We are back with more What If episodes, as Kathleen posted about the first three, and I’m here with the middle three. These episodes are self-contained story arcs narrated by a being called The Watcher, who takes the viewer through different universes. In these alternate realities, we see familiar events occur differently. All three had dark endings that I quite enjoyed.

What if…Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

To be honest, I never bought the romance between Strange and his lady love Christine Palmer in the movie, so that put me at a disadvantage that I wasn’t invested in their romance in this episode. Strange and Palmer are involved in a car accident that kills Palmer, and in his grief he learns mystic powers that he later uses to try to go back in time to save her. The Ancient One and Wong warn him that he could tear apart the fabric of time, but in his arrogance, he believes he knows better. He doesn’t…

What If… Zombies?!

When Hank Pym goes into the Quantum Realm to save his wife, he inadvertently brings out a zombie virus. Soon not only most of mankind has been zombified, but so have many of the superheroes on Earth. Soon only Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Hope van Dyne, Bucky Barnes, Okoye, Sharon Carter, Scott Lang, Vision and T’Challa are left to try to save humanity. But things don’t go well for a majority of them and even the last rag-tag group of survivors face yet another challenge in the closing moments of the episode.

I thought Chadwick Boseman’s last voice credit was in episode two, but he is featured in this episode plus the next. So these words, that he said as Black Panther, “In my culture, death is not the end. They’re still with us, as long as we do not forget them” were very poignant.

What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

The quote, “People see what they want to see and what people want to see never has anything to do with the truth” is proved in this story. Erik “Killmonger” Stevens rescues Tony Stark from an ambush in Afghanistan, and is then heralded as a hero, but is playing a long con and is able to fool almost everyone. He bamboozles Stark with deadly consequences (I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of Stark, he’s too full of himself, so his death didn’t bother me in the least) and makes it to Wakanda to take on the mantle of the new Black Panther. So much death and destruction, and just because Erik has Daddy issues? Only Shuri and Pepper Potts see through his masquerade and begin plotting their own coup.

These episodes are all stand alone stories, so you can watch just the ones that feature your favorite heroes (or villains) without worrying about missing others. The voices are excellent, as a majority of actors and actresses from the movies recreate their roles, and Marvel found good voice replacements for those that didn’t. The animation has been hit-or-miss for me- the coloring is flat, and they seem to have trouble capturing the likenesses of their movie-screen counterparts. I agree with Kathleen’s comment in her earlier review, that they seemed to be trying to emulate a moving comic book, but I feel it’s not translating well. So to me, these episodes are more about the storytelling than the actual art. Stay tuned for Kathleen to review the last three episodes, including one about Thor whom she was most excited to see!

-Nancy