Marvel’s animated series “What if?” on Disney plus recreates the Marvel Cinematic Universe by altering the stories of fans’ favorite heroes.
By going back to phase one, the show creates a sense of nostalgia as fans reminice about watching these movies for the first time. Then, by changing one aspect of the well-known movie, an entirety new story is born.
Marvel succeeds at changing the story by adding or removing the slightest detail in a way that is not far-fetched or outlandish. They respect the fans by making the change to their beloved heroes believable.
In their first episode, Peggy Carter becomes super-soldier Captain Carter after choosing to stay in the laboratory during the Steve Roger’s transformation. In the original Captain America, her decision to go into the viewing booth is a throw-away-line that fans easily overlooked.
The change in events can either happen due to small decisions, like that of Peggy Carter, or from major changes such as Doctor Strange loosing Christine Palmer his car-accident.
In that story, Strange is drawn to the mystic arts because of Palmer’s death, instead of the loose of his hands. However, his loose leads to him destroying their universe in an attempt to save her.
The show also keeps the characters true to who they are, with the same personality and drive.
When T’Challa becomes Star-Lord, he is drawn outside Wakanda by the desire to explore. As the new Star-Lord, he helps people and saves planets, even managing to change Thanos’ desire to decimate life in the universe.
While the episode changes the story of the original Black Panther, it stays true to T’Challa’s character. It also gives fans a chance to hear Chadwick Boseman reprise T’Challa in an amazing voice performance.
“What if?” also gives MCU actors a chance to reprise their roles if their character was killed off in an earlier movie.
Performances by Micheal B. Jordan as Killmonger, Clark Gregg as Phill Coulson and Haley Attwell as Peggy Carter to name a few, show how dedicated the actors are to these characters.
Their willingness to return to the franchise also gives fans the respect they deserve. As many movies franchises make their projects for the money, Marvel makes it clear that “What if?” is for loyal fans of the MCU.
