What If Premiere Early Review

The following is a spoiler-free review of the first three episodes of What If. The first episode premieres Wednesday, August 11th on Disney+

Having become so entrenched in the MCU as we know it after all the years, many would be remissed to think of the many big moments along the way and not wondered what could have happened if one thing or another had gone differently, playing out different scenarios. Based on the comic series of the same name, What If gives viewers a glimpse of how some of these scenarios would play out if one thing or another had gone differently. The first animated series from Marvel Studios, it reframes key moments in the MCU, taking some big swings though some may argue the leaps it takes aren’t that far. Nevertheless, the scenarios established thus far (through 3 episodes) offer promise on where the series could go. With the creation of the multiverse at the end of season 1 of Loki (spoiler alert) the MCU is ripe in story possibilities and it will be interesting to see where the season ultimately goes (this series is allegedly cannon but however that will work remains to be seen).

Connecting the stories of What If was a character known as The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), an entity who was what his name implied, watching every facet of the multiverse from afar. Though he could see everything, he does not interfere. For the most part, at least so far, he serves as a narrator for the series. Wright’s distinctive and powerful voice help to set the tone nicely as he pulls viewers in while not getting in the way of each story. The first 3 episodes focus on character stories that put a twist on a few franchises in a way that is more than just character swapping as the change to these stories was more than just cosmetic. The personalities of the characters affected the positions they now found themselves in thus serving as the primary catalyst of these new stories in compelling ways that worked more often than not as the changes in the character and the stories went beyond the changes from the top, going deeper in inventive ways.

Beyond the obvious, seeing Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) take the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, who we know did and became Captain America, made for a different story as she donned a Union Jack on her shield and became Captain Carter. It was certainly satisfying to see the character get some sort of justice after spending so much time with her over the years across film and television. Atwell brought plenty of energy and unbridled enthusiasm to this incarnation of the character while keeping that same spunk that we as audiences know and love. Following in Steve Rogers’ footsteps, she took on the Nazis and Red Skull’s (Ross Marquand) Hydra. Meanwhile, it was definitely emotional to hear Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa once again as he took on the mantle of Star Lord and the surprises didn’t end there though the transition here wasn’t as seamless. As the first two episodes dealt with twists on Avengers stories, the third teased a world with no Avengers which is admittedly something that is hard to fathom but it isn’t impossible. Without giving anything away, this was perhaps the best episode of the first three.

For their first Marvel Studios animated series, the animation in What If is spectacular. using a cel-shaded style full of color and detail. Characters and their abilities as well as the many environments matched that of their film counterparts which was impressive. For whatever reason, unfortunately the voice cast didn’t match up as some MCU actors did not come back to match their animated counterparts. Though this fact will surely be distracting for some viewers, it goes away pretty quickly. That being said, the voice cast assembled here is still rather impressive with almost everybody coming back to voice their film characters and the series packs in a lot of characters in each of its first three episodes. In the end, that voice acting is the best part of the series thus far as it lends it a real sense of legitimacy.

At the end of the day, What If marks a successful departure for the MCU. While it may not all work, no one can argue with the vision here therefore it will be interesting to see where the series goes from here.

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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.