The Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright) in Marvel Animation Television’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
A scene from Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
Script and Direction
(L to R) Byrdie (voiced by Natasha Lyonne), Captain Carter/Peggy Carter (voiced by Hayley Atwell), and Kahhori (voiced by Devery Jacobs) in Marvel Animation Television’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
Performances
Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith) in Marvel Animation Television’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
As with the past seasons, the new batch of episodes has a blend of original MCU performers (the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Mackie, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Kat Dennings, David Harbour and Hayley Atwell) rubbing shoulders –– or perhaps that should be vocal chords –– with replacements (multi-voice talent Ross Marquand the MVP here).
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Kate Bishop (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Shang-Chi (voiced by Simu Liu) in Marvel Animation Television’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
“One question changes everything.”
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3 SeasonsAugust 11th, 2021
What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
Who is in the cast of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.