Marvel Studio's What If...? (Disney+ 2021)

[MT 917]

 

I thought the actors from the MCU were supposed to be voicing their characters in this (outside of obvious ones like T'Challa), but Tony Stark at the beginning didn't sound a lot like Robert Downey Jr. That did sound like Chris Hemsworth though.

[Tassifox 418]

RDJ isn't listed in the cast either. Or Tony Stark listed for that matter. Which is another weird thing since they have the man who plays his Father ?

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10168312/fullcredits/cast?ref_=m_ttfc_3

 

I'm not a fan of the animation. I hate the clunky feel of it but it's gonna be something I'll deal with in order to see this because I am excited to see alt universes. 

[MT 917]

 

[MT 917]

Episode 1

 

Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher, nice. I don't think they specifically say he's Uatu, but that's who is normally the canon Watcher, from what little I know about them. Bradley Whitford plays a good asshole, i'm glad they got him for this role, although I wonder if he's supposed to be a different character from Tommy Lee Jones' one? I really enjoyed the animation, although some of the voice acting could use a little work. Getting Josh Keaton was nice, considering he's done Marvel voice roles before. Seeing Captain Carter beat the shit out of Nazis was enjoyable, she really didn't hold back. I'm hearing she's kind of going to be the connection between these other episodes, i'm curious just how important she's gonna be overall.

[Mera'din 307]

I really liked it. It was a fun watch. Looking forward to seeing more for sure. Glad they were able to get at least some original cast members for their roles too. Really hoping that will include Michael Rooker. Will be nice to hear Chadwick Boseman one last time too.

 

It's not supposed to be Tommy Lee Jones' character. That was 'Colonel Chester Phillips'. You can actually see him in the episode where Peggy refuses to leave the room. He's the one who gets shot by the Hydra agent after the explosion, before Steve gets shot. The character we see in his place in this was Colonel John Flynn, who we see in Agent Carter. He's voiced by his actor from the show. This guy: https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/John_Flynn

[h2ojunkie 96]

I agree it was a fun watch. Nice to see them be able to do little shorts that don't have to tie in with everything. 

[Tassifox 418]

Really enjoyable. Still not a huge fan of the animation style but it works for a lot of what they envision. I'm excited for Reaver T'challa!

[webhead 519]

I kinda liked the animation style.  Sort of realistic but cartoonish at the same time?  Almost reminds me of that sort of cel shaded art from games.

 

Story was super fun.  They could have maybe gone a little off course but I still thought it was different enough to be enjoyable.  I'm really looking forward to these.  I hope they keep this show going forever lol.  I also hope these get a little more creative as we go along, I want to see some really crazy shit.

[Mera'din 307]

lol, yeah. I'd like to see some wild ones eventually. Sounded like they were being pretty conservative with their initial pitches. I remember reading an article that talked about one of the rejected ones basically being "Thor, but it's Jane Foster!" and they were just like "... um, no. That's already the plot of an upcoming movie..."  

 

Peggy Carter getting the serum instead of Steve felt like playing it a bit safe too, but it was fun for a first go. Hoping we'll see some interesting divergence with T'Challa in Peter Quill's place, because that's the kind of thing I was not expecting when this was announced. 

[MT 917]

To be fair, Peggy getting the serum has happened in the comics already as well. I don't think Steve getting an Iron Man-esque suit powered by the Teseract/Cosmic Cube was though. I thought that was a neat touch.

[Mera'din 307]

Yeah, that part was really cool. Was not expecting that. Bucky's reaction was great too. XD

[Tassifox 418]

18 hours ago, webhead said:

 I hope ?they keep ?this ?show? going forever lol. 

We get 9 episodes this season. Whether or not they give it a 2nd season afterwards will be a good question. 

[MT 917]

Crazy to see how many things changed in episode 2 just from T'Challa getting abducted. They got everyone back to voice their characters except Dave Bautista (Drax) and Chris Pratt (Star Lord) which was neat. I thought it was hilarious how much more well known T'Challa as Star Lord was, and seeing Djimon Honsou's character in a completely different light was interesting. Seeing Thanos as just a regular guy was real weird, as was seeing Nebula with hair. I saw the Collector had at least Cap's shield and what I think was Mjolnir, but I didn't see what else he had in that particular collection. I'd assume it's just every original MCU Avenger's weapons, along with the stuff they showed like Hela's helmet (which apparently is what lets her summon weapons, something I didn't know before) and what I assume was Korg's arm.

[Tassifox 418]

FUCK it felt so good to hear Boseman's voice again as T-challa. (Cha-Cha )

I think I would have been fine with Nebula having hair but I just wasn't a fan of it.. whether the blonde or the style. Change either and I think would have been better. But I loved all the references there was in the Collector's place. Not to mention that it makes you think of all the possibilities of how he acquired them and which universe since he had:

Cap's shield, Mjolnir, Hel's helmet, Krog's arm, the Dagger from the Dark Elves, there was at least 5-6 swords I wasn't familiar with, 2 other daggers, were those also Antenna in the bottom left?

 

[Mera'din 307]

Hair color is what was throwing me off. She had hair in the comics (once upon a time), but it was a blue/black color that I think could have worked for this even with the nicer styling.

