So far, Marvel's What if..? Animated series has yet to disappoint me.
In the latest installment, the omnipotent observer known as Uatu or for the uninitiated, The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) asks: "What if the World lost its Mightiest Heroes as in The Avengers.
This episode takes several events from the early Marvel Cinematic Universe solo projects, prior to 2012's ensemble Superhero movie then retcons nearly everything that we were accustomed to. Nick Fury continues his plans on assembling a team of Heroes to fight threats from beyond, that he refers to as the "Avengers Initiative " which sounds great on paper however, there's one thing missing-the candidates!
Throughout this Whodunit episode, the potential Avengers beginning with Tony Stark, are killed by mysterious circumstances one by one and it’s up to Natasha Romanoff who is blamed for Stark's untimely demise, to find out who was behind these attacks on the would be "Earths Mightiest Heroes " and will she be the next casualty?
Fans of the MCU will be in for a real treat thanks to reenactment scenes from Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor. All handled in stunning detailed animation that matched the exact movements from Stark eating a donut atop a giant sign, to the Hulk leaping from a campus wing!
While most of the MCU actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo returned to reprise their roles, others such as Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Scarlett Johansson was noticeably absent.
Well, in Johansson’s case, it doesn't matter now but at least there's Gregg Clark as SHIELD liaison Agent Phil Coulson and speaking of whom, there were one too many references of Phil's ambiguous sexual preference, something that some of us, suspected all along. One moment he's commenting on Thor Odinson's hair, the next, he mentions how he smells of "lavender " and of course, there's his admiration of Steve Rodgers. Whether one may call it "pandering " at least to Disney's credit, they made it more obvious than beating around the bush. No pun intended.
What I liked, was the big reveal towards the end which I didn't see coming and usually, I can detect an incoming trope, yards away! Also, the uncomfortable alliance between Fury and the "mischievous " one ends in a revisionist moment that may or may not continue within the confines of the What if series, but at least the story ends on a more hopeful conclusion.