What If..? lived up to its billing with the first two episodes, showing us an alternate version of The First Avenger and how T’Challa would have changed the galaxy as Star-Lord. But the latest—”What If… the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes”—might be the craziest yet.
I won’t spoil much, but the episode is set during Nick Fury’s famous “big week,” in which the events of Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor all take place at once. Following in the tradition of classic What If..? comics, the episode sees a lot of unexpected, tragic, and darkly amusing deaths, with Nick Fury struggling to figure out who’s behind them.
While it doesn’t pack the emotional impact of last week’s episode, it was a nostalgia trip to go back to the heady days of the MCU’s first phase and see the building blocks of the universe get messed with. Reactions online have been very positive:
With a second season of What If..? already confirmed, I’m hoping we’ll see some follow-up episodes showing how these bizarre new realities continued to develop. This episode in particular takes the MCU so far off the rails that anything could happen, though with Thanos still out there and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes pushing up daisies, I doubt the future is bright.
Next week appears to be the Doctor Strange episode, which looks like it’s going to explore what would happen if the Sorcerer Supreme turned evil. The story will also involve Spider-Man in some capacity, who’s wearing Strange’s Cloak of Levitation in promo shots. Where that episode will go is anyone’s guess, especially if things get as crazy as they did this week.
What If..? airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.
