Animation Domination: What If…?

What if there was a show that took the Marvel Comics Universe characters and showed alternate timelines created when different choices were made at crucial moments in its history?  Well, there is!  And it is an animated series called What If…? Now in its second season on Disney+. Based on the comic book of the same name, the show stars Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher, who narrates the stories as he sees them.  Like in season 1, the series brings back most of the actors who portrayed their live action counterparts in the MCU and the final episode ties together a continuity thread that subtly ran through the episodes.  Below is a list of the nine episodes from season two, with a brief synopsis and list of voice actors.

What If…Nebula joined the Nova Corps?

Five years after Ronan successfully defeated Thanos and Nebula joins the Nova Corps, the body of Yondu is discovered.  Nebula is sent to investigate and discovers a plot to overthrow Xandar, the home of the Nova Corps. With the help of Howard the Duck, Groot and Korg, the trio work to defend Xandar from one of their own.

Cast: Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jude Law as Yon-Rogg, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Seth Green as Howard the Duck, Taika Waititi as Korg, Peter Serafinowicz as Garthan Saal, Julianne Grossman as Irani Rael / Nova Prime, and Fred Tatasciore as Groot

What If… Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

When Yondu and the Ravagers take Peter Quill from Earth in 1988, instead of raising him themselves, they take him to his father, Ego and for six months, he is trained by the living planet.  He then returns to Earth and begins to cause chaos with his powers.  Peggy Carter and Howard Stark have put together a team of heroes to stop the boy consisting of Bill Foster / Giant Man; T’Chaka, King of Wakanda / Black Panther; Bucky Barnes, on loan from the Russia / The Winter Soldier; Dr. Wendy Lawson / Mar-Vel; Hank Pym / Ant-Man; and although not intended to be part of the team, Hank also brought his daughter Hope with him. After capturing young Peter, Hope inadvertently befriends him and realizes he isn’t the bad guy and releases him.  Ego, Peter’s father, returns to Earth to get his son and to finish the job his son was sent to do.  Thor, arrives to take revenge on Ego who destroyed Asgard as well.  With the help of Peter the team is able to defeat Ego’s Avatar, and come together to help Thor defeat the actual planet Ego.

Cast: Michael Douglas as Hank Pym / Ant-Man, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Kurt Russell as Ego, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster / Goliath, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Atandwa Kani as King T’Chaka / Black Panther, Madeleine McGraw as Hope van Dyne, Mace Montgomery Miskel as Peter Quill, Keri Tombazian as Mar-Vell / Wendy Lawson, and Gene Farber as Karpov

What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?
On Christmas Eve, Happy Hogan is preparing for the Avengers Christmas Party, Justin Hammer and his henchmen stage a Take over of Avenger’s Tower while Jarvis is offline for maintenance.  His goal is to steal some of Bruce Banner’s blood and use it to make himself a “Hulk” like creature and redeem his name, which was ruined during the events of Iron Man II.  Happy with the help of Maria Hill and Darcy Lewis try to get another AI online to prevent Justin from obtaining his goals, but in the process, Happy inadvertently is exposed to the blood and becomes “The Freak”, a super strong purple hulk. With his newfound strength, Happy is able to hold off Justin who has taken possession of the Hulk Buster armor.  Eventually the Avenger’s arrive in time to take Justin Hammer into custody.

Cast: Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan / “The Freak”, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Lake Bell as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers / Captain America.

What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?

At the end of The Avengers, Tony Stark did not make it back to Earth, after going through the portal and destroying the Chitauri mothership.  Instead, he was hurled through space to Sakaar, where he is captured by the Grandmaster and is held captive by it’s ruler The Grandmaster. With the help of Gamora, Korg and Valkyrie, Tony is able to defeat the Grandmaster at his own game and convince Gamora, who was sent by her father Thanos to kill Tony, to live her own life and not be ruled by her father.

Cast: Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Taika Waititi as Korg, Rachel House as Topaz, Josh Brolin as Thanos, and Cynthia McWilliams as Gamora

What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?

Captain Carter from the first season of What If…? Returns and discovers that Steve Rogers and the Hydra Stomper armor was brainwashed by the Red Room in 1953 and is now no longer in control of his actions. With the help of Bucky Barnes and Brock Rumlow (Crossbones), they capture Rogers and learn that the Hydra Stomper is what is keeping him alive and each activation of it lessens his chances of survival.  The team came up with a plan to destroy the Red Room and hopefully find a cure for Rogers. During the ensuing battle, Roger’s Red Room programming is reactivated, but he is able to fight it with Peggy’s help, possibly sacrificing himself to destroy their opponent.  Just as Captain Carter was about to look for Steve, a portal opens under her, and she falls through to a world where she meets Renaissance-era versions of Nick Fury and the Scarlet Witch.

What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?

Surtur attempts to brings about Ragnarok, well before the Tesseract was entrusted to the people of Midgard (Earth), and Odin uses the object which encompasses the infinity gem known as the Space Stone.  In the battle, the Tesseract is lost and crashes in a lake in pre-colonial America.  Years later, the lake is now forbidden by the Mohawk tribes as anyone who has ventured into its waters has disappeared.  Kahhori, a young Mohawk woman, fleeing Spanish Conquistadors, falls into the lake finds herself in a utopian world that those who had disappeared throughout the years have created.  The power of the stone has given them immortality and godlike abilities.  Kahhori, wants to return to Earth to defeat the Conquistadors and save her people, but the people of this realm believe returning is impossible as the portal is too high and unreachable.  After Spanish soldiers also fall through the lake, Kahhori finds she is able to use her powers to pull the portal from the sky down to the ground and returns to Earth and saves her people.  As she is confronting Queen Isabella of Spain and forcing her into a truce, Dr. Strange Supreme finds her and announces he has been looking for her.

