Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of Marvel’s What If…? Season 3, Episode 1, which premieres on Disney+ on Sunday, December 22.
The second season of Marvel’s What If…? was truly a mixed bag, suffering from an overemphasis on Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter and a season finale payoff that felt underwhelming at best. Fortunately, Season 3 starts off by giving us exactly what’s needed – a strong palate cleanser. It’s hard to go wrong with the giant mecha vs. kaiju formula.
Dubbed “What If… the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?”, the premiere takes place in a world where Hulk’s attempt to cure himself of his gamma affliction has major unintended consequences for humanity. Borrowing liberally from franchises like Godzilla, Pacific Rim, and Voltron, this episode ups the scope of the series considerably and allows for some truly titanic battles between radioactive super-monsters and Avengers piloting giant robo-suits. The series has always been devoted to showing us situations and plot twists that could never happen in the regular MCU. Sometimes it succeeds more than others, but this is one case where it definitely makes the most of the alternate timeline premise.
Granted, like most What If…? episodes, the limited runtime becomes a bit constraining. The plot is nothing if not straightforward and predictable, and viewers will be able to easily call the major plot beats well in advance. But to its credit, this episode does find a solid emotional throughline to anchor all the larger-than-life spectacle. This scenario hinges on the friendship between Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, hearkening back to Sam’s role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a counselor to wounded warriors. Their bond helps give the episode some emotional heft, and actually left me wishing something similar existed in Earth-616. The MCU lost something with the transition to a smarter, more well-adjusted Hulk in Endgame.
Another strength of this episode is in how it makes use of the larger Avengers roster. Rather than focus on the classic Phase 1 and 2-era Avengers, the premiere instead emphasizes more recent, post-Endgame MCU players. It gives us a valuable chance to see how characters like Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, and even Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight interact. Because, well, it’s not as if the live-action movies have been in any hurry to get us to that point. It all makes for a much more novel viewing experience. And with most of the live-action actors reprising their roles here, the team banter has that necessary air of authenticity. Isaac in particular is a lot of fun here, making it all the more unfortunate the series hasn’t really focused on Moon Knight up till now.
Visually, this is probably the most memorable What If…? episode since the Season 2 premiere, the neo-noir-themed “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” The sheer scale of the action and the varied designs of the Mech Avengers ensure there’s rarely a dull moment. The action is smooth and does a fine job of channeling the various anime shows and movies that have clearly inspired this episode. There’s even a delightful opening segment that pays homage to classic ‘80s anime, one that I only wish lasted longer than it does.
