What If…?: Season 3 First 3

Time. Space. Reality. It’s more than a linear path, It’s a prism of endless possibility. I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and dare to face the unknown, and ponder the question What If…?

What if…? Is an American Animated series based on the Marvel Comic book of the same name that looks at alternative timelines and how one small change could have affected the outcome of stories that have already been told. The third and final season premiered on Disney + on December 22, 2024 with one new episode being released each consecutive day for eight days with the series finale streaming on December 29.  Jeffrey Wright returns as the voice of The Watcher, the narrator and audience guide with many of the actors from the live action movies reprising their roles within the episodes.

What If… the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

After almost destroying his best friend, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) attempts to get rid of The Hulk using the very thing that created him, Gamma Radiation, but instead he creates a giant gamma monster with the ability to spawn more monsters sparking the Gamma Wars.  To battle these giants, the Avengers create massive robot body suits, the majority of the Avengers do not survive, but they are eventually able to defeat the Apex and rid the world of the creatures.  Or so they thought.  Years later, the Apex returns, and Sam must work with Bruce to defeat them once again culminating in a Godzilla sized showdown.

This episode was basically “What If Godzilla and Voltron were Avengers”! and as a fan of both Voltron and Godzilla I enjoyed it.  It did have a slightly different feel to it that wasn’t quite as good as the past seasons.

What If… Agatha Went to Hollywood?

Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in her quest for power discovers the existence of the Celestial Tiamut deep in the Earth.  In order to syphon his power, she steals the powers of the other Eternals and goes to Hollywood to use the premise of making movies with Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) as an excuse to perform her magic.  But it still is not enough, so she must team up with the one Eternal left, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) and together they must battle Arishem, a Celestial.

This was a much more comedic episode and still highly entertaining and well-acted.  The musical numbers were fun, and the comic timing was spot on.  Dominic Cooper and James D’Arcy (Agent Carter) have wonderful banter along with Kumail and Kathryn.

What If… the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?

Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Russia’s super soldier known as the Red Guardian (David Harbour), is given a deep cover assignment in Ohio, and while there he interrupts the assassination of Howard Stark by The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).  With a failed mission, the two soviet agents go on the run from both American forces led by Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) and the Russians.  Buckey and Alexei believe they must get to another Russian agent known as the “Rook” and although at first they are at odds with each other, the two soon become friends fighting their way to safety.

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This is another more comical episode with David Harbour playing Red Guardian as a near buffoon with a lot of slapstick and physical humor.  Sebastian’s Winter Soldier is all business but is allowed to soften up due to the influence of Alexei.  This was a “buddy movie” type episode with references to films like Thelma and Louise to give it context.  It was entertaining and we finally get to see more of Bill Foster as Goliath.

All Three of the episodes were well done and entertaining, but there is just something a little “Less” this season then the last two and I am not even sure how to explain it– just a small feeling that the quality of storytelling has slipped and overall feels a bit forced and rushed.  It might also be that the What If? comics had so many more heroes and villains to choose from as well as many iconic comic book stories from which to diverge from. The character roster of the MCU is in a state of continual growth but still pales to the comics. So we are getting the second, third, even fourth What If? iterations of some of these characters. But to reiterate, this is a slight dip and does not really change the fact that the episodes are well made, with interesting stories that are well told, especially for ½ hour formats.  There is also an interesting theme through the episodes so far and that is unlikely friendships.  Coupling of characters you wouldn’t think of.  Sam Wilson and the Hulk, Agatha Harkenss and Kingo, Alexei and Buckey.  Howard The Duck and Marcie. It will be interesting to see if this theme continues. Watch for our next review which will cover episodes 4-6.