What If? (2×04) What If… Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? Review

For our review of the last episode of What If?, click here.

When the first season of What If? was released, there was one episode missing due to it being unfinished at the time. That episode was the introduction to the version of Gamora, who became part of the Guardians of the Multiverse. Now this episode is upon us but that introduction was part of another story that also created the most interesting dynamic of the series thus far, putting Iron Man together with the Grandmaster. That being said, she felt like an afterthought. Now how did this dynamic come to be? After Iron Man’s actions in ending the Battle of New York, this universe saw him get transported to Sakaar instead of back home. Dropped on the front step of the Grandmaster, he immediately became his newest fascination. An eccentric psychopath, his latest exploit was hosting deadly demolition derby races. From the last race, Gamora, Valkyrie, and Korg emerged. Tasked by her father to kill Tony Stark, he tried to appeal to her humanity as he vowed to stand up for the human race and prove her wrong by stopping the Grandmaster and saving Sakaar.

With his suit damaged upon his crash landing on Sakaar, Tony had to first repair his suit. He, Valkyrie, and Korg made quite the team as he challenged the Grandmaster to a race in exchange for Sakaar to which he accepted. All competing, they were joined by Gamora who supposedly wanting to keep an eye on Tony. As far as the race was concerned, while exciting, the slimy Grandmaster of course tried to cheat his way to victory but however it was going to go down, Gamora was going to be involved. Slowly pulling out her humanity, the story helped her along in a kind of contrived way as she had to make a decision about the kind of person she wanted to be, getting her to where she ended up. Forcing both a Tony story and a Gamora story, each were short-changed as a result. Let’s face it, when Tony is involved, he is going to take the lead most of the time. However, building a Gamora story off of that was perhaps not the best choice.

Though Mick Wingert does a decent job at filling in for Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, the same can’t be said for Cynthia Kaye McWilliams as Gamora. While not her fault, she just isn’t Zoe Saldana. The second appearance of Korg this season, Waititi has some hilarious line deliveries but this episode utilizes him just enough. Likewise for Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. Ultimately, Jeff Goldblum and his uniquely Jeff Goldblum energy as the Grandmaster continues to be a delight.

This episode would easily have been better served had it been part of the first season but better late than never?

still courtesy of Marvel Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.