shows how interesting the two’s relationship really is as siblings. I loved that they were still friends and there were a few references to real life Tom and Chris interviews. This was an all around fun episode, and it really got me thinking about Captain Marvel vs Thor. Who actually would win? In this episode, Thor is not at Ragnorak potential, but if he was, who would be the most powerful in this battle? While I could never see this happening on the big screen, the little tease to it in What If? was cool to watch.

Episode 8: This episode was probably the most intense episode, with maybe the exception of the final one. It was also one of my favorite concepts, as I have a soft spot for Age of Ultron. It was the first Avengers film I saw in theaters, and I also just all around love Ultron as a villain. Seeing how catastrophic it would have been if he got the body he was supposed to (Visions) rather than it being stolen by the Avengers was amazing. He essentially was taking down the entire Multiverse, so it really capitalizes on just how powerful both Vision and Ultron are. However, one complaint I do have is that this episode, along with some of the others, really downplayed how powerful Thanos is. I thought it was hilarious that Ultron just thought to cut him half, however, it just made it too easy. Of course, for the sake of the plot, it made sense, but still. Regardless, it was interesting how this episode was predicted by the Thor episode and then wrapped up in the finale. I liked that we saw how all of these tied together and then saw them tie together even more in the finale.

Episode 9: Ah, the final episode. There was a love/hate relationship with this episode. For one, which is something brought up in the podcast, the Gamora episode was taken out, therefore her character just felt a little weird there. Granted, this had to deal with Covid, so there was not much that could be changed, but it still effected the show since I have no clue how she took down Thanos or why Tony was with her. I also, once again, was big sad over Killmonger taking the stones. That man never has a redeeming arc. As far as the final battle, I loved how it was essentially all Dr. Strange. I think it really showcased him as a character and the strength he had here. To be fair, a lot of this strength came from essentially selling his soul, but it was still cool to see. I also really liked Natasha’s role, as it felt like a nod to the character who sacrificed herself in our MCU. However, I would really like an explanation on how the Watcher just placed her in another timeline that no longer had a widow (aka episode 3). Essentially, I need clearer rules on what I should be following from What If? and applying to our MCU Multiverse, if anything at all. Either way, it was a great way to wrap up the first season, even if the end credit scene was a waste.

I hope everyone enjoyed What If? and got something out of it, whether it be a plot or just a favorite character appearance. Season 2 is to come in the future and will be featuring new characters, along with many of the characters being voiced by their actual actors. It should be exciting, so look forward to it, even though we likely won’t be getting it for a little while. Either way, make sure you are keeping up with all the content, as Eternals is right around the corner and so is Hawkeye! With all this material coming, stay up to date, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “What If”, Josh Ryan, Mickey Blog