Cast: Devery Jacobs as Kahhori, Kiawentiio as Wáhta, Jeremy White as Atahraks, Gabriel Romero as Rodrigo Alphonso Gonzolo, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange Supreme, Carolina Ravassa as Queen Isabella of Spain, Clancy Brown as Surtur, and Jeff Bergman as Odin

NOTE: With the exception of lines spoken by the Watcher, Surtur, and Strange Supreme, this episode is entirely in the Mohawk language and Spanish. An English version is also available in the extras on Disney+.

What If… Hela Found the Ten Rings?

Hela, Odin’s first-born daughter and the God of Death, grows to bloodthirsty and Odin strips her of her powers and sends her to Earth placing a curse on her crown, that only if she were to find mercy would her powers return.  She finds herself in the lands of medieval China and is confronted by Xu Wenwu who wields the Ten Rings.  She is defeated and taken captive, but Wenwu sees her potential and attempts to convince her to work with him.  She escapes and eventually makes it to the realm of Ta Lo where she is tutored in their ways by Jlayi.  Heimdall, no longer being able to see Hela, informs Odin and thinking that she was killed by Wenwu and the ten rings, mounts an attack.  Hela, having not yet finished her training, returns to Earth to confront her father.  She aligns with Wenwu and together they are able to beat Odin, but instead of killing him, shows him mercy.  This releases Hela from the curse and she regains her powers.  Together with Wenwu, they become a force for freedom within the universe.

Cast: Cate Blanchett as Hela, Jeff Bergman as Odin, Feodor Chin as Xu Wenwu, Lauren Tom as Jiayi, Idris Elba as Heimdall,[14] Michael Hagiwara as Shunyuan, and Liv Zamora as Young Hela

What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?

At sometime, someone traveled through time to 1602, and that person’s very existence is causing the 17^th and 21^st centuries to collide, with the heroes of the latter becoming heroes of the former. This is creating rifts in time and space and destroying this realm. Captain Carter has been pulled from her own multiverse world by the Scarlet Witch in hopes that she could help them defeat the impending doom created by the mysterious person they call the “Forerunner”.  Thor become King of the realm, when Hela is sucked through one of the rifts in time, blaming Carter for her death, Peggy becomes a fugitive and joins forces with Tony Stark, eventually meeting up with a Robin Hood version of Steve Rogers and his merry men.  Together they form a plan to find out who the “Forerunner” is and send him back to his own time, using a machine built by Stark and powered by Thor’s scepter (housing the mind infinity gem). In the end, it is discovered that Steve Rogers was the “Forerunner” and got transported through time while battling Thanos, when his shield came into contact with the Time Gem in the Infinity Gauntlet.  Carter can’t lose Steve again, but Steve makes the sacrifice and is sent back to his own time along with all of their 21^st century counterparts.  Peggy, not being from this multiverse, is left alone and trapped.  But just when she thought all is lost, Doctor Strange Supreme finds her and promises to bring her back to her world, ending with a “To Be Continued”.

Cast: Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter / Captain Carter, Samuel L. Jackson as Sir Nicholas Fury, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Merlin, Chris Hemsworth as King Thor Odinson, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, Jon Favreau as Sir Harold “The Happy” Hogan / “The Freak”, Mick Wingert as Tony Stark, Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers / Rogers Hood, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange Supreme,[15] and Lake Bell as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow.

What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?

Strange Supreme brings Carter to the Sanctum Infinitum, where he has been capturing the “Universe-Killers”, to atone for destroying his own universe in search of a way to bring the love of his life, Christine Palmer, back.  He asks Peggy to help him capture one last villain.  She is sent to a different world and encounters Kahhori, who reveals that Strange isn’t just capturing the Universe-Killers, but heroes as well and he has built a forge where he will sacrifice those he has captured, generating enough power to recreate his universe with Christine back in it. Carter and Kahhori are brought back to the Sanctum by Strange and a battle ensues, where Peggy unleashes many of those that Strange had captured.  While Strange is busy trying to recapture those that have escaped, Carter and Kahhori make their way to the forge, but are stopped by Strange.  In the ensuing fight, Peggy appeals to the good the remains in Strange, to battle his literal demons and in the end, Strange is able to sacrifice himself in the forge, which recreates his universe, but without him in it, saving Christine.

Cast: Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter / Captain Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange Supreme and Demon Strange, Devery Jacobs as Kahhori, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Feodor Chin as Xu Wenwu, Clancy Brown as Surtur, Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers (illusion), and Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine (illusion).

The production value of the series was high, with some great animation and loads of action and adventure.  The voice acting was amazing, with the majority of the stars returning to portray the animated versions of their live action characters.  The storylines were uniquely fun and interesting.  This season seemed to be focused a lot on Peggy Carter, with either her Captain Carter character or her S.H.I.E.L.D. character being in a few different episodes.  Actually, the season seemed to be heavily female focused, with strong women taking the lead in most episodes.  Nebula, Gamora, Carter, Kahhori, Hela, even Darcy and Maria Hill, play prominent roles in each episode, even in episodes more focused on their male counterparts.  Overall, I found each episode enjoyable and fun to watch.