On paper, the Marvel Studios animated series What If...? seems like one of the bigger risks taken since the Infinity Saga wrapped up back in 2018, but somehow what could have been a majorly unique and beloved homerun for the multiverse managed to deliver more misses than otherwise with an ultimately overall disappointing series being delivered to fans on the House of Mouse's streaming juggernaut. The best fans can hope for is that the massive multiversal misstep on the part of Team Feige manages to accidentally deliver a few chance nuggets of golden animated storytelling in the way a broken clock could even be right twice a day.
There are multiple reasons that What If...?'s quality being as lacking as it is might be bad for business and the future of the interconnected comics-based universes. For one, it's more unlikely than so that the future projects in animation from the studio will receive less volunteers for voice actors reprising roles originally performed in live action which is an absolute shame because even some of the more disappointing offerings from the series have boasted impressive ensembles of star-powered acting with everyone from Marvel mainstays such as Jon Favreau and Samuel L. Jackson delivering excellent character returns almost two decades after their debuts with characters as rare as Sonny Birch and Justin Hammer being offered the opportunity to not only return to a universe that might not have a live-action opening for them at the moment, but also present interesting talent combinations the likes of Simu Liu and Walton Goggins that may seem less possible on the big screen they originated on.
Even thespians who played characters no longer among the living were featured prominently early on, with the final four T'Challa performances on the part of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman present in some of the best episodes of the strongest season of What If...? Still, the primary is possibly that the lacking entertainment value and rarely impressive storytelling is just as much likely to be a boon on the future of animated projects in the Marvel multiverse when it comes to chances of projects being greenlit just as the phenomenal quality of X-Men 97 did the drastic opposite with the mutants return to the small screen being widely praised and embraced as a rare gem and uniquely substance-filled in ways many projects after the Infinity Saga have failed to encompass.
As disappointed as I was when I finished the final episode of Season 3, the final tale in the show, confusingly titled What If...? also, for I no longer had the privelege of the rose-colored glasses positivity I would provide myself with during most credit rolls of What If...? by thinking maybe the poorly done episodes would be made up for with future offerings from the anthology, there were nonetheless some hidden moments throughout the seasons that I truly consider to be some of the highest points in the entire catalog of Marvel-housed storytelling both comic books and live-action withstanding. Having a rearview perspective of the series grants me a realistic sensibility that allows me to be quite honest with myself about just how many of the episodes in the series as a whole were actually worth their weight of production. Certain, they might have presented few and far between with rare exceptionality, yet there still exist pieces of entertainment in What If...?'s animated library that would be a sad thing for the average Marvel fan to miss and many could completely overlook them without knowing due to the poor brandability that rhe series has come to offer with little good coming in the way of word of mouth for the series with internet responses following the introduction of characters such as Captain Carter and Byrdie the Duck.
Here I present to the masses that for every eye-rolling creation such as Byrdie there is an equally incredible opposite offering the likes of T'Challa Star Lord or Nova Nebula. Even Howard the Duck, a character pre-existing from the series, becomes a stand-out when presented with the particular energy and aesthetic provided by the animated series and likely now appeals to a number of people who remained unimpressed by Seth Green's foul-mouthed water fowl in forgettable cameos throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy movies while other overlooked characters the way of Red Guardian are offered another opportunity to beocme a vehicle for fan-favorites like David Harbour to shine through after the often passed-on Black Widow solo feature from COVID-19 days and the infant age of Disney+. Some ad\ventures as a whole should not be overlooked by anyone who enjoys the characters or actors featured, for even amongst the absolute mess the series turns out as in whole, there are episodes that would impress most viewers and add food for thought in way of additional content and lore of the beloved stories adapted upon. I've tried to trim down my thoughts to a comprehensable list of five episodes in this series that should absolutely not be overlooked by anyone who takes in a majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe content, in no particular order.
5. Hidden Gem: What If... T'challa Became A Star-Lord?
Synopsis: The rough and tumble space pirates known as the Ravagers abduct T'challa instead of Peter Quill.
For Fans Of: Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War
Standout Performances: Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa/Star-Lord), Michael Rooker (Yondu), Karen Gillen (Nebula), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Djimon Hounsou (Korath the Pursuer)
The Scoop: A heart-warming dynamic between Michael Rooker and Chadwick Boseman might not have been on many peoples What If-themed Bingo cards in 2021 but the series delivered it's second episode in the form of what arguably was the best idea and execution the production had from top to bottom. In the wake of the tragic passing of the legendary Boseman a posthumous performance extending the legacy of the Black Panther was welcome amongst fans to say the least. Too, a return from the deceased Yondu by the delightful Michael Rooker was embraced by even the most disappointed viewers.
One of the most exciting possibilities this series uniquely offers in this particular outing is having a fun dynamic between Chadwick's T'Challa and Korath the Pursuer actor Djimon Hounsou who had previously delivered a performance as his own Black Panther on the BET series over a decade earlier which should go unmissed by any self-proclaimed hardcore Wakanda lore-bearer. It would also be odd to dislike the performance of Thanos by Josh Brolin with a variant positively-inspired by T'challa's kind nature to join his own ragtag group of Galaxy-faring Guardians alongside a wholly organic badass spy version of Nebula, a well-dentured variant of Kraglin, a Taserface worth Chris Sullivan's screen time, the previously mentioned Korath the Pursuer, and even a late addition by Seth Green's Howard the duck which make an ansemble that shouldn't surprise many for receiving it's own series pitch prior to Boseman's passing.
The tale was not only fun natured and heartwarmingly relieving, but it also delivered a message that imposes exactly how big an effect a single person like Star-:Lord offers an entire galaxy and that going from being an asshole to a good samaritan can have echoing impacts.
4. Hidden Gem: What If... 1872?
Synopsis: In an alternate 1872 Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop roam a Wild West, battling foes and searching for the nefarious Hood. They seek his Ghost Train and hope to find Shang-Chi's missing sister, along with other vanished Chinese immigrants.
For Fans of: Hawkeye, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Ant-Man and the Wasp
Standout Performances: Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Walton Goggins (Sonny Birch), Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop/Hawkeye), Wyatt Russell (John Walker)
The Scoop: Poor marketing efforts made this episode almost fly under my radar, and it was one of the few I nearly skipped in my efforts to keep up with the final season. With myself being the biggest supporter of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as well as Hawkeye I would imagine if I nearly missed it, mamy others likely did as well. However, if I had been told the simple concept of a Wild West adventure existing at the intersection of Shang-Chi's martial arts and Kate Bishop's gunslinging skills utilizing Walton Goggins as Sonny Birch in a story highlighting immigrant conditions, I would have immediately tuned in, but word of the tale was buried beneath the flashy promotional material that featured the horribly executed mecha episode or the complaints about Byrdie the Duck. Anyone who appreciates any of the aspects this episode boasts from the genre to the cast or movies leading to it should certainly take the half hour it requires to consume this fun experience.