Marvel Studios: What If? Is It Worth It?

If you’re a fan of the MCU and you haven’t done yourself the service of getting Disney Plus, what are you doing with your life? Admittedly, the service started off tremendously slow with nothing more than a cosmopolitan rehash of classics. However, over the nearly two years since it launched, the service has become iconic for any Marvel fan. Especially now, filling in the gaps between the super massive movie universe, Marvel fans across the globe can get their fix routinely.

Of course, Kevin Feige has made it public that everything related to Marvel on Disney Plus is to be considered canonically parallel to the MCU films. The best-known example of this will be WandaVision which officially started off Marvel’s Phase 4 back in January. It was followed up by the first official Phase 4 film, Black Widow.

This is conclusive with the official introduction of Agatha Harkness in WandaVision. Harkness is potentially getting her own spinoff and may have a role in the upcoming Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness film. Of course, WandaVision is available only on Disney Plus, so get it already.

However, Agatha Harkness is not the only lead villain we have related to the soon-to-be-explored multiverse. Instead, the latest series What If? has taken on that role expertly with a focus on The Watcher, the fourth-dimensional semi-omnipotent hero with plenty of villains.

Without spoiling anything (unless you have no idea who The Watcher is) we already know going in that his role is to observe not only our observable universe but all observable universes. In this way, Kevin Feige’s claim that “everything is connected” becomes quite literal and tangible.

With this latest series, any fan of the Marvel universe should go into full meltdown mode with the expectations of what is to come. This animated series is nothing short of a nine-episode long teaser trailer for the events to unfold in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness.

Each episode takes us through the universes of parallel dimensional heroes and alternate realities with alternative possibilities to the already fully realized films. An example of one such narrative was along the lines of: “What if Steve Rogers never became Captain America?”

In a glorious butterfly effect-like narrative we see these iconoclastic episodes unfold into utter chaos in the ever-fantastic Marvel fashion. I would argue that some of these stories hold far more appeal than their prior film adaptations.

Especially in instances where we see villains become allies, heroes seemingly become nobodies, or even heroes fighting off zombies. Of course, in these instances, we witness unexpected (but perhaps highly hoped for) replacements of heroic roles and characters.

While all of this goes on, we as the audience witness these stories in a fourth-wall-breaking manner. This is due to The Watcher speaking with us (the viewer) directly and narrating the “secular” stories for us. It gives me serious Deadpool vibes, aside from the lack of outrageous expletives and murderous gore. Not to say that there isn’t plenty of action in the What If? series. We have witnessed entire worlds destroyed outside of the already canonized MCU.

Now, one might ask the question, “What do these alternate realities have to do with upcoming MCU films?” The answer to that question is simple: EVERYTHING. Countless possibilities have now opened up and will be potentially blown wide open with the upcoming Spider-Man and Doctor Strange films, both of which directly deal with the multiverse.

The sheer acknowledgment of The Watcher demands a connection to the Beyonder and even The One Above All. This opens an entirely new dimension of possibilities in the MCU well beyond the power of the infinity stones.

While neither of these characters has been revealed just yet, they are supposedly canonized due to Feige’s decision to canonize all prior Marvel-related works. If that doesn’t get your blood pumping with excitement, I honestly don’t know what in the MCU will.

Now, if we take a step back to the series solely as a secular entity, we still have the infinite possibility of alternate realities. As well as an infinitely plausible answer to the very question “What if?” that the series is centered on. The most popular of which would be the possibility of the Spidey-Verse being introduced, with the animated film now being technically canonized. This also sheds some light on the potential reveal of the Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man variants in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home.

I expect to see more great things from the series in the years to come, especially with the legal issues pertaining to Spider-Man’s rights between Disney and Sony. Yet, in the here and now the series proves a great way to pass the time until the next film is released with The Eternals, which will likely introduce Galactus.