Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV Features

  • The Biggest Moments in ‘WHAT IF…?’

    The Biggest Moments in ‘WHAT IF…?’

    Now that the first season of What If…? has ended, let’s take a look at just how big the show’s biggest moments were with regards to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    T’Challa Makes the Universe Better

    In an unexpectedly poignant paralleling of one man’s decency in the real world, What If…? firmly proves that the mere existence of T’Challa makes the galaxy brighter and better, just as the late Chadwick Boseman did for ours. As Star-Lord, T’Challa vastly improved the conditions of the universe; preventing the annihilation of half of life by taming the Mad Titan and continually doing acts of kindness. The episode itself has Wakanda’s prodigal son stealing the Embers of Genesis, potent seeds that can repopulate millions of planets with life.

    Strange Supreme is the GOAT

    What If…? may have held back on tackling bolder premises but it certainly went all out in showing how powerful these heroes can really be. Doctor Strange, or rather, Strange Supreme, has the most vulgar display of power in the MCU yet during the season finale. Putting to use all the forbidden, arcane abilities he stole from various magical beings in Episode 4 and then some, Strange Supreme puts up a fight with a cosmically powered, vibranium Ultron in the most incredible way. The sorcerer shapeshifts, duplicates Mjolnir a hundredfold, gives everyone invincibility armor, and even swallows a galaxy-ending explosion like a pop tart.

    Ultron Unlimited

    Like Strange Supreme, Ultron gets a huge glow up in What If…?, allowing Marvel Studios to give us the true Age of Ultron the titular film fell short of delivering. Turns out, Ultron in his intended vibranium-Vision form, wielding all six Infinity Stones makes Thanos and his quest look like child’s play. Ultron achieves multiversal omniscience at the tail end of his extinction agenda, posing a threat unlike any other. It’s a shame that James Spader wasn’t available to give this incredible glow-up justice.

    Everyone dies

    The MCU has long been the recipient of the criticism that it’s too afraid to kill characters. What If…? rectifies that critique, albeit in a very inconsequential way, by killing our beloved characters left and right. They all get killed in varied ways, starting from Hank Pym’s atomic assassinations in the murder mystery episode and eventually escalating to Mortal Kombat-inspired fatalities in the popular zombie episode. No character has it worse than Tony Stark who dies more times than any other mainline Avenger.

    Greatest Fights in the MCU

    If there’s one thing What If…? gets absolutely perfect, it’s the fights. The scope and grace that the medium of animation affords these creators is nothing short of astounding. We get matchups that fans have been dreaming of such as Hulk vs. Wanda or Captain Marvel vs. Thor. The fights the creators come up with are so ingenious and creative that end up surpassing what the films have done in many ways.

    The Winter Rogers

    The anthological nature of What If…? makes it safe to assume that a lot of these stories are as good as done. The exception to that rule, however, is the Captain Carter of it all. Rumored to appear in live-action in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and confirmed to have follow-up stories in the second season of What If…?, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that the finale ends setting up her next big adventure.

    The revelation that the Steve Rogers of her timeline is still somehow alive and in stasis in the Lemurian Star has big implications for her future stories. Could this be another spin on the Winter Soldier saga? Is Peggy destined to find love with Steve 70 years later?

    The first season of What If…? is now streaming on Disney+.

  • Ryan Potter’s Beast Boy Would Work Much Better on ‘Doom Patrol’

    Ryan Potter’s Beast Boy Would Work Much Better on ‘Doom Patrol’

    It is not news to anyone that Ryan Potter is quite underutilized in Titans, with the character constantly being sidelined and given little to no character progression. The show introduced Beast Boy as one of the original four members of the new Titans when Rachel stumbled upon a green tiger in the woods. Doom Patrol remains one of Titans’ most exciting episodes, introducing us to one of comics’ most outlandish heroes, and paving the way for their inevitable spin-off. But I believe things would’ve been much better for Garfield Logan if he never left Doom Manor, and carried over into Doom Patrol.

    Now, of course, our main Doom Patrol is not the same one from Titans, a brand new universe that saw Crazy Jane in what could be considered Beast Boys’ spot, and bringing in Cyborg as an additional member to the team. But with how Titans has handled Ryan Potter’s character, he would’ve fit so much better on Doom Patrol, and would’ve been given an actual storyline aside from meandering around Wayne Manor like a lost puppy. 

