One of the oldest traditions of Marvel Comics has been the And if title, a series that aims to take the Marvel universe as we know it and reflect on what said universe would be like if something (be it a small, seemingly insignificant detail or the absence of entire superteams) were different. So when Marvel Studios announced in 2019 that one of its featured titles for the then-upcoming Disney Plus would be an animated series similar to the classic comics, the possibilities seemed endless.
But, five years and three seasons after that original announcement, it's clear that Disney Plus And if…? At best, it was a series of missed opportunities and at worst, a complete waste of time. But how did it go so wrong? How did Marvel Studios look at its gigantic sandbox and still only play within the confines of its existing teams, universes, and outcomes, stuck within the safety of the immediate radius of its theatrical and television offerings? The answer is not just one imminent factor, but many moving pieces that ensured And if…? It would continue to be nothing more than a complement to the Disney Plus catalog when it could have been much more. From streaming restrictions to a reluctant fear of hinting at a misstep in the MCU's complicated architecture, And if…? It never really stood a chance in Marvel's current form.
After its initial announcement, And if…? had a clear and undeniably interesting selling point: “Each episode will explore a pivotal moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and turn it on its head, taking the audience into uncharted territory.” But in practice, the series rarely used the existing “pivotal” moments from the sprawling cinematic universe as inspiration, instead swapping out the leaders of the superteams (“What If… T'Challa Became Star -Lord?”), giving Hulk the power to almost anyone (“What if… Happy Hogan saved Christmas?”), or making Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) literally hatch a duck egg for some reason ( “What if… Howard the Duck will marry?”), instead of interacting with the real and widely accepted cornerstones of the MCU.
While I don't think it's appropriate to retroactively complain about what a spectacle there could be been while engaging in scathing critiques of the final product, And if…?the reluctance to change the moments that truly define the MCU (What if Clint had sacrificed himself on Vormir? What if the other half had been ripped off in infinite war?) betrays the series' reluctance to hint that something within the MCU was done wrong the first time or that there was a better story hidden in both the MCU's biggest hits and biggest failures.
Why restructure that moment in end of the gameFor example, it would change a lot of Marvel's trajectory since Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) sacrificed herself, but it would also provide enough ammunition for those who believe Marvel made the wrong decision by killing her off the first time. In an effort to avoid inadvertently criticizing the final MCU product, And if…? instead, he remains committed to playing in the safest worlds, with the heroes winning every time. With friendship stopping the Kaiju Hulk from destroying the world and The Watcher intervening when he deems it necessary to prevent the tragedy from happening again, the series' refusal to play in the darkness and drama of the MCU makes this supposed expansion of the universe a reality. feel small and limited in comparison. For a show that should have made the MCU feel even more vibrant and unexplored, And if…? he cowed at the untapped potential that awaited beyond his comfortable reach. That hesitation is the reason And if…? he stays away from anything remotely interesting or momentous when it relates to his own past.
So when the series is brave enough to offer an interesting idea, like the third episode of season 3, “What If… the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” in which Alexi (David Harbour) stops Bucky (Sebastian Stan) from killing Tony Stark's parents that fateful night; The episode never mentions how that one change would affect the events of Civil war. Instead, it's another silly, almost boring highway chase between a super-communist Red Guardian and a surprisingly likable Winter Soldier. What could have been a thoughtful re-examination of the relationship between Tony and Bucky is, as usual, played for laughs, starkly contradicting each episode's deadly serious introduction voiced by Jeffrey Wright.
But even more, And if…? It can't engage in meaningful examinations of past events because the series is equally guilty of the MCU's biggest mistakes and over-pacing. In the final episode, the serialized nature of the show returns in full swing, with the new Guardians of the Multiverse: Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Kahori (Devery Jacobs), Asgardian Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) and Byrdie the Duck (Natasha Lyonne ): Fights against the Watchers' council to free his friend Uatu (Wright). To save the multiverse, Peggy sacrifices herself and joins a long list of female characters to meet her end within the MCU. Of Agatha's (Kathryn Hahn) recent sacrifice at the end of Agatha all the time For Natasha's infamous jump, this pacing is overdone and tired, resulting in an overabundance of dead female characters wasted by the MCU's apparent lack of creativity. How can And if…? Claim to be a model of creativity and disruption within this cinematic universe if you remain chained to the most basic and boring decisions of the MCU?
Being linked to the MCU, And if…? was immediately set up for failure. Beyond the ways in which the series refuses to play in this sprawling sandbox in any meaningful way, its status as a streaming show made it something of a running Frankenstein's monster. And if…? It attempts to deliver on its anthology promises and satisfy the hyperserialization expectations of the streaming era, and ultimately fails at both. When the series focuses on a single concept, as in “What If… 1872?” from season 3? The potential shines through, offering a Western game full of tangible stakes and charming reinterpretations of iconic characters. When the show fully reverts to its serialized narrative, as in “What If… the Watcher Disappeared?” from season 3. And if…? manages to keep the fun going as the family-found superhero girl gang at the center of this continuing story feels complete and fulfilled despite the lack of proper exploration. But it's the middle ground that makes the series as a whole suffer. Season 3, in particular, vacillates between silly Hollywood adventures and deadly serious end-of-the-world stakes, unable to maintain a single tone. The result is a season that feels split down the middle, with its sillier first half delivering on its anthology promises and the harsher final four episodes returning to the serialization we've come to expect. By trying to live in both worlds, And if…? it succeeds neither in tone nor format, yielding to its own confused ambition.
In many ways, And if…? as a concept it feels more suited to the Fox era of Marvel animation, where X-Men: The Animated Series It was allowed almost 20 episodes per season, and the one-off episodic adventures could have thrived in a television landscape that didn't look down on shows that favored a less interconnected format. Compared to its MCU peers, series that often feel more like movies divided into haphazard parts than actual, proper TV shows, And if…? It also attempted to live within that world, always returning to the continuous, often out-of-place thread that runs through its three seasons. But while season 2 at least featured a big dose of Peggy every few episodes to keep interest in its overall story, season 3 treats it as an afterthought, throwing in Peggy, the Guardians of the Multiverse, and the Watcher's plight. to the last two episodes without being asked. .
It's that complete confusion and disconnection that has made And if…? As frustrating to watch as it has been over the course of the last three seasons. By never reaching his full MCU potential and refusing to commit to a clear path, And if…? He had the audacity to be…boring. The faint sparks of life in the series' few standout episodes are drowned out by the meaningless and uninspired choices made along the way, thus ensuring that And if…?now complete and “unwrapped” after eight days, it will fade into the endless ether of the MCU. For daring to go unnoticed, And if…? It will likely be quickly forgotten, with its truly ridiculous cast and broken promises receding to the farthest corners of Disney Plus as a failed MCU experiment never worth revisiting.