Well, that was great! The first three episodes of What If…? once again demonstrate Marvel’s unflinching dedication to storytelling. These self-contained (?), 30 minute detours are a masterclass in narrative technique and might be some of the best example of craft that we’ve seen come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. Just consider what every episode has to pull off. Each one makes reference to a previous MCU movie, it then reimagines and reintroduces us to a new version of an old character, before telling a standalone story, set in its own world, with its own complete mythology. The dialogue is tight. The exposition is restrained. There’s just enough of a twist to each tale that none of it feels repetitive or tiresome.
Over the last decade, Marvel has successfully reprogrammed our brains on what to expect when it comes to cinematic universes and serialized storytelling. There is now an added layer of complexity when we’re watching any one of these shows. While we can appreciate WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the individual stories that they’re trying to tell, there is also an expectation that they need to serve some larger narrative. The characters are, to a certain extent, sacred. And what you can do to them, and with them, are in many ways limited by a great many factors including, box office numbers, comic book sales, and contractual obligations.
What If…? is unique because it exists both within and without the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, these are stories that can be told as a consequence of there now being a Marvel Multiverse (see: Loki), but they are adequately removed from the primary narrative arc that turning Tony Stark into a zombie isn’t really going to have much of a consequence on Kevin Feige’s plans for Phase 4.
The stories in What If…? may feel a little dispensable in comparison to everything that has come before it, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t a whole load of fun.
What is What If…?
Time. Space. Reality. It’s more than a linear path. It’s a prism of endless possibility, where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know. I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and ponder the question… What If…?
Voiced by the inimitable Jeffrey Wright, our guide on this journey through the multiverse is Uatu or The Watcher (first glimpsed during the Stan Lee cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), whose job it is to observe and record events on every reality, but to never interfere.
Much like the original comic books (the anthology was first published in 1977), this is a series that takes years upon years of stories and characters, and subverts their individual narratives. Every episode begins with a crucial moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, before introducing a point of divergence, and then showing us the consequences of that change. What if it was Peggy Carter and not Steve Rogers who got the super soldier serum? What if the Ravagers screwed up and kidnapped T’Challa instead of Peter Quill? What if Nick Fury’s Avengers Initiative had failed?
The individual elements of the MCU are so well entrenched into our popular culture that the series can afford to go off on these tangents without having to worry about audience buy-in. And much like what we’ve seen so far from their efforts on Disney Plus, it reflects a level of confidence on their part with regards to what they feel they can get away with.
In short, What If…? is something that could only exist now, 24 movies and three TV shows in.
Endless Possibilities
Animation allows for endless possibility. After watching the first three episodes of What If…?, it became very clear that these stories would have been all but impossible to pull off as a live action series. The logistics involved in assembling the on-screen talent, the re-creation of sets and locations – digital or otherwise, would have been prohibitively expensive. Here, we can go from Castle Kaufmann in the Bavarian Alps, to Wakanda, to Knowhere, to Randy’s Donuts without missing a beat. The scope and ambition of these stories meant that they could only have been told in this way.
And believe me when I tell you that it feels, in every way, cinematic.
The scale of it is sweeping. The voice acting is seamless. And every action sequence is as dynamic as anything we’ve seen in the MCU. There is an energy to the way the camera moves that creates tension and thrills in equal measure, whether its watching Peggy Carter take on the Nazis, or a one-on-one between Star-Lord and Taneleer Tivan.
The animation itself is also glorious. The characters look slick and ever so slightly stylized. With the colour palette of every episode staying true to the story that inspired it. This looks good and feels expensive.
Breaking Down Barriers
The original What If…? comics were always something of a lark. (Issue #11 had the original Marvel bullpen – Stan Lee, Sol Brodsky, Flo Steinberg, and Jack Kirby – becoming the Fantastic Four!) They were interesting digressions that were sufficient but not necessary. They were fun pieces of subjunctive storytelling that allowed the writers and artists over at Marvel to flex their creative muscles with very little consequence to the characters involved. But besides being fun, these comics did serve another purpose. They were a cunning way to bring the vast catalogue of Marvel’s characters to a new audience.
The idea being that a standalone story involving Dr. Strange becoming a disciple of Dormammu (Issue #18) might inspire you to start reading Dr. Strange. Or discovering the alternate reality in which Captain America becomes President might convince you to pick up one of his comics.
In some ways, it feels like Marvel is hoping that this series might serve a similar function.
There is a very real barrier to entry for anyone looking to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The dense, self-referential storylines of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki being all but impenetrable to new viewers. Those three shows made it clear that Marvel wasn’t really interested in chasing down new audiences. They already ran the biggest game in town, and it gave them the license to try new things, to go crazy, to be weird, but more importantly, not have to worry about alienating the mass moviegoing public.
By being somewhat standalone, by ignoring the complex storylines, character dynamics, and decades spanning lore that often confuses and drives away newcomers, by reintroducing audiences to these characters in a way that is accessible, and zany, and fun, the stories in this anthology go some way to breaking down that barrier to entry.
In that way, What If…? might be Marvel’s most important series yet, because 13 years on, it might be the thing that lets you get in on the ground floor. Of a sort.
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