There aren’t many animated shows I’m drawn to, but I was excited to check out Marvel’s “What If…” series, because I love alternate histories.
The first two episodes follow alternate versions of Captain America and Star Lord. They both start with a small twist, but each standalone episode quickly unfolds the variety of implications that result from that change.
So far I think I prefer the Captain America episode. The Star Lord episode–while offering a fun heist plot–is mostly focused on winking at the audience whenever a familiar character enters the scene, as if to say, “Remember him/her? They’re different now!” It was nice to hear Chadwick Boseman one last time, though.
One element I really like about both episodes is that they’re a snappy 30 minutes. As much as I love alternate universes, given that these are alternate universes of fictional universes, I think they work best in a succinct format.
There are so many critical moments and decisions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that this series has years of potential content–I hope it continues for as long as possible.
I’m also curious to see if any of these multiverses have an impact on the “real” MCU.
Finally, watching these episodes makes me want “What If” episodes about moments in the Star Wars universe. Are there other IPs for which it could work? What do you think of Marvel’s “What If” so far?