What If …? Season 3: Marvel's Ongoing Punk of its Canon Revives Howard the Duck and More
By John Kirk
Rating: B+
Arguably the most underrated of the Marvel productions, Season Three of the animated series What If …? continues its merry romp of alternative storylines and outcomes in the Marvel universe.
The series has succeeded as a decades-later follow-up to the cult-favourite yet low-selling 1970’s comic series, with a mission to play with the Marvel Comic Universe. It’s just ironic that it took the Marvel Cinematic Universe to give it the upgrade it needed.
Jeffrey Wright voices The Watcher in Marvel’s What If…?
The cast is a massive factor in the show, with many of the actors reprising their cinematic roles. It’s astonishing to see this much talent arrayed for an animated show. It’s a film-maker’s dream, Incredible talent in a production that is only limited by the creator’s imagination.
But that was the original appeal of the comic. One of the aspects of fandom is the danger to the continuity of the franchise. Stan Lee recognized this back in the 70’s and What If …? was a way in which creators could explore possible storylines without any irreconcilable damage to the continuum.
Readers were invited to explore all of these possibilities through the invitation of The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), an eternal being whose job it is to keep track of all the events in the multiverse. He was obliged to simply watch, record and not involve himself in the events of how the multiverse unravels itself. He then assessed/judged the end of the story to help make sense of events, with a life lesson to bring those fans back down to Earth.
There are plenty of narrative toys to play with in this series. Consider the first four stories. The first: What If Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers? sees the increase of the Hulk’s powers and the expansion of gamma energies around the world. The Avengers unite, but with new armoured giant robot avatars of themselves to combat the menace.
The second, titled, What If Agatha Went to Hollywood shows us an alternate version of Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in the 1940’s Hollywood scene, facing off against Kingo of the Eternals (Kumail Nanjiani) in an unexpected Hollywood versus Bollywood showdown, with the prize being the world.
Then there’s a reprise of the Red Guardian (David Harbour) in a showdown against the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) that changes the outcome of the future of the Avengers from that fateful night in 1991 when Howard Stark was killed in What If the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?
Finally, there’s a return of Howard the Duck in What If Howard the Duck Got Hitched? The other four episodes in the season follow a similar bent.
This season is more of an anthology of a variety of stories. In the spirit of play, there’s comedy, new relationships, and a variety of lesser-known characters to follow. In some places, it’s a bit silly. But you can’t have fun without funny.
Still, that can be a bit of a double-edged sword. When you have talent like Samuel L. Jackson reprising the role of Nick Fury for the sake of a 30-minute animated show that places the MCU into the Wild, Wild West, the frivolity gets to be a little much.
What’s also lacking is a central theme. In the previous seasons, there was an underlying thread that didn’t get fully resolved. It seems that this is aspect has been abandoned this season. Still, there is still an abundance of possible cliff-hangers to follow up on and hopefully, fourth season plans don’t get abandoned.
In any event, it’s best not to take this series too seriously. Like many comic fans in love with their fandom, it’s best to remember that this is a show that allows for damage to happen to the continuum. After all, if you didn’t like it, then remember that it really doesn’t have any effect on real canon. This is all just for fun!
What If … Season Three. Voice cast: Hayley Atwell, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Mark Ruffalo, Teyonah Parris, Kathryn Hahn, Kumail Nanjiani, Samuel L. Jackson, Seth Green, Laurence Fishburne, Dominique Thorne, Simu Liu, Hailee Steinfeld, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Devery Jacobs, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Tessa Thompson, Dominic Cooper, James D’Arcy, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac, Wyatt Russell, Walton Goggins, Clark Gregg, et. al.
What If …? Season Three releases episodes weekly on Disney+, beginning Sunday, December 22.