 

[Tassifox 418]

See I would have been just fine with the style if it was a color like that. Yellow just seemed just a huge contrast that didn't fit her (unless they cropped it short or something)

[Tassifox 418]

Duuuuuuude today's ep was fucking good! 

[Mera'din 307]

Yeah, that one was really interesting.

[Tassifox 418]

Okay today's episode was the 2nd most heartbreaking one yet. 

-Strange forcing himself to watch her die 9ver and over trying to change it. 

-Fighting himself. (CAPE OFF!)

-Turning himself inhuman in order to gain the power he needed 

-Lost the world and still lost his heart. 

 

Also did anyone else get any Troll Hunter (for those who have watched it) vibes from the gnome he absorbed first????

[h2ojunkie 96]

Zombies was awesome. This week's was ok. 

[Tassifox 418]

This weeks definitely felt meh, i mean sure i can see Killmonger doing all that but it just felt.....too clean cut. 

[MT 917]

What if...Killmonger found Tony Stark and was still the same asshole?

 

Meh.

[Mera'din 307]

The last two honestly annoyed me a bit because they felt like they had no conclusions at all. The others felt well rounded. This and the zombie one were both just "LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS HAPPENING. It's not done yet, but BYEEEE." Like they were missing at least 5 min. off the end or something.

[webhead 519]

22 hours ago, MT said:

What if...Killmonger found Tony Stark and was still the same asshole?

 

Meh.

It was kind of half and half with it being a lot about how Tony Stark ends up very different without Yinsen.

 

I feel like these all just need more run time.  The 20 minute thing is really not doing these concepts justice.  I like them all but I feel like almost all of them could be longer.

[Mera'din 307]

They managed well enough with the first few, but the last two absolutely needed more time. The trail off/ride into the sunset style endings just aren't doing them any favors. 

On a side note, the zombie one was the first time in the (technically) MCU that Uncle Ben has ever been mentioned I think. XD

[MT 917]

This was a fun one, turned into a DBZ episode of sorts in the middle, but nothing of real consequence happens.

 

Or does it? Vision in an Ultron suit with the Infinity Stones sounds kiiiiiiiinda bad.

[Tassifox 418]

Spoiler

I legit wondered what could have happened while Thor was out partying on Earth because when he passes by the Gauntlet with the others, didn't it have all the stones there?

Otherwise I did enjoy that ep overall. Made up for the meh ones the last couple.

[MT 917]

11 minutes ago, Tassifox said:

  Hide contents

I legit wondered what could have happened while Thor was out partying on Earth because when he passes by the Gauntlet with the others, didn't it have all the stones there?

 

 

It's probably the same fake one Odin had in that vault back in the first Thor movie

[Mera'din 307]

That one was a lot of fun. Lots of great moments. Really hope they revisit that ending though. Because it's kind of fucked up to go "OH BY THE WAY, CHECK THIS SHIT OUT" and then never talk about it ever again. 

[webhead 519]

Yeah, these cliffhanger endings are kind of annoying lol.  Was definitely a fun episode though.

[MT 917]

This was a cool one. I'm really wondering why Vision didn't just do to Thanos in the regular MCU what Ultron/Vision did here, or why What If Thanos didn't just use the Time stone to stop it. Kinda bummed James Spader didn't come back to voice Ultron, but oh well. Looks like next week will be a continuation of this week. I wonder how many episodes are left?

[Tassifox 418]

According to imdb 1 more ep. So i wonder if they're going to continue it from here like they semi did from the last one with Thor. (Could legit have been another 'verse that Ultron dove into that ep ended and was about to destroy since he NOW has ability to visit multiple universes. Which makes that ending less annoying really) 

[Mera'din 307]

Wonder if Watcher is going to pull a bunch of the featured characters to stop him or something. Since he was talking to the alternate Strange. Grab Captain Carter and some others and do a big multi-verse Avengers thing or something.

[Tassifox 418]

End Game reboot of the scene where everyone all shows up especially through the portals for the final battle? Only this time it's all the Multi'-verses! 

[Tassifox 418]

I totally forgot today qas the last Ep. And it was a fantastic ending. Lots of good notes, we got kick ass Gamora (which honestly idk if i missed an episode with her in it but still kick ass)

Loved it and the mid credit Aww scene. 

[MT 917]

I wondered the same thing about Gamora. From what I read that episode was supposed to be this season, but something delayed it until next season.

[Tassifox 418]

Okay then it wasn't just me then. 

Overall well done still. 

[webhead 519]

Enjoyed it for the most part.  I want them to really go for it a little more with these things and I want them to go for the full hour so they get fleshed out.  I feel like they're really doing them a disservice by cutting off so early with such short episodes.  I don't need an entire season for every story but give it a little breathing room!

 

Last episode was of course very cool.

[Mera'din 307]

That definitely made up for the way the last few felt a bit. Pulled it all together which was nice to see. Definitely want to see them start getting a little more "out there" on the base level of it though. Though I did enjoy the bit in the last one where Ultron basically full on became Galactus. That was a nice touch. I get that this is supposed to revolve around the MCU stuff, but I want to see more things like that where it's at least a nod to a non-movie character. This is the place where they can literally do whatever the hell they want. They should have fun with it.