The season 3/series finale of What If...? is now streaming on Disney+ - you can read our full recap here - and we finally have a Rotten Tomatoes score for what's proven to be perhaps the most divisive batch of episodes to date.
Disney didn't share screeners with critics until December 21 and the embargo lifted hours later to coincide with the show's premiere. That didn't give them much time to watch the season in its entirety, particularly with the holidays on the horizon. So, only 12 verdicts have been counted by the review aggregator.
As we write this, What If...? sits at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest score for the series to date. What If...? season 1 has 89% and season 2 a slightly better 90%; only the former is "Certified Fresh" as there weren't enough verdicts counted for the show's sophomore season to earn the label. This takes its overall series score to 84%.
However, it appears fans were a little less keen on season 3 because the Audience Score/Popcornmeter is currently a "Rotten" 55%. Season 2 was awarded 65% and season 1 received 92%.
Judging by these numbers, Marvel Animation struggled to recapture the magic of What If...?'s debut season. While 75% is a "Fresh" score, it feels like the series has ended on something of a bum note in a Saga that's seen fans grow increasingly fed up with the Multiverse.
"A disappointing end to one of the Multiverse Saga's best ideas," we said in our recent review, "What If...? season 3 has its moments but fails to take full advantage of its premise, resulting in a silly, superfluous, and shallow final batch of episodes."
What If...? may be over but, as Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum recently teased, there's plenty to look forward to from the MCU on streaming in 2025:
"I remember walking into the comic store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me. There was heightened fantasy with Thor. There was soap opera with social commentary in X-Men. There were adventure stories in The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing. There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall."
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together. Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. Eyes of Wakanda is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel Zombies is this sprawling adventure story that uses the whole world as its backdrop. Every one of these shows has a different tone and a different type of story in a different genre. And just like the comics, it speaks to the breadth of the Marvel brand."
How would you rate What If...? season 3? Let us know in the comments section below.