Watching – Marvel What If …? Season 2 Ep 1 & 2

Back in the day, I was a fan of the What If comic series. At the time, they would be narrated by the Watcher Uata, providing the way things had gone in timeline and then proposing, “But what if …” (what if someone survived or what if someone died (Gwen Stacey, Uncle Ben, etc.) what if someone joined That Group (what if Daredevil joined SHIELD, what if Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers, what if somebody else got the powers / didn’t get the powers, and so on …). Many of them put pieces back into where they roughly were in the traditional Marvel timeline but some created unique worlds of differences. For me, those latter ones were the most interesting. Some ideas got tested in these pages before hitting the main universe. Some felt more like professional fan fic. There was even an all humor issue that was more like What The? like “What if Cyclops emitted laser beams out of his ears” (with a thought balloon of “If I dare take off these ruby earmuffs for even a moment …”) and “What if Silver Surfer had not returned to being a Herald of Galactus” (insert image of the Surfer delivering pizza) and so on.

The MCU animated What If season one was overall entertaining but mostly ended on down beats until the big finale that brought it all together and these alternate versions came together to protect the Multiverse from an ultimate threat. Season 2 so far has been much more upbeat.

Episode 2.1 – “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

Part of what make What If … interesting is an opportunity to play around with characters in different genres like horror or fantasy or in this case a hard boiled film noir. Nebula fits the bill as a reformed villain who continues to stalk these dark streets of corruption while struggling to a better person than she once was. Confronted with the death of a former colleague that Nova Corp doesn’t care enough to solve, Nebula digs into that shadowy world she’s tried to leave behind to find the killer and the conspiracy festering on Xandar. It was good to see Nebula given a little more depth than just being the angry, poorly socialized cyborg.

Episode 2.2 – “What if … Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

What if Yondu had turned over Peter Quill instead of adopting him? Apparently Quill returns to Earth as a kid of of immense destructive cosmic power who will likely unleash the seed of Ego and destroy all humankind. Or at least, he will if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes of the 80s don’t come together to defeat him. Interestingly enough, it’s a more international task force that includes some Cold War animosity and generation earlier than the MCU Avengers we’re used to. I liked the chemistry of the team and how these other heroes functioned compared to the usual team. As is appropriate for an episode that picks up the backstory of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 , it’s a story that frequently works with themes of family, particularly fathers and their kids. Overall, entertaining and I look forward to what other dips might happen into this alternate timeline.