What If… Marvel broke its own rules?
With the release of the second season of What If…? on Disney+, Marvel has once again let its hair down. As the Watcher guides viewers through the vastness of the multiverse, What If…? reunites some of its favourite (and new) characters on adventures that could only happy in the furthest corners of the MCU.
When the series first premiered last year, it was enjoyable but seemed unnecessary. After all, it wasn’t advancing the overall narrative and seemed like empty content.
But what a difference a year can make.
While the MCU’s Phase 4 has carried mixed reactions, one can’t deny that What If…? gives Marvel a fresh jolt of energy. With Season 2, Marvel continues to use What If…? to help push their own envelopes. Although the series plays into the continuity in some ways, it basically remains on an island of content unto itself. This is a show that allows itself the freedom to tell stories that simply could not be told in a franchise anchored by its ‘sacred timelines’. Stories involving Star Lord’s youthful rampage and Hela’s renewed power can rattle the cage of the characters we know and love without changing the all-important continuity. Even with Marvel’s emphasis on the Multiverse, they continue to keep their world tight.
But What If…? has absolutely no boundaries.
As a result, Season Two actually finds ways to improve its storytelling from the previous season. While the animation remains the same, What If…? begins to use its style to its full advantage. Each episode is energetic, beautifully animated, and seems to have a fire that has been absent in some of Marvel’s most recent films. A great example of this comes through the premiere’s tale of Nebula’s journey with the NovaCorp. Although the film is firmly planted within the Marvel universe, it’s juxtaposition of neon and shadows makes the episode feel like a distant cousin to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
In these moments, the series continues to allow these characters to show us different sides of themselves. For each character in the MCU, the audience has grown so familiar with them that it can be difficult to let loose with new sides of their personality. However, there’s a certain joy within What If… as the characters that we know in love show off other aspects of their personalities that can’t be shown in their traditional films. (Without saying too much, the season finale reveals a very different depiction of Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange that will likely never come to fruition.)
What’s more, What If…? allows Marvel the freedom to break new ground. With the unveiling of Kahhori, the first Native American superhero has finally been unveiled in the MCU. Although her first appearance may have been in the context of What If…? her story is so entertaining that one can’t help but hope that they make room for her in the MCU proper.
If there is a knock against What If…?, it’s simply the runtime. By limiting each episode to roughly half an hour, the series makes sometimes limits its effectiveness. (The premiere alone is well worth doubling its runtime.) But, admittedly, this is a minor quibble. In fact, it’s a testament to how much fun the season becomes.
Although it simply began as a distraction of Marvel content for Disney+, What If…? has actually evolved into one of the more joyful additions to its line-up. Having spent the last decade and a half investing in a ‘sacred timeline’, this is a show that simply allows Disney to take the characters out of the box to play with reckless abandon.
And, it turns out, that’s just what Marvel needs.
Marvel’s What If…? Season Two streams new episodes daily beginning December 22nd, 2023.
