With the arrival of the third and final season of the multiverse-driven Marvel Cinematic Universe series What If…?, a series with infinite possibilities, it begs the question — why stop now? With Season 1 mostly being familiar settings within the MCU altered slightly, Season 2 really felt like the gloves were off, and the episodes started living up to the name of the series. Now Season 3 gets to dive even further into the titular concept with inclusions of new fan favorites like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), an Avengers lineup with mech suits, introducing brand-new characters like Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) and Byrdie (Natasha Lyonne), and even including a variant of an animated X-Men fan favorite, Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith). With the series feeling like it’s just found its footing, it’s a shame to see such a fun concept come to a conclusion.
‘What If…?’ Didn’t Need A Main Character
Every season of What If…? starts off with individual stories, all culminating in season finales with a group of heroes from across the multiverse teaming to help The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) save the day. The common denominator in all of these teams is Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell). Captain Carter is a great character — we saw a variant of her pop up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. We might see a variant of the character in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Still, there shouldn’t be a central anchor to an anthology series of this kind other than The Watcher, who serves more as a narrator than anything. There’s no problem with continuing stories within What If…?, that provides a level of investment, but centering around an overall narrative only stunts the endless possibilities with a need to have a conclusion to the main character’s story.
While the bombastic and zany finales of What If…? are entertaining, the series shines when it actually asks the question “What if?” instead of trying to tell an overall narrative. The multi-episode finales take away from the concept entirely, leaving the audience wanting more stand-alone stories that evoke the essence of the series. Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum has cited that Season 3 of What If…? is the “completion of a trilogy,” but the trilogy that’s completed revolves around a central character, not the premise of the series. Season 3 does provide a satisfying farewell to Captain Carter’s story, but when the intro to every episode of the series includes the words “endless possibility,” it’s perplexing to see it all come to an end.
Related
‘What If…?’ Season 3 Review: Marvel’s Anthology Series Leads With Hope in a Bleak Final Chapter
Marvel’s animated anthology series comes to an end with a grim season full of hope and heart.
What If ‘What If…?’ Didn’t End?
Even with Season 3 of What If…? still following characters we’ve already met before, the scenarios they are placed in are highly entertaining and creative. Who had Agatha becoming a cosmic god and defeating a Celestial or Howard the Duck (Seth Green) having a baby on their bingo card for 2024? Still, there’s so much potential for What If…? to continue with Fantastic Four, Blade, and the Mutant Saga still to come in the upcoming years. Recently, when speaking with Agents of Fandom, director Bryan Andrews revealed that Marvel wouldn’t allow them to include characters such as Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, and Beta Ray Bill, because they have yet to be introduced in the MCU at large. Ending What If…? now leaves so many whacky stories left untold.
There’s no way the team is running out of ideas. The first issue of the What If? comics was published in February 1977 with What If Spider-Man had Joined The Fantastic Four? There are countless comic What If? stories that can be brought to life through animation with their own MCU twist, but sadly, these tales will never be told. The final scene of the series even teases insane multiversal versions of Gamora, Ghost Rider, Thanos, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Silver Surfer, and more, adding more fuel to the fire of the question — why stop now? Marvel Studios should double down on the concept, regardless of whether the Multiverse Saga is coming to a close. Much like what DC is doing with their Elseworlds projects, Marvel could benefit from stories outside the connected universe. Or at least stories that don’t need to abide by the rules of said existing universe, which made What If…? work. There’s one plus side, the world of What If…? isn’t completely dead, with the spin-off Marvel Zombies series hitting Disney+ next October.
What If…? Season 3 is streaming now on Disney+.
What If…?
Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, this animated anthology looks at alternate timelines in the multiverse that would happen if specific moments in the MCU occurred differently.
- Release Date
-
August 11, 2021
- Finale Year
-
November 30, 2023
- Cast
-
Samuel L. Jackson
, Stanley Tucci
, Michael Douglas
, Sean Gunn
, Mark Ruffalo
, Karen Gillan
, Tom Hiddleston
, Jeffrey Wright
, Michael B. Jordan
, Toby Jones
, Sebastian Stan
, Paul Rudd
, David Dastmalchian
, Natalie Portman
, Josh Brolin
, Dominic Cooper
, Jeff Goldblum
, Hayley Atwell
, Djimon Hounsou
, Chadwick Boseman
, Taika Waititi
, Chris Hemsworth
, Neil McDonaugh
, Jeremy Renner
, Michael Rooker - Seasons
-
3
- Streaming Service(s)
-
Disney+
- Franchise(s)
-
Marvel Cinematic Universe
