What If? (Episode 1) - 2021
Rating - 12
Director - Bryan Andrews
Written by - A.C. Bradley
Starring - Jeffery Wright, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper
Run time - 34 minutes
What if? is a 2021 nine-part animated superhero anthology series, each episode questioning what would happen if one action led to a different outcome in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The stories in the series are narrated by The Watcher (Jeffery Wright), an alien who watches over the Multiverse, full of an infinite amount of realities that expand from every different decision. The first episode asks what if Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) was given the super serum during WW2 instead of Steve Rogers, and as a result, her becoming the Hydra-fighting super soldier Captain Carter.
Several actors who played characters from the canonically correct movie -Captain America: The First Avenger- reprise their roles in this episode including: Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark), Stanley Tucci (Dr. Erskine) and Toby Jones (Arnin Zola). One notable person who was not featured was Chris Evans as the iconic Steve Rogers AKA. Captain America (as to why, I don’t know). He is instead voiced by voice actor Josh Keaton.
Some actors set to return to their roles from the MCU in the following episodes are: Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Karen Gillan (Nebula) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange). Chadwick Boseman will posthumously reprise his role of T’Challa (Black Panther) in his final acting role before his untimely death in August 2020. Series 2 of What If? is already in production.
As to how the rest of the series will pan out, it could go either way. But the opening episode was better than I’d expected; exciting, full of action and surprises. There is definitely room for improvement in the format though, but as a first effort, it was enough to suffice (and succeed) my original assumptions. An adequately told but action-packed animated story giving an exciting insight into the possibilities of the Marvel multiverse.
Score - 7/10
Episode 1 of What If? is available now on Disney+. New episodes will be released every Wednesday
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