The end has come. Or it would,
now that the omnicidal AI Ultron and its army of android drones empowered by
the Infinity Stones have begun scouring multiple universes of life, as in the
penultimate episode of Marvel Studios’ “What If…?” Things have gotten to the
point that Ultron has reached awareness above the multiverse and tried to kill
the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), the cosmic being observing the alternate
timelines of the MCU that were the focus of this animated anthology. The
Watcher insists that he can only watch and not interfere, but Ultron does not
care. What now, then?
Well, as the title of the final
episode of “What If…?” on Disney+ goes, we must now ponder the question of “What
If…the Watcher Broke His Oath?” The Watcher as of the original Marvel Comics
was supposed to be a neutral observer of happenings in the various universes
where versions of Marvel characters exists, but without doing anything to
interrupt or change the course of the events they are watching. Meta-wise, the
Watcher stands for the comic-book reader, who might at different times wanted
to control the narrative to a desired outcome. Several Marvel story arcs have
touched on the Watchers interfering in the Marvel universes. This is no
different.
Faced with the overwhelming might
of Infinity Ultron, the Watcher assembles champions from the various alternate universes
he had observed, to form the Guardians of the Multiverse. From Captain Carter,
to Star-Lord T’Challa, Party Thor, even Black Panther Killmonger and Strange
Supreme, this hastily-assembled ensemble are tasked by the Watcher to confront
Ultron before he completes his purging of life from everywhere. But is this
going to work like with the Avengers of the (former) Sacred Timeline of the
MCU? The answer is so brilliant, we hate to spoil it.
Ah, if you did watch this final
episode of “What If…?” you are asking me now: did I not leave out one
character? Yes, I have. Another member of the Watcher’s Guardians, and one that
came out of nowhere, is a version of Gamora from Sakaar, whom the Watcher
describes as having killed the Thanos and destroyed the Infinity Stones of her
native universe with the help of Tony Stark. Her related episode was actually
part of the original 10-episode inaugural season. Pandemic difficulties delayed
its production to the point that Marvel Studios packaged it with the
in-development season 2 instead. It even got a tie-in LEGO set despite that.
Being the season finale, it is
expected that the visuals, storytelling and stakes will be as high as this show
could go, and the animation units Marvel Studios employed did not disappoint.
The action sequences are mind-blowing, and the voice acting – particularly of
the MCU veterans like Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Benedict Cumberbatch and
Michael B. Jordan are spot-on. And indeed, this is the very last we will ever
hear of the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Chala in the MCU. His swan could not have
been any better than this.
Now, the MCU on Disney+ will
return to its “regular” live-action programming with “Hawkeye” starring Jeremy
Renner and Hailee Steinfeld premiering late next month. But already work on a
second season for “What If…?” is ongoing. If the pandemic production delays are
not as severe as with the first one, the anthology could return as early as
2022. Viewers could get to see then what the deal with Gamora the Thanos-slayer
is, among other new what-if scenarios for the Watcher and the “watchers” to
enjoy; until the multiverse returns anew.
Image from MCU Fandom Wiki
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