What If...? has been something of a mixed bag from the start, though that first season was mostly excellent. We could have lived without Party Thor, for example, but the debuts of Captain Carter, T'Challa Star-Lord, and Strange Supreme still rank among the best episodic television we've seen from Marvel Studios. Season 2 wasn't quite as good, with some episodes stretching the premise a little too thin ("What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?") and others that were downright bad ("What If... Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?"). Season 3, in comparison, is largely disappointing with few bright spots to make up for storytelling seemingly running on fumes.
No longer a show exploring how one small change could alter everything, What If...?'s latest batch of episodes instead takes us to a series of weird and wacky realities where it feels like the mandate was to cram in as many Phase 4 and 5 characters as possible. There's nothing wrong with that as it's refreshing to see new faces like Sam Wilson/Captain America, Ironheart, and Kate Bishop take centre stage; critically, the show doesn't find rich or compelling enough stories for them. We can't help but wonder whether that's down to What If...? being given access to the characters before their respective MCU debuts, meaning they had to be shoehorned into random stories rather than being fully reimagined.
"What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?" is pulpy fun and a strong start to the season. The characters are interchangeable - while Moon Knight's return is welcomed, it could have been anyone piloting his mech - but the friendship between Sam and Bruce Banner is interesting to explore. "What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?" also impressed with a story that sees Agatha Harkness gain the powers of a Celestial even if the presence of only one Eternal seems a shame.
"What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" is fine if somewhat forgettable and leans too heavily on comedy to be the team-up these two deserved. As for "What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?", its heart is in the right place but revisiting characters from season 1's weakest episode was certainly a choice. Byrdie returns as an adult a few episodes later, though isn't written or handled anywhere near well enough there to have justified this extended origin story.
"What If... the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?" is season 3's strongest effort and while we'd have preferred to see Spider-Man pitted against Mysterio again in place of Riri Williams, it's a bold new take on the Master of Illusions despite not being the alternate ending to Eternals we'd hoped for (and no, Quentin Beck isn't established as a Multiversal threat after Spider-Man: Far From Home's teases).
"What If... 1872?" is a more forgettable version of season 2's "What If... the Avengers Assembled in 1602?" and the two-part finale, "What If... the Watcher Disappeared?" and "What If... What If?", is largely disappointing. Captain Carter, Kahhori, Byrdie, and Storm assemble to battle three villainous Watchers but there's very little substance to these episodes beyond overlong action scenes and a disappointing conclusion to Peggy Carter's Multiversal arc.
The biggest let-down is the fact that even in its final year, the series does little to tie into the wider Multiverse Saga. If nothing else, it kinda, sorta feels like an extended origin story for The Watcher from the comics to appear in future movies and TV shows but that's it. What If...? had the potential to be one of this Saga's most important additions; instead, it's added little and been treated like an afterthought.
The voice performances in season 3 are solid and the handful of recastings aren't too noticeable or distracting. America Ferrera as Ranger Morales, Jason Isaacs as the Eminence, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, and Natasha Lyonne as Byrdie are all great new additions to What If...? canon even if none quite leave the same lasting impression as Kahhori. Anthony Mackie, Kathryn Hahn, Kumail Nanjiani, Kat Dennings, and Hailee Steinfeld are among the other standouts.
Visually, What If...? season 3 doesn't differ from previous episodes but feels uninspired and at times dull, especially after watching the likes of X-Men '97 and Creature Commandos. Even the most epic of action scenes come across as lifeless and never fully take advantage of what can be done in animation. Beyond that, the writing and direction aren't good enough to justify the show's existence as the silliness finally becomes too much. There's nothing wrong with the odd daft comedy episode to lighten the mood and What If...? should have its share of tongue-in-cheek fun. There's just such little balance in this season, it feels like the worst ideas were saved for last. Like the What If...? comics of old, the concept has outstayed its welcome and this journey into the unknown no longer feels worth it.