'What If…?' Final Season Episode Synopses Unveiled
Read on to see what these episodes are all about
Finally. Here we go. With the episode schedule already laid out ahead of Sunday’s premiere of Marvel Animation’s What If…?’s final season on Disney+, the synopses for each episode have been released, giving a bigger context to the snippets fans have seen in clips and trailers.
The December 22 season premiere “What If…The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?” tells that “Captain America/Sam Wilson must suit up in a colossal mech suit to battle Bruce Banner after an attempt to cure himself of the Hulk goes horribly wrong. Bucky Barnes, Monica Rambeau, Moon Knight, and others must join Sam as his new team of Mech Avengers.” This finally reveals the circumstances for why the horde of gamma mutants appear, but leaves the how to release day. The cast features Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher (in fact does appear in all 8 episodes despite his perceived “disappearance”), Anthony Mackie as Captain America Sam Wilson, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and David Harbour as Red Guardian Alexei Shostakov. The episode is directed by Stephan Franck, with a story by A.C. Bradley and Bryan Andrews and a teleplay by Ryan Little.
December 23’s “What If…Agatha Went to Hollywood?” tells “Howard Stark may have helped the Allies win World War II…but what he really wants to do is direct! On the set of Stark Pictures’ first production, the playboy auteur quickly finds himself enchanted by his bewitching lead actress, Agatha Harkness. Little does she know there will be another superpower co-star on the call sheet...Kingo.” Having Howard Stark in the story is certainly an element that wouldn’t be so connectable just from the teasers. It stars Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, and James D’Arcy as Jarvis. The episode is directed by Andrews, with a story by him, Matthew Chauncey, and Little and a teleplay by the latter pair.
Episode 3, which airs Christmas Eve, has a fork that makes the elder Stark a survivor as “What If…Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” sets up “It is 1991, and the Red Guardian takes it upon himself to join a high-profile mission and prove himself to his Red Room superiors.” When his antics bungle the Winter Soldier’s murders of Howard and Maria Stark, “the two Soviet supersoldiers must form an alliance to escape the United States.” Once again bringing back Harbour and Stan as Alexei and Bucky, the episode features Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster, America Ferrera as Ranger Morales, and Piotr Michael and is directed by Bryan Andrews and written by A.C. Bradley.
If you were wondering what story could be built around this year’s Christmas-releasing episode “What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?”, well we have it now. Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis find themselves on an intergalactic pleasure cruise. When dangerous factions from across the galaxy descend to threaten their trip, they must discover their own cosmic powers to withstand the onslaught. Along with Kat Dennings as Darcy and Seth Green as Howard, the episode features Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (probably the Frost Giant one from their home universe), and Michael Rooker’s Yondu, probably best demonstrating how cosmic an adventure it is. The episode is directed by Stephan Franck, with a story by Bryan Andrews, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little and a teleplay by Chauncey and Little.
The synopsis for the fifth episode “What If…The Emergence Destroyed The Earth?” definitely rings some context bells, as “In a universe where The Eternals never stopped The Emergence, the birth of an incubating Celestial shatters the Earth. Civilization endures on the rocky remnants of our planet, where Quentin Beck leads an authoritarian regime until freedom fighters recruit Riri Williams on a deadly mission to take him down.” It gives everything for what Mysterio, the first Spider-Man character not to be Peter involved with the show, and Riri Williams aka Ironheart, were doing in the footage we’ve seen thus far. Dominique Thorne is back as Riri, with Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, with Alejandro Saab, and Michelle Wong. The episode is another directed by Stephan Franck, with a story by Bryan Andrews, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little, and a teleplay by Chauncey and Little.
“What If...1872?" is of course the Old West universe, where Shang-Chi and his pistol-packing partner, Kate Bishop, traverse the frontier, saving the innocent from the evils of The Hood, in what could be Anthony Ramos’s first time as the character before the Ironheart series premieres. Unless it’s being used by some other familiar character. We do indeed get our True Grit throwback with Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Wyatt Russell as John Walker (we’ll see if the US Agent moniker manages to make its way), Meng’er Zhang as Shang-Chi’s sister Xu Xialing, and Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch. The episode is directed by Stephan Franck and Bryan Andrews, with a story by him, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little, and a teleplay by Chauncey and Little.
The two part finale, airing December 28 and 29, “What If…The Watcher Disappeared?” and “What If…What If?” have very light descriptions, confirming that The Watcher must stand trial for his many interventions as we reach the end of the beginning. For a series finale it seems more intimate but they’re definitely holding back, only highlighting Wright as The Watcher, Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, Jason Isaacs as the Eminence, Devery Jacobs as Kahhori, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, and Natasha Lyonne as Byrdie. The episode is directed by Bryan Andrews, with a story from him, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little, and a teleplay by Chauncey and Little.
The season will also see Josh Brolin as Thanos, Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Taika Waititi as Korg, Rachel House as Topaz, Ross Marquand as all of his Marvel Studios roles: Red Skull, Infinity Ultron, Professor X, Apocalypse, and Doctor Doom, Gene Farber as Vasily Karpov, the Hydra agent from Captain America: Civil War, Hamish Parkinson as Beerbot 5000, Tom Vaughn Lawlor as Ebony Maw. A proper title reveal trailer was released Thursday morning.
Source: Comic Book Movie