    Doom Patrol should be able to introduce its very own iteration of the character, bringing back Ryan Potter, and allowing that friendship between Beast Boy and Cyborg. The two work incredibly well together, especially with Cyborg’s current internal turmoil as he struggles to find the line between man or machine. Beast Boy is an orphaned survivor of a mysterious illness. It’s this illness that allows him to unzip his genetic structure and become whatever animal he can think of; an unlimited and outlandish potential that could result in such a wild storyline if actually given the focus. It’s something Doom Patrol can handle, unlike Titans. 

    Beast Boy obviously never ended up at Doom Manor in this universe. If he had, it would allow the show to welcome a fresh take on the character. The series tends to include a sort of ‘revolving door’ approach to its characters each season — introducing Jane in season 2, and Madame Rouge in season 3. Ryan Potter‘s take on the Garfield Logan is wasted on Titans. The actor brings so much charisma and excitement to the role. Unfortunately, though he has become one of the show’s many punching bags, and is given nothing to work with. It’s time to let him shine over on Doom Patrol.

    A new episode of Doom Patrol drops every Thursday on HBO Max.

  • ‘What If…?’ Introduced Marvel Studios Most Powerful Character to Date

    ‘What If…?’ Introduced Marvel Studios Most Powerful Character to Date

    Infinite Ultron. Infinite Black Panther Killmonger. The Watcher. Marvel Studios first canonical animated series, What If…?, brought these incredibly powerful characters into the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse and turned them loose against one another. When it was all said and done, Infinite Ultron-who is now Infinite Zola Vision-and Infinite Black Panther Killmonger find themselves imprisoned in a pocket dimension by Strange Supreme. Given what we this morose version of Stephen Strange survived not only during this episode but also in his own, an argument can be made that Strange Supreme is the most powerful being in the multiverse.

    Episode 4 of What If…? was one of the show’s highest points. More than almost any other episode, it refused to adhere to the formula of following the familiarity of the Sacred Timeline and branched out. Resultant of that, fans were treated to a look at just how dark the mystic arts can be…and how dangerous. Strange’s motivations are not intrinsically villainous, but they result in the catastrophic collapse of his reality leaving him the sole survivor in a pocket dimension prison of his own making. Of course, the power it took to create that pocket dimension and contain whatever was left of his reality would have been immense, making him a near omnipotent god-like figure. Given he had already reached a god-like level of Cosmic awareness that allowed him to identify and communicate with The Watcher, this version of Strange was set up to be a pretty heavy hitter.

    Strange Supreme returns in Episode 9 and displays those god-tier powers throughout. He creates another pocket dimension in which the Guardians of the Multiverse assemble, casts powerful protection spells on the team, survives a barrage of Infinity Stone-based attacks, summons zombies from another reality, unleashes some terrifying dark magic counter attacks and, finally, contains two beings fighting over the aforementioned Stones in another, smaller pocket dimension which he keeps inside his own dimension. Strange Supreme is essentially a 10-year old boy keeping fireflies in a jar at this point, demonstrating complete control over his own powers and over the ultimate powers in any given multiverse.

    Marvel Studios has often been accused of nerfing characters that should, according to the comics, be their most powerful. In recent years, Thor and Hulk have been “powered up” a bit compared to their early appearances and both Captain Marvel and Wanda Maximoff have emerged as contenders for the most powerful being in the MCU after their displays in Avengers: Endgame and WandaVision. This dark version of Doctor Strange would seem worthy of putting up a fight with any of them, including the incredibly powerful Scarlet Witch. Who knows, maybe we’ll see the two of them face off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

  • Director Bryan Andrews Discusses Paying Tribute to Jack Kirby in ‘What If…?’

    Director Bryan Andrews Discusses Paying Tribute to Jack Kirby in ‘What If…?’

