What If...?
Oct. 28th, 2021 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrA Marvel animated series about alternate universe versions of various characters and stories. Some of these were a lot of fun, like the first episode about a world where Peggy Carter becomes Captain America. Others were trite and OOC and seemed to exist mainly for the animators to have fun. Still, the animators obviously were having fun, even the dumbass episodes were fun to watch on a visual level.
The episodes start out as stand-alone stories, but the last two episodes tie everything together into a REALLY SILLY crossover story that solves everything with a bunch of nonsensical violence.
This show will have zero appeal to anyone not already invested in, and willing to put up with the flaws of, the MCU. If you're only interested in specific characters, you could just watch individual episodes, so I've done a summary of each below the cut.
Note that most of these have bittersweet endings at best. Tony dies a lot. Also there's a framing story involving this new character The Watcher. Some voices aren't the original actors but they all seemed fine to me, and everyone got into their roles even when it was silly. This was one of the last things Chadwick Boseman did before he died, I hope he had fun with it.
1: Captain America The First Avenger AU where Peggy Carter gets the serum and then is enjoyably kickass. Steve is still around, still tiny and very clearly into Buff Peggy, and they're cutely shippy.
2: Guardians of the Galaxy/Black Panther AU with T'Challa becoming Starlord when he gets kidnapped by mistake. Fun space heist shenanigans, T'Challa is way more competent than Peter at basically everything so it's a 'what if everything was better' AU. Makes the unfortunate choice to redeem Thanos and have him hang around which was annoying.
3: Avengers AU where Someone Is Murdering The Avengers One By One...but who?? Dumb.
4: Doctor Strange AU where the love interest gets fridged and Dr Strange Goes Mad And Becomes Monstrous trying to change time to save her. Ugh. I haven't seen Dr Strange but Cam found this frustratingly OOC.
5: Zombie AU. I didn't watch this but Cam said it was fine, as zombie apocalypse stories go. Apparently has some good Wanda/Vision bits?
6: Iron Man/Black Panther AU where Killmonger saves and befriends Tony Stark before the events of Iron Man 1 and then uses this position to kill a bunch of people and build giant evil anime robots. Doesn't always make a lot of sense but fun if you enjoy watching Michael B Jordan chew the scenery.
7: Thor AU where Loki stayed with the frost giants so Thor grew up into a cheerfully oblivious party prince causing mayhem across space. He throws a massive party on Earth and gets into a fight with po-faced killjoy versions of Maria and Carol. Very silly but had some funny moments.
8/9: Age of Ultron AU where Ultron wins and only Natasha and Clint remain in the WHOLE UNIVERSE(*) to try and bring him down, alone. Or...are they alone?? *insert massive nonsensical crossover here* Starts out very Terminator, ends more like Infinity War. At one point we're supposed to be rooting for a Nazi which was An Unfortunate Narrative Choice. Has some shippy Natasha/Peggy moments(**).
(*)No but seriously, how are they alive. It's never really explained and makes no damn sense. They have no powers! THE EARTH IS A RADIOACTIVE WASTELAND. WHY DO ULTRON'S ROBOTS PUNCH THEM WHEN THEY COULD USE POISON GAS?? I don't know why this one thing bugs me when so much of this show makes no damn sense, but it DOES.
(**)Here's a somewhat spoilery gifset
The episodes start out as stand-alone stories, but the last two episodes tie everything together into a REALLY SILLY crossover story that solves everything with a bunch of nonsensical violence.
This show will have zero appeal to anyone not already invested in, and willing to put up with the flaws of, the MCU. If you're only interested in specific characters, you could just watch individual episodes, so I've done a summary of each below the cut.
Note that most of these have bittersweet endings at best. Tony dies a lot. Also there's a framing story involving this new character The Watcher. Some voices aren't the original actors but they all seemed fine to me, and everyone got into their roles even when it was silly. This was one of the last things Chadwick Boseman did before he died, I hope he had fun with it.
1: Captain America The First Avenger AU where Peggy Carter gets the serum and then is enjoyably kickass. Steve is still around, still tiny and very clearly into Buff Peggy, and they're cutely shippy.
2: Guardians of the Galaxy/Black Panther AU with T'Challa becoming Starlord when he gets kidnapped by mistake. Fun space heist shenanigans, T'Challa is way more competent than Peter at basically everything so it's a 'what if everything was better' AU. Makes the unfortunate choice to redeem Thanos and have him hang around which was annoying.
3: Avengers AU where Someone Is Murdering The Avengers One By One...but who?? Dumb.
4: Doctor Strange AU where the love interest gets fridged and Dr Strange Goes Mad And Becomes Monstrous trying to change time to save her. Ugh. I haven't seen Dr Strange but Cam found this frustratingly OOC.
5: Zombie AU. I didn't watch this but Cam said it was fine, as zombie apocalypse stories go. Apparently has some good Wanda/Vision bits?
6: Iron Man/Black Panther AU where Killmonger saves and befriends Tony Stark before the events of Iron Man 1 and then uses this position to kill a bunch of people and build giant evil anime robots. Doesn't always make a lot of sense but fun if you enjoy watching Michael B Jordan chew the scenery.
7: Thor AU where Loki stayed with the frost giants so Thor grew up into a cheerfully oblivious party prince causing mayhem across space. He throws a massive party on Earth and gets into a fight with po-faced killjoy versions of Maria and Carol. Very silly but had some funny moments.
8/9: Age of Ultron AU where Ultron wins and only Natasha and Clint remain in the WHOLE UNIVERSE(*) to try and bring him down, alone. Or...are they alone?? *insert massive nonsensical crossover here* Starts out very Terminator, ends more like Infinity War. At one point we're supposed to be rooting for a Nazi which was An Unfortunate Narrative Choice. Has some shippy Natasha/Peggy moments(**).
(*)No but seriously, how are they alive. It's never really explained and makes no damn sense. They have no powers! THE EARTH IS A RADIOACTIVE WASTELAND. WHY DO ULTRON'S ROBOTS PUNCH THEM WHEN THEY COULD USE POISON GAS?? I don't know why this one thing bugs me when so much of this show makes no damn sense, but it DOES.
(**)Here's a somewhat spoilery gifset
no subject
Date: 2021-10-28 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-28 09:04 am (UTC)Yeah Cam and I both agreed, as someone who didn't watch the movie and someone who did, that the episode needed to actually sell us on the Christine/Strange ship. But that would have required the writers to have actually cared about her or the relationship, when all they really cared about was Strange's angst. She was like the Perfect Wife who dies in the first five minutes of a revenge action movie.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-28 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-01 11:58 am (UTC)nods