Since the premiere of WandaVision, the MCU has released six more Disney+ shows as part of its Phase 4 slate, though none have stood out as the groundbreaking What If...?. Four of those shows, Moon Knight, Loki, Hawkeye, and What If...?, earned Disney 19 of its 147 nominations at the 2022 Emmy Awards, and they've become fan-favorites in the MCU.
What If...? was the first and is still the only animated show that was released as part of the new era of the MCU. It was also the first first time the MCU really explored stories occurring simultaneously within the multiverse after the soft introduction of the concept in the Loki series. While the show did release late last year, fans can see reminders of the What If...? stories in other MCU projects as Marvel continues to explore the multiverse. Season 2 is currently set to premiere later this year but no official release date has been announced. Until then, these fan-made memes can keep the feelings of the season 1 stories fresh in viewers' minds.
The Last Of T'Challa
While T'Challa's story was only beginning at the close of Avengers: Endgame, the devastating loss of Chadwick Boseman also meant the loss of T'Challa as the Black Panther. Marvel has stated that there are no plans to recast T'Challa so viewers can expect to see a new character take on the mantle of the Black Panther in future MCU projects.
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Fans continued to feel the impact of the loss during the What If...? episodes that featured T'Challa because before his passing, Boseman recorded for the series, making this his last performance as T'Challa. Boseman received his first Emmy nomination this year with a posthumous nomination for his voice-over performance in the animated series.
Tony Stark Dies... Again
Fans first said goodbye to Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, his death seems to be inevitable in every universe. Every week, viewers sat down for a new What If...? episode and were almost guaranteed to see yet another universe where Tony doesn't make it to the end credits.
As if Tony's death wasn't hard enough the first time, fans experienced it four more times throughout the animated series with not even Zombie Tony surviving to the end. There is a missing Iron Man and Gamora episode that did not make it to season 1, so viewers may still be able to hold out hope for the opportunity to actually enjoy the return of Tony Stark to their screens in the animated series' sophom*ore season.
Killmonger Being Killmonger
Since What If...? featured characters that fans had gotten to know in past MCU films, some of the decisions the characters made in the alternate universes were a bit predictable. However, fans still enjoyed being "shocked" when a character known for doing something did exactly that.
Killmonger betraying his team for his own self-interest isn't exactly a new concept but one of the great things about the What If...? series is that it feels a bit like experiencing it all for the first time. Viewers were happy to pretend like they didn't see it coming (even when they absolutely did).
Vision Dies... Again
Vision has had a rough go at it in the Phase 4 projects this year and the trend continued in the What If...? series. It was expected that viewers would have to relive the trauma of Vision's death in WandaVision alongside Wanda herself, but it didn't end there.
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This time around, Vision meets his end at his own hands in the 'What If...Zombies?!' episode. After spending his post-apocalyptic time luring people in to keep Zombie Wanda fed, he eventually realizes his wrongdoings and sacrifices himself for the surviving heroes of the apocalypse by ripping the Mind Stone out of his head. Even with an animated spin, it still hurt.
Black Panther's Sendoff
After the loss of Boseman, every appearance of T'Challa in the What If...? series was more painful than the last. An especially emotional episode for fans was episode 6 where Killmonger kills T'Challa (and Tony...again). The episode features a brief funeral and a scene with T'Challa in the ancestral plane.
This was an especially moving tribute to the late actor and many fans found themselves feeling emotional as the episode aired just over a year after his passing. There is sure to be another tribute to Boseman in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie so emotional preparation may be necessary for fans again.
The Watcher Watches
The Watcher remained a constant in every episode as the omniscient narrator and overseer of the multiverse. He was only there to watch and could never interfere, often repeating those exact words.
His insistence on only observing the drama while never actually doing anything to stop it was relatable to quite a few viewers with many claiming to be "The Watcher" in aspects of their own lives. Jeffrey Wright, the voice of The Watcher, was nominated alongside Boseman for his voice-over performance in the animated series.
Thanos Wasn't Inevitable
The former big bad of the MCU, Thanos, made a few appearances in the animated series. Once he was seen as a softer version of himself thanks to the advisem*nt of Star-Lord (T'Challa). Another time he was the more familiar Infinity Gauntlet-wielding variant.
He may have been an Avengers-level threat before, but when Ultron easily eliminated him as a problem by slicing him in half with the power of the Mind Stone, jaws dropped. Just like that. Which meant there was always a solution sitting right there and it really could've been just that easy.
Easter Eggs
Since the animated series sought to answer some of the more out-of-the-box "what ifs" that would've drastically changed the trajectory of the MCU canon storyline, there were a lot of easter eggs sprinkled throughout the season.
While not all of them were necessarily hidden, fans couldn't help but excitedly point out when some of their favorite quotes popped up or when iconic moments from past films were referenced.
Black Widow Calls Out The Watchers
Eventually, The Watcher did have to break his oath and interfere when things got especially bleak for the future of the multiverse. However, some of the heroes were less than pleased when they found out that The Watcher just observed as their worlds were brought down, Natasha being one of them.
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For those especially invested, the moment where she calls out The Watcher for not interfering until he himself needed help almost felt like she broke the fourth wall and was speaking directly to viewers. While it's doubtful, maybe there will be a 'What If... The Viewer Was The Watcher?' episode in the future.
Ultron Sees The Watcher
In episodes 1-7, The Watcher was perfectly fine with his position, just watching as events played out but in episode 8, things got weird for the narrator. Ultron, having completed his mission, finally took a moment to sit in the silence of his universe when he became aware that he was not alone. He became aware of The Watcher.
Having spent an eternity watching and never being noticed, The Watcher was hilariously shocked when he realized Ultron could see him. There was just something ridiculously funny to viewers about the tonal shift from The Watcher knowing all to then being just as shocked by the change in events as the viewers.
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