WHAT IF...? Season 2 Just Set An Important Rotten Tomatoes Record For Marvel Studios In 2023

WHAT IF...? Season 2 Just Set An Important Rotten Tomatoes Record For Marvel Studios In 2023

What If...? season 2 has been dropping new episodes daily since December 22, and the Disney+ series just set an important 2023 record for Marvel Studios on review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes. Check it out!

News
By JoshWilding - Dec 26, 2023 07:12 AM EST
Filed Under: What If

2023 has been a mixed bag for MCU content but, with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, What If...? season 2 is officially Marvel Studios' best-reviewed release of 2023. 

The entire season was sent out to critics on December 21, the day before the series returned to Disney+. With the holidays looming, that didn't allow the vast majority of outlets to chime in and only 12 reviews have been counted. Perhaps that was the point?

To compare, Marvel Studios' other 2023 TV shows are Secret Invasion at 53% and Loki season 2 at 82%. In terms of theatrical releases, we have Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Marvels at 46%, 82%, and 61%, respectively. 

This is a much-needed win for Marvel Studios and one which could help increase What If...?'s audience over the festive period. A third season is already in the works, of course, and is expected to launch in the next couple of years (it's also rumoured to be the final batch of episodes). 

We've been recapping each episode of What If...? season 2 and, in case you missed them, you can check out our breakdowns of the first five instalments, including today's, by following the links below.

• What If...? Season 2 Premiere "What If...Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?" Has A Surprise MCU Return
• What If...? Assembles '80s Avengers In "What If...Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"
• What If...? Unleashes "The Freak" And Brings Back A Familiar Foe In "What If...Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?"
• What If...? Asks "What If...Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster?" And Answers A Huge Season 1 Mystery
• What If...? Delivers A Huge Reunion And Shock Twist In "What If... Captain Carter Fought The HYDRA Stomper?"

Season two of What If...? continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles.

The series features fan-favourite characters this season like Nebula, Hela and Happy Hogan, with episodes directed by Bryan Andrews (episodes 2-9) and Stephan Franck (episode 1) and written by AC Bradley (episodes 3, 4, 5, 8), Matthew Chauncey (episodes 1-3, 7, 9) and Ryan Little (episodes 6, 8). The animated series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley.

The first five episodes of What If...? are now streaming on Disney+.

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WHAT IF...? Season 3 Adds Natasha Lyonne In Superhero Role - Is This Who She'll Play In THE FANTASTIC FOUR?
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slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 12/26/2023, 7:22 AM
RT scores only matter for making articles that don’t matter.
Origame
Origame - 12/26/2023, 7:27 AM
Might as well say it had a record score on whose line is it anyway.
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 12/26/2023, 9:30 AM
@Origame - I like this take the best
MadThanos
MadThanos - 12/26/2023, 7:35 AM
Ep5 was awful
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/26/2023, 7:50 AM
It's definitely not a 92% show, I'd say about 85% is more like it, if I am feeling generous.

What I've seen I'd give 2.5/5
LeDiableBlanc
LeDiableBlanc - 12/26/2023, 7:54 AM
I've liked the first 4 so far, specially the 4th one. Not a big fan of animated series overall, but it's been good.
Izaizaiza
Izaizaiza - 12/26/2023, 7:59 AM
I'd give it a "Fun distraction and instantly forgettable" rating.
AllsGood
AllsGood - 12/26/2023, 8:03 AM
Marvel Studios Rotten Tomatoes Check it out! With a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Great way to End the Year heading into 2024 with Echo Next. I watched all the Episodes and Agree with the Critics 92%. Merry Christmas from Marvel Studios to its fans.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 12/26/2023, 8:41 AM
@AllsGood - you still don't understand what an RT score actually is lol
AllsGood
AllsGood - 12/26/2023, 8:59 AM
@bobevanz - Actually you don't understand RT scores. Rotten Tomatoes is simple math the more Positive Scores the Higher the Score. More Negative Reviews Lower the Score. Rotten Tomatoes is now the leading review standard for all movies and television shows. Rotten Tomatoes is Posted EVERYWHERE :)
Arthorious
Arthorious - 12/26/2023, 8:09 AM
My man lives and dies by rotten tomatoes
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 12/26/2023, 8:15 AM
Loving it thus far, but we're still only halfway there.

Hold the verdict 'til the finale.
Blergh
Blergh - 12/26/2023, 8:26 AM
IMO:

Iron Man - 7/10
Iron Man 2 - 5/10
Iron Man 3 - 6/10

Captain America: The First Avenger - 7/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 8/10
Captain America: Civil War - 6/10

Thor - 6/10
Thor: The Dark World - 5/10
Thor: Ragnarök - 7/10
Thor: Love & Thunder - 5/10

Guardians of the Galaxy - 7/10
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - 6/10
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 6/10

Ant-Man - 6/10
Ant-Man & the Wasp - 5/10
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania - 5/10

Doctor Strange - 6/10
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - 6/10

Spider-Man: Homecoming - 6/10
Spider-Man: Far From Home - 6/10
Spider-Man: No Way Home - 6/10

