Marvel's What If...? Season 3 Premiere Review

Note: this is simply a spoiler-free beforehand reappraisal of Marvel’s What If…? Season 3, Episode 1, which premieres connected Disney+ connected Sunday, December 22.

The 2nd play of Marvel’s What If…? was genuinely a mixed bag, suffering from an overemphasis connected Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter and a play finale payoff that felt underwhelming astatine best. Fortunately, Season 3 starts disconnected by giving america precisely what’s needed - a beardown palate cleanser. It’s difficult to spell incorrect pinch nan elephantine mecha vs. kaiju formula.

Dubbed "What If... nan Hulk Fought nan Mech Avengers?", nan premiere takes spot successful a world wherever Hulk’s effort to cure himself of his gamma affliction has awesome unintended consequences for humanity. Borrowing liberally from franchises for illustration Godzilla, Pacific Rim, and Voltron, this bagian ups nan scope of nan bid considerably and allows for immoderate genuinely titanic battles betwixt radioactive super-monsters and Avengers piloting elephantine robo-suits. The bid has ever been devoted to showing america situations and crippled twists that could ne'er hap successful nan regular MCU. Sometimes it succeeds much than others, but this is 1 lawsuit wherever it decidedly makes nan astir of nan alternate timeline premise.

Granted, for illustration astir What If…? episodes, nan constricted runtime becomes a spot constraining. The crippled is thing if not straightforward and predictable, and viewers will beryllium capable to easy telephone nan awesome crippled thumps good successful advance. But to its credit, this bagian does find a coagulated affectional throughline to anchor each nan larger-than-life spectacle. This script hinges connected nan relationship betwixt Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, hearkening backmost to Sam’s domiciled successful Captain America: The Winter Soldier arsenic a counsellor to wounded warriors. Their enslaved helps springiness nan bagian immoderate affectional heft, and really near maine wishing thing akin existed successful Earth-616. The MCU mislaid thing pinch nan modulation to a smarter, much well-adjusted Hulk successful Endgame.

Another spot of this bagian is successful really it makes usage of nan larger Avengers roster. Rather than attraction connected nan classical Phase 1 and 2-era Avengers, nan premiere alternatively emphasizes much recent, post-Endgame MCU players. It gives america a valuable chance to spot really characters for illustration Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, and moreover Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight interact. Because, well, it’s not arsenic if nan live-action movies person been successful immoderate hurry to get america to that point. It each makes for a overmuch much caller viewing experience. And pinch astir of nan live-action actors reprising their roles here, nan squad banter has that basal aerial of authenticity. Isaac successful peculiar is simply a batch of nosy here, making it each nan much unfortunate nan bid hasn’t really focused connected Moon Knight up till now.

Visually, this is astir apt nan astir memorable What If…? bagian since nan Season 2 premiere, nan neo-noir-themed “What If… Nebula Joined nan Nova Corps?” The sheer standard of nan action and nan varied designs of nan Mech Avengers guarantee there’s seldom a dull moment. The action is soft and does a good occupation of channeling nan various anime shows and movies that person intelligibly inspired this episode. There’s moreover a delightful opening conception that pays homage to classical ‘80s anime, 1 that I only wish lasted longer than it does.