    The last 2 episodes of the first season of What If…?, Marvel Studios first canonical animated series, saw a significant ramping up in terms of action and big, frenetic fight scenes. Episode 8 saw The Watcher go God-mode and take on Ultron in one of the best battles of the series which also saw an iconic comic book aesthetic jump mediums to the MCU: the Kirby Krackle. In an interview with ComicBook.com, What If…? director Bryan Andrews talked about bringing the artistic convention to the series and honoring the man for who it’s named, comic book legend Jack Kirby.

    Kirby often used the Krackle, or Kirby Dots, as a representation of Cosmic energy (and in Episode 8 The Watcher was giving off some big energy!). Comic readers might mostly associate the style with Kirby’s work on The Fantastic Four (as seen below) but the unique representation permeated his work and has been used in animated series and films before such as Ben 10 and Into the Spider-Verse. Andrews, who has worked as a story board artist for Marvel Studios for more than a decade, was thrilled to bring the effect to the series.

    The Jack Kirby Legacy -

    I just wanted to do it forever. And then I’ve always been bummed that they haven’t done Kirby Krackle on the live action movies, so I was like, ‘We’re doing it here, guys,’ and everyone was like, “Yay!” I think, now that we’ve done it and it looks amazing, I’m hoping that whatever weird thing that the visual effects people have been avoiding it for [is over] — I don’t know why they would. Come on guys. Bring it, bring it! So we’ll see. Maybe it’s a new era of visual effects.

    Kirby’s influence has been felt more and more in the past few years of the MCU. Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok designs were very Kirby-esque and in just under one month one of Kirby’s most obscure creations, the Eternals, will be featured in their own film. It’s both wonderful and appropriate to see the Kirby Krackle introduced into the MCU via The Watcher, one of Kirby’s creations and a staple of The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine. Let’s hope the live-action crew take a cue from Andrews and find a way to bring the Krackle to the big screen in Marvel Studios Fantastic Four.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • 3 More Potential Disney+ Spinoffs for Marvel Studios to Expand the MCU

    3 More Potential Disney+ Spinoffs for Marvel Studios to Expand the MCU

    The big announcement has come today that WandaVision is getting a spinoff that’ll focus on Agatha Harkness. It’s not the first show to spin out of an existing Marvel Studios property on the streaming service. Our first announcement came in the form of Echo long before Hawkeye even got a release date. The fact that a villain is getting her series opens up many possibilities moving forward, as it means anything goes. So, it’s the perfect time to explore other potential Disney+ series that could spin-off from past projects.

    Taskmaster Protocol

    black widow taskmaster future

    Black Widow explored a rather unique take on the character of Taskmaster but still kept a small glimpse to further explore the character in the future. The fact it was referenced as a “Protocol” in the film left a lot of opportunities to further expand the concept without necessarily requiring the return of Antonia. We did play around with the idea of them exploring Tony Masters as someone who takes over the program. No matter what direction they take, there’s a lot of potentials to expand the concept through a Disney+ series. Each episode introduces a new threat that forces our protagonists to adapt and learn. Yet, each action comes at a price, as their memory starts to fade.

    Goose Stories

    Captain Marvel“: Das Geheimnis von Goose · KINO.de

    Halloween is around the corner. We might get a special next year focused on Werewolf by Night. Yet, I would also love to see the return of our favorite Flerken. Captain Marvel’s Goose hasn’t appeared in the franchise since his introduction in 2019. While looking like an innocent cat, he’s an interdimensional pocket with Lovecraft-inspired tentacles ready to snap up its foes at any time. He deserves a Disney+ series that twists our understanding of what a Marvel story is. We find out he’s been living a normal life with a family in the United States. Little do they know, their connection to SHIELD makes them easy targets for some dangerous forces. Yet, they had a small little cat keeping them safe. Each episode could be a parody or tribute to a horror franchise. To give an example, they could explore a house invasion story, but they have no idea they’re about to face a very dangerous being.

    Ten Rings

    The Real Reason Why The Ten Rings Logo Is Changing In Shang-Chi

    This spinoff idea seems the most obvious, as the end of Shang-Chi very openly hinted that the new generation of this organization will make a return. Meng’er Zhang‘s Xu Xialing took over her father’s base and added a new spin to the organization. The implications seem to hint at her fighting ring organization has combined with the world-dominating terrorist organization. The fact that the film’s post-credit sequence highlights that this organization will return highlights that they have a plan for them. So, the best approach would be to adapt it to Disney+. Not only does Xialing deserve time in the spotlight, but we could also see a new empire get founded. We can explore her dealings in the underworld that hints at other famous Marvel evils making a comeback. She may offer a closer window into a world we had no idea existed out there.

