With the arrival of the third and closing season of the multiverse-driven Marvel Cinematic Universe sequence What If…?, a sequence with infinite prospects, it begs the query — why cease now? With Season 1 principally being acquainted settings inside the MCU altered barely, Season 2 actually felt just like the gloves have been off, and the episodes began dwelling as much as the title of the sequence. Now Season 3 will get to dive even additional into the titular idea with inclusions of recent fan favorites like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), an Avengers lineup with mech suits, introducing brand-new characters like Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) and Byrdie (Natasha Lyonne), and even together with a variant of an animated X-Men fan favorite, Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith). With the sequence feeling prefer it’s simply discovered its footing, it is a disgrace to see such a enjoyable idea come to a conclusion.
‘What If…?’ Did not Want A Foremost Character
Each season of What If…? begins off with particular person tales, all culminating in season finales with a gaggle of heroes from throughout the multiverse teaming to assist The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) save the day. The frequent denominator in all of those groups is Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell). Captain Carter is a superb character — we noticed a variant of her pop up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. We might see a variant of the character in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Nonetheless, there should not be a central anchor to an anthology sequence of this sort apart from The Watcher, who serves extra as a narrator than something. There is no downside with persevering with tales inside What If…?, that gives a stage of funding, however centering round an total narrative solely stunts the infinite prospects with a must have a conclusion to the primary character’s story.
While the bombastic and zany finales of What If…? are entertaining, the sequence shines when it really asks the query “What if?” as a substitute of making an attempt to inform an total narrative. The multi-episode finales take away from the idea totally, leaving the viewers wanting extra stand-alone tales that evoke the essence of the sequence. Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum has cited that Season 3 of What If…? is the “completion of a trilogy,” however the trilogy that is accomplished revolves round a central character, not the premise of the sequence. Season 3 does present a satisfying farewell to Captain Carter’s story, however when the intro to each episode of the sequence contains the phrases “infinite risk,” it is perplexing to see all of it come to an finish.
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What If ‘What If…?’ Did not Finish?
Even with Season 3 of What If…? nonetheless following characters we have already met earlier than, the eventualities they’re positioned in are extremely entertaining and inventive. Who had Agatha becoming a cosmic god and defeating a Celestial or Howard the Duck (Seth Inexperienced) having a child on their bingo card for 2024? Nonetheless, there’s a lot potential for What If…? to proceed with Incredible 4, Blade, and the Mutant Saga nonetheless to come back within the upcoming years. Just lately, when speaking with Agents of Fandom, director Bryan Andrews revealed that Marvel wouldn’t allow them to include characters akin to Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, and Beta Ray Invoice, as a result of they’ve but to be launched within the MCU at massive. Ending What If…? now leaves so many whacky tales left untold.
There is no method the group is working out of concepts. The primary problem of the What If? comics was revealed in February 1977 with What If Spider-Man had Joined The Incredible 4? There are numerous comedian What If? tales that may be dropped at life by animation with their very own MCU twist, however sadly, these tales won’t ever be advised. The ultimate scene of the sequence even teases insane multiversal variations of Gamora, Ghost Rider, Thanos, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Silver Surfer, and extra, including extra gas to the hearth of the query — why cease now? Marvel Studios ought to double down on the idea, no matter whether or not the Multiverse Saga is coming to an in depth. Very similar to what DC is doing with their Elseworlds tasks, Marvel may benefit from tales exterior the linked universe. Or at the very least tales that don’t must abide by the principles of mentioned present universe, which made What If…? work. There’s one plus facet, the world of What If…? is not fully useless, with the spin-off Marvel Zombies series hitting Disney+ next October.
What If…? Season 3 is streaming now on Disney+.