Note: this can be a spoiler-free advance evaluation of Marvel’s What If…? Season 3, Episode 1, which premieres on Disney+ on Sunday, December 22.
The second season of Marvel’s What If…? was really a combined bag, affected by an overemphasis on Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter and a season finale payoff that felt underwhelming at finest. Fortunately, Season 3 begins off by giving us precisely what’s wanted – a powerful palate cleanser. It’s laborious to go incorrect with the enormous mecha vs. kaiju formulation.
Dubbed “What If… the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?”, the premiere takes place in a world the place Hulk’s try and treatment himself of his gamma affliction has main unintended penalties for humanity. Borrowing liberally from franchises like Godzilla, Pacific Rim, and Voltron, this episode ups the scope of the sequence significantly and permits for some really titanic battles between radioactive super-monsters and Avengers piloting large robo-suits. The sequence has all the time been dedicated to exhibiting us conditions and plot twists that might by no means occur within the common MCU. Sometimes it succeeds greater than others, however that is one case the place it undoubtedly makes the many of the alternate timeline premise.
Granted, like most What If…? episodes, the restricted runtime turns into a bit constraining. The plot is nothing if not simple and predictable, and viewers will be capable of simply name the foremost plot beats nicely prematurely. But to its credit score, this episode does discover a stable emotional throughline to anchor all of the larger-than-life spectacle. This situation hinges on the friendship between Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, hearkening again to Sam’s position in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a counselor to wounded warriors. Their bond helps give the episode some emotional heft, and really left me wishing one thing comparable existed in Earth-616. The MCU misplaced one thing with the transition to a better, extra well-adjusted Hulk in Endgame.
Another power of this episode is in the way it makes use of the bigger Avengers roster. Rather than give attention to the traditional Phase 1 and 2-era Avengers, the premiere as a substitute emphasizes more moderen, post-Endgame MCU gamers. It provides us a precious likelihood to see how characters like Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, and even Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight work together. Because, nicely, it’s not as if the live-action films have been in any hurry to get us to that time. It all makes for a way more novel viewing expertise. And with many of the live-action actors reprising their roles right here, the crew banter has that mandatory air of authenticity. Isaac particularly is loads of enjoyable right here, making it all of the extra unlucky the sequence hasn’t actually centered on Moon Knight up until now.
Visually, that is most likely probably the most memorable What If…? episode because the Season 2 premiere, the neo-noir-themed “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” The sheer scale of the motion and the numerous designs of the Mech Avengers guarantee there’s not often a boring second. The motion is easy and does a wonderful job of channeling the assorted anime reveals and films which have clearly impressed this episode. There’s even a pleasant opening section that pays homage to traditional ‘80s anime, one which I solely want lasted longer than it does.