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Oakhaven, Agatha, Nicholas Scratch and New Salem

    Connecting Imaginary Dots: Oakhaven, Agatha, Nicholas Scratch and New Salem

    Last month, paperwork was filed by Disney to create a new limited liability production entity titled “Oakhaven Productions LLC.” At the time of discovery, we at Murphy’s Multiverse were prettyy stumped about what potential production this might be but today’s announcement that Marvel Studios is developing an Agatha Harnkess-centric series around star Kathryn Hahn may not only have solved that problem, but also give some clues as to what the series might end up being about.

    At the time of discovery, our Google searches for Oakhaven produced little with any relevance to Marvel Studios, but did turn up what we thought was a funny coincidence: a Scooby-Doo reference. In 1998’s Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, Scooby and the gang end up in the fictional town of Oakhaven, Massachusetts where all sorts of witch-related madness ensues. Oakhaven essentially serves as an analogue for Salem as Puritan-founded city where witches are persecuted. The dots aren’t too hard to connect here as Agatha Harnkness is not only a witch but one who, in the comics, was persecuted by Puritans in Salem before moving West and settling in the hidden Colorado town of New Salem.

    While the plot of the new Disney Plus series hasn’t been revealed at this point, we know that Agatha was persecuted by her own coven of witches in Salem in 1693. We don’t catch up with her again until 2023 (or so), meaning we have about 330 years of potential stories to be told about where Agatha has been since stripping the power from her coven in 1693 and showing up in Westview in 2023. We can glean from WandaVision that she’s been set up in New Jersey for a while, but it’s possible her own series could shed some light on other places she’s been, potentially opening up the door for New Salem, and its interesting residents, to make their way into the MCU.

    Foremost among those interesting residents is Agatha’s comic book son, Nicholas Scratch. Scratch was referenced as somewhat of an Easter egg in WandaVision, with Harnkness’ pet bunny sharing the name, but in the comics he was a powerful warlock in his own right who had less than a loving relationship with his mother. Marvel Studios has proven to love their family dramas and a mother-son drama might just be next on the list! With 330 years of time to fill, writer Jac Schaeffer could have a ton of fun introducing New Salem, Nicholas Scratch and some of its other colorful inhabitants while expanding on Agatha’s story and the mystical side of the MCU.

  • REVIEW: ‘Titans’ Episode 11 – The Call is Coming From Inside the House

    REVIEW: ‘Titans’ Episode 11 – The Call is Coming From Inside the House

    We’re nearing the end of Season 3 of Titans, which means the future is bright. Episode 11 makes sure to hold on to most if not all of the shortcomings the series has compiled this season and repeats many the same bad patterns that have pretty much been on a loop episode after episode. The remaining glimmer of hope is still Tim Drake, and his and Donna’s arc already greatly outshines everything else.

    The main Gotham plot, if it can be found, is once more based on character choices that either come out of nowhere or have been visited unsuccessfully numerous times. The idea of Scarecrow going about drugging all of Gotham with an anti-fear chemical just to play a video that says the Titans are bad and Red Hood is good is disappointing to say the least. But now Jason’s aggressive interest in taking on Nightwing one-on-one to somehow prove that Red Hood is a hero is not only another situation where Jason has done a complete switch of character, but is so meaningless compared to everything else going on at this point. There is no need to worry about Jason being consistent, though, as by the end of the episode he has an internal crisis on being Red Hood.

    Not to be outdone, Dick has gone all-in on being terrible. Not only have his terrible ideas gotten him and the Titans to the hiding places they currently reside in, the leader of this “family” stops at nothing to be able to fight Jason alone for absolutely no reason other than to just make it about himself. Shockingly, this gets him shot and then jumped by the dosed zombie-people of Gotham—not even Jason. Gar and Rachel, after needing a total of probably 45 minutes to learn about and then find a Lazarus Pit conveniently sitting open in a random abandoned building, pretty much hold up a neon sign that says, “Dick is going to die but we will put him in this pit and nothing matters.” 