Black Panther - 5/10
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - 6/10

Captain Marvel - 5/10
The Marvels - [Not Seen Yet]

The Avengers - 7/10
Avengers: Age of Ultron - 6/10
Avengers: Infinity War - 9/10
Avengers: Endgame - 7/10

The Incredible Hulk - 4/10
Werewolf by Night - 7/10
Black Widow - 5/10
The Eternals - 3/10
Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings - 8/10

Loki: Season 01 - 7/10
Loki: Season 02 - [Not Seen Yet]

Agent Carter: Season 01 - 6/10
Agent Carter: Season 02 - 5/10

What-If: Season 01 - 4/10
What-If: Season 02 - [Not Seen Yet]

Wandavision - 8/10
The Falcon & the Winter Soldier - 5/10
Hawkeye - [Not Seen Yet]
She-Hulk - 4/10
Secret Invasion - 3/10
bobevanz
bobevanz - 12/26/2023, 8:42 AM
@Blergh - agreed, most of phase one - three was mediocre. Marvel got a pass because they were building towards something. Now they just want subscribers lmao
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/26/2023, 9:46 AM
@Blergh - But I would take all of the Phase 1-3 movies over 4 and 5.

You scored The Winter Soldier 8/10.

I would give that 9/10 with Civil War and Infinity War as well scoring 9/10
InfraMan
InfraMan - 12/26/2023, 11:16 AM
@Blergh - I’m not sure if you’re serious or not, but either way… lol.
Blergh
Blergh - 12/26/2023, 11:27 AM
@InfraMan - I'm absolutely serious, most Marvel movies were good-okay. I like them regardless of varying quality because they usually are throughly entertaining.

How would you disagree?
InfraMan
InfraMan - 12/26/2023, 11:44 AM
@Blergh - Apologies, I legitimately thought your post may have been a parody of some of the resident curmudgeons.

Actually, my ratings align pretty closely with yours on a few of these, but I feel like most of them are pretty harsh. Fair enough, though… people like what they like. :)
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 12/26/2023, 8:45 AM
Lol, the critics reviwed what, 2 episodes? Like that Secret Invasion review here I see.

I also enjoy it but it is indeed a talent by these idiot writers to stretch things for marvel.

Anyway, here is my own title on your idiotic style

"Aquaman 2 is the highest grossing cbm in China beating all Marvel movies"
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 12/26/2023, 11:01 AM
@DrReedRichards - oops, i forgot the "1st week" part 😅
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 12/26/2023, 11:05 AM
@vectorsigma -

Nah, I got what you meant. That's why I sorted them by Opening, both in the link and in that screenshot.

Still no details on the movie's analytical numbers, maybe they'll be updated later, but as of now it's not listed as part of China's top 1st weekends.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 12/26/2023, 11:20 AM
@DrReedRichards - ive been seeing reports but i guess those are unofficial.

It will be a good thesis for studios to study on how to get back china on the board. Even Tom Cruise limped this year which is unthinkable a few years ago.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 12/26/2023, 11:26 AM
@vectorsigma -

I hear ya. Noone in their right mind expected MI to struggle this hard.
Blergh
Blergh - 12/26/2023, 11:29 AM
@DrReedRichards - it's setteling in in a very uncomfortable 100-200M range. Unless it has legs made of steel it will finish below Flash.

I could see it gaining legs if Momoa-mania repeats itself
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 12/26/2023, 11:34 AM
@Blergh -

I honestly do not know what to expect. One one hand, the holiday season should be working in its favour, especially with little competition. On the other hand, genre fatigue and the awareness that this is the DCEU's dying breath are not doing it any favours.

We'll see, but the fact remains that this is the CBM genre's worst year in recent memory.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 12/26/2023, 11:14 PM
@vectorsigma -

They just updated the numbers. You were right, it has a higher opening than any CBM in China this year. Remains to be seen if it has legs to carry it through early 2024.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 12/27/2023, 1:34 AM
@DrReedRichards - i think china has a lot of local movies to end the year so it wont have much legs

Was just trying to spin it into a pro-dc article title like how this site spin it for marvel 😅
Rosraf
Rosraf - 12/26/2023, 9:28 AM
I loved Season 1. Season 2 is pretty good so far, but my main complaint is the episode length and pacing. Every episode in Season 2 feels like they are just rushing the story along. Season 1 had some slower moments (notable in Dark Strange and Zombies) that worked really well. Maybe others like the faster pace, but Season 2 feels a bit like they are just rushing the early side-stories to get to the over-arching plot like Season 1 had at the end (assuming they do that again).
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 12/26/2023, 9:40 AM
This season is good so far with Happy’s ep a highlight (followed closely by the too short Nebula ep)

None of them have the weirdness and emotional impact of the Dark-ter Strange episode which is my favorite of the series.

We’ll see how they close out the rest of them.
Amino
Amino - 12/26/2023, 9:55 AM
If there's anything more broken than the RT movie scoring system...it's the RT television scoring system.

*This isn't a slam on "What if...?" In any way, shape, or form.

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