Marvel Animation’s What If…?, starring Jeffrey Wright, has come to an end following the animated series’ recent eight-episode run on Disney+.

My apologies for the delay as it took several days in my schedule before having time to do the full eight-episode binge. There are some solid episodes here while a few would make better sense after the characters are introduced in live-action. For instance, we will not see The Hood until Ironheart launches later this year. I’m assuming that Marvel Animation put the series together before orders came down from the top to spread out films and series. Everything comes to a climax with the two-part finale across episodes 7 and 8.

Characters appearing this season include Captain America/Sam Wilson, The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes, Hulk/Bruce Banner, The Red Guardian, Captain Peggy Carter, Agatha Harkness, Shang-Chi, Storm the Goddess of Thunder, and more. It’s nice to see another X-Men team member being introduced to the MCU, even if it is a variant.

There are a number of episodes here that have potential to become fan-favorites. I know that I found myself enjoying a few of them–some more so than most.

Some episode spoilers may follow below the key artwork.

It was otherwise more or less the same, compared to previous seasons. There are some characters that we get to see for the first time in the series and a few of them, like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) make a few appearances. Excluding the two-part finale, the Old West episode is one of the stand-outs, teaming up Shang-Chi and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) with the 1878 version of Iron Fist. The only thing unfortunate in this episode is introducing a character in animation prior to live-action. However, it ultimately works for what the episode is trying to do.

You thought we were done with the Eternals, didn’t you? Think again. Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) teams up with Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in an episode that harkens back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) directs while Edward Jarvis (James D’Arcy) has double duty as both butler and first assistant director. Marvel isn’t below making fun of themselves by getting meta during this episode as Jarvis comments, “Another mind-numbing action spectacle? Big fights? Bigger explosions? I think we’ve seen it.” But in bringing back Kingo, it does beg the question: there is a Celestial body sticking out of the oceans on Earth and no film or series really bothers to mention it.

Another episode that has a chance to become a fan favorite is one that teams up the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stand) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour). This episode sees the Red Guardian prevent the assassination of Howard and Maria Stark. It also introduces the idea of Obadiah Stane as The Rook, a Russian operative. Assuming there are similarities with MCU canon, it is a game-changing episode. Tony Stark previously blamed Bucky Barnes for his parents’ death when the real villain had been working at Stark Industries the entire time. Laurence Fishburne reprises his role as Bill Foster while the episode introduces America Ferrera as Ranger Morales. Interestingly, the episode features brief cameos of X-Men‘s Scott Sumners and Jean Grey.

We cannot forget about Howard the Duck (Seth Green) and Darcy (Kat Dennings). The episode is a sequel to a previous episode where Thor is an only child and throws a party. We learn that the duo end up marrying each other. After giving birth to an egg, they find themselves being chased by everyone. In addition to calling back the earlier episode, the finale also calls it back. Maybe Marvel is trying to see if another Howard the Duck movie would work? We’ll see.

In portraying The Eminence, one of the watchers, Jason Isaacs becomes the latest actor to appear in both Star Wars and Marvel properties. Isaacs’ previously voiced the Grand Inquisitor in Star Wars Rebels.

Marvel Animation’s What If…? has been fun to watch and will be missed.

CREATOR: A.C. Bradley
DIRECTORS: Bryan Andrews (2, 3, 6, 8), Stephan Franck (1, 4-7)
WRITERS: Matthew Chauncey (2, 4-8), Ryan Little (1-2, 4-8), A.C. Bradley (3)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Bryan Andrews
CAST: Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Atwell, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Mark Ruffalo, Teyonah Parris, Kathryn Hahn, Kumail Nanjiani, Samuel L. Jackson, Seth Green, Laurence Fishburne, Dominique Thorne, Simu Liu, Hailee Steinfeld, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Devery Jacobs, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Tessa Thompson, Dominic Cooper, James D’Arcy, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac, Wyatt Russell, Walton Goggins, Clark Gregg, Emily VanCamp, Meng’er Zhang, Taika Waititi, Rachel House, Kat Dennings, Alison Sealy-Smith, Ross Marquand, Gene Farber, Hamish Parkinson, Tom Vaughn-Lawlor, David Kaye, America Ferrera, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Lyonne, Allen Deng, DC Douglas, Darin De Paul

All episodes of What If…? season 3 are now streaming on Disney+. Grade: 4/5

Please subscribe to Solzy on Buttondown and visit Dugout Dirt.