    After letting Crane be the least threatening and most unnecessary villain around for the entire season, the show did put some type of effort into ramping up his crazy and violent side. The strange new complex about “the time for masks is over” somehow leads him to torturing the pizza guy and acting particularly manic. Why anyone cares whether this guy wears the Scarecrow mask or not is unknown at this time.

    In another part of Gotham, Tim and Donna reunite in the world of the living. Tim’s character and Jay Lycurgo’s portrayal of him is what so much of Titans is unfortunately not—good. We get a better glimpse at Tim through his family, and the episode appears to be setting up a moment where the remaining “hold out” neighborhoods of Gotham revolt. It’s a much more compelling concept than the rest of the current plot, and the street-level and ordinary people aspect of it could be refreshing if it stays that way.

    This episode seemed brilliantly self-aware that the series completely wrecks its most powerful characters for no reason. At least it can only be assumed it is aware considering it does it some more and somehow worse. For one thing, the best line of the episode is Conner telling Dick his is better than him in every way after kindly acting as Dick’s secretary. Because it would apparently be a shame for Superboy to be super, Dick promptly hits him and Krypto with some kryptonite so that the Titans can remain useless and he can get personal with Jason. 

    What they did to Starfire is almost unspeakable. Not only do we get some gnarly visions based on a random baby she saw in the street, but we learn that she was not born with the “fire”, her family used magic to give Blackfire’s fire to her, and now she unexplainably has new blue powers with no clear function or origin. It’s very difficult to understand why her new powers, which has “been with her all along”, are not even green–they won’t even let her be color-coordinated. Titans just won’t leave Starfire alone.

    All in all, nothing much actually changed in the plot or in how the series tries to spin the plot. It is a rehash of the villains being all over the place with no real motivation or personality; Dick being a real hindrance to everything and everybody for no reason; and most good characters being reduced to nothing. Tim and Donna’s neighborhood war could be promising, but only if the rest of the Titans do not get involved.

  • REVIEW: ‘Doom Patrol’ Episode 5 – Dada Patrol

    REVIEW: ‘Doom Patrol’ Episode 5 – Dada Patrol

    Doom Patrol’s fifth episode is a well-earned lesson in giving up. From day one, our main characters have all been teetering on a 4-foot-high ledge, often actually falling off. But as “heroes” they generally get right back up again. This time, they are much more relatable. 

    The team bus is broken out again so that our heroes can pursue Laura DeMille’s plan to murder—but never mind, let’s just infiltrate—the Sisterhood of Dada. The whole crew ends up enveloped in a very dense fog, where they individually meet different Sisterhood members that serve mostly to mentally terrorize our already-fragile characters’ mental states. If the attempted infiltration of the Sisterhood does anything, it gives everyone a kick in the face that knocks them off the ledge into a faceplant—and the Sisterhood laughs while they do it.

    While we get a shallow survey of the different members of the Sisterhood, the most prominent and interesting one is the aptly-named, “The Fog”, or Shelley Byron (you might remember her from the hidden film last episode). The Fog is genuinely intimidating between her masterful use of her powers to casually disarm and humiliate our team in addition to her general presence. While Season 3 seems to be setting a few too many villain-related pieces up with so far no real threat—Madame Rouge, the Sisterhood of Dada, and the Brotherhood of Evil—she is one that stands out as having a formidable enough stance to be one worth looking forward to. 

    Jane is starting to struggle to find herself in this post-“Miranda” landscape where Kay herself is now more active and actually growing. There’s conflict with Jane and the rest of the personalities regarding whether or not Jane is doing what is best for Kay. It isn’t entirely clear what Jane is actually doing “wrong” but The Fog absolutely gets further into Jane’s head and spotlights her insecurity over a domain she used to run so smoothly. 

    Cliff is on his own self-journey of becoming more problematic while trying to improve. Instead of more appropriately addressing his (likely) Parkinson’s, he opts to messily self-medicate with black market drugs to try and be a better functioning grandfather. It also leads him to be absolutely useless in the fog and generally out of his mind. Larry is also a defeated mess without the Negative Spirit—his “give up” moment comes  as early as being told to stay with the bus.

    Vic stays on track with his usual inner turmoil. He’s lost in his feelings for Roni, which impacts his feelings about himself, and ultimately everything comes back to “Who is Vic?” That in and of itself is hard for Vic, because Cyborg was early-on branded as this awesome superhero, but we have never actually seen him do much of that since abandoning Detroit for Cloverton. While his heroic complex is already on the fritz, Frenzy—another member of the Sisterhood—throws him for a loop to ask, “Why are you?” Long story short, Cyborg does not come out of that conversation a winner. 

    Rita’s building existential crisis this season certainly makes the biggest move by the end of the episode. Having convinced herself that she is a world-renowned time traveler—based on images of someone who appears to be her in old footage and her being the target of the Brotherhood of Evil—she is gutted when Laura drunkenly insults her for thinking this. Rather than reevaluating herself or identifying the areas in which she is confident in herself, Rita goes all-in to drunk drive the time machine with no plan to, in effect, give in to the blackhole that is her identity crisis. 

    At the end of the day, the characters all return to the bus and pretty much just say, “Ok that was hard, we’re quitting.” In other words, after they faceplanted above, they stayed there. For a gaggle of people that are simultaneously so relatable and unrelatable, they really stuck the landing on relatable this time. The fact that their defeats came at the hands of, generally, mere conversations, is the icing on the cake of them simply giving up.

    With the characters in this state of mind at the end of the episode, it feels similar to many places we’ve been before. Doom Patrol often seems like it wants to be a journey, but it can sometimes move at the pace of a snail and feature constant, non-stop diversions. The diversions are a blast, but sometimes it is not particularly clear if the series has actually moved much or if it is all one big circular fever dream that never ends. If it is, the desire to give up makes the most sense, but it also means giving up is impossible—good luck to our characters are they keep going through the wringer. 

  • How ‘Titans’ Continues to Waste Its Superboy

    How ‘Titans’ Continues to Waste Its Superboy

    Ever since it first premiered, Titans has struggled to handle all of the characters it insists on introducing every other episode. This first became evident in the first season when we were introduced to Beast Boy. He was an instant fan favorite but was quickly sidelined and used as the series’ punching bag. It only got worse in the follow-up season, as it continued to introduce more and more characters. The tragedy was that it only continued the trend when it introduced Superboy.

    WATCH] 'Titans' Season 2 Trailer: Meet Superboy & Krypto The Superdog – Deadline

    In his first appearance, Connor Kent stayed true to his origins. He’s a clone of Superman and Lex, who was created by Project Cadmus. While Joshua Orpin is in no way a bad fit for the role, the issue lies in that he’s not given anything to do. Even to this day, the character that can see through walls, punch holes through a wall, and so much more has no story arc.

    We will tackle spoilers from Titan’s third season in the rest of this article. If you haven’t watched the series yet, only continue at your own risk.

    In this season of Titans, we see Connor meander around Wayne manor. He only serves the story as a plot device. He even makes a device in hopes to stop the bomb that’s been bolted into Hanks’s chest. As such, he spends an entire episode doing nothing else. When he is unable to save Hank, he’s obviously quite distraught but the series quickly abandons that. Now, Superboy is suddenly in a relationship with Komand’r. There’s no real build-up outside of a minor flirt and oddly just happens.

    Titans" Conner (TV Episode 2019) - IMDb

    This fling seems to only be used as a means to bring back a chipper versionConnor. At first, you just kind of assume Blackfire could be using Connors solar energy to restore her abilities. Our indication was the inclusion of purple energy around the room, but that doesn’t seem the be the case after all.

    Titans had the chance to expand upon how Young Justice approached its Superboy, a person who didn’t know their place in the world. He was constantly at odds with himself as the models of his makeup are in a contrast, causing his excessive anger issues. Instead, this Connors genetic origin is used simply to push the story forward in a lackluster and uninspired way.

  • ‘WHAT IF…?’ Needs To Stop Covering The Hits And Start Making Its Own

    ‘WHAT IF…?’ Needs To Stop Covering The Hits And Start Making Its Own

    Today saw the release of the season finale of Marvel Studios’ first animated venture, What If…?. Over the course of 9 episodes, the show did its damnedest to play with the framework offered by 20+ films in the canon and the premise of an anthological format. The result is an unexpected mixed bag of stories that felt way too familiar. For a show that was supposed to explore the endless outcomes of the multiverse, we sure as hell got some glaringly familiar outcomes.

    For example, Captain Carter is transported to the present-day, in time for the opening events of The Avengers, at the end of the pilot episode. It’s a deviation you’d think would massively impact the fate of the MCU; if Peggy is around to fight Loki as soon as he arrives on Earth, the world would be forever changed. Yet when we catch up to where she is in this finale, she’s somehow on the same path as Sacred Timeline Steve; headed to the Lemurian Star in a stealth suit to stop Batroc from hijacking the ship. The ripple effect should be way more monumental than the HYDRA Stomper showing up at the end.

    Why is this the case when even the smallest of deviations can alter timelines in drastic ways?

    To ask why from a story POV would be to tear apart the seams of Captain Carter’s timeline, which no one has time for. But to ask from the vantage of the show and all its episodes makes the answer clear: the show is more concerned with honoring the MCU’s past than it is carving its own future, for better or worse. It cares about giving audiences to point fingers at like that DiCaprio meme. A lot of the creative decisions in this show end up feeling like mandates because of how restrictive it feels. Every episode has to be about an existing movie. All the players involved must be characters in the canon. Episodes must have familiar MCU scenes.

    That’s how you end up with a ludicrous subplot like using Arnim Zola, a primitive AI from the 1970s, to stop a superior technological cosmic being like Ultron. Why is that the solution in a multiverse of infinite possibilities? Why are they aping the notoriously dumb subplot of Independence Day? Why couldn’t it have been Kree or Skrull tech? Why didn’t the Watcher pluck out technology from another universe that would rival Ultron? It just had to be Zola because… reasons and to do something unfamiliar would be to go against the season’s grain.

    When I took the job, one of my rules was let’s be free. We’re in the multiverse — we should be as free as can be and go and run into the wild, into the stories the movies will never do, into the stories the TV shows will never do, and show both Disney and the fans all the possibilities of these characters.

    Head writer AC Bradley’s quote above feels naught given the outcome of the season. When every episode seems keen on covering the MCU’s greatest hits than making its own, it doesn’t feel exactly free. Sure, What If…? does take some interesting swings in imbuing genre tones into familiar episodes like turning Fury’s Big Week into a murder mystery or turning the first Doctor Strange movie into a tragic romance. But those tonal changes can only do so much when everything else plays out like movies fans have seen dozens of times.

    It’s why the Killmonger episode feels somewhat empty. It throws in a wrench in the form of Tony Stark surviving his kidnapping but never explores it. What happens to a world without Iron Man? What would happen if Killmonger became a force for good? The show never really asks itself that. Instead, the events of Iron Man pan out in the dullest way possible. The events of Black Panther happen anyway when Killmonger ends up taking over Wakanda. It’s as if they just wanted to cover Iron Man and Black Panther in an episode to fill a quota.

    It shouldn’t come as a surprise that my favorite episode of the season is the Star-Lord T’Challa one. Brushing aside that it’s a poignant piece of storytelling that beautifully sends off Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa into the aether, it’s the one that riffs the least on the MCU’s past. The episode feels fresh on a lot of levels and gives us macro ripple effects such as Thanos becoming a good guy and the universe becoming infinitely a better place. Sure, it recreates the iconic GOTG Morag scene but it’s an episode that lives and breathes on its own terms.

    Lucasfilm’s far superior anthology series, Star Wars: Visions, celebrates the essence of Star Wars not by redoing The Phantom Menace or The Last Jedi but by creating new tales that revered George Lucas‘ resonant vision of a galaxy far, far away. The end result is an amazing tapestry of wildly original Star Wars stories that fans are already demanding spin-off shows for. The people who made those shows respected the greatest hits of the Star Wars universe and, in turn, made their own.

    The first season of What If…? isn’t a bad one but it’s one that leaves a lot to be desired. That it’s Marvel Studios’ first animated anthological outing gives it somewhat of a pass but in order for the show to become greater in future seasons, it needs to start making its own hits instead of covering others.