Animated series "What if ?" - cute fun for Marvel fans but nothing more

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The half-hour episodes delight with alternative versions of familiar heroes, but have almost no meaning.

On August 11, the animated series What If …? Was launched on the Disney + streaming service. This is the first animated project of the MCU, and in this case, the unusual shape is fully consistent with the idea.

The animated series is based on comics that have been out since the 1970s. In them, the authors showed non-canon versions of the characters, sometimes changing their fates in the most bizarre way. For example, one episode told the story of Peter Parker, whose Uncle Ben did not die. In another, it was imagined that the Punisher had become Venom.

Exactly the same approach migrated to the animated series - and this is the main advantage of “What if …?”. The ability to deviate from the canons of the cinematic universe allows the authors of the project to delight fans with unexpected stories. And the anthology format eliminates any obligations to further history.

Complete freedom of imagination

A representative of the highest race of observers follows the events in the multiverse and tells a separate story in each of the episodes. The action in it is very different from what happens in the Marvel world familiar to the viewer.

In the first episode, Peggy Carter receives a super-soldier serum, becomes Captain Britain and, together with his comrades, fights against Hydra. Although Steve Rogers also cannot do without the participation, he appears in a completely unexpected way.

In the second episode, the Devastators steal the child - but not Peter Quill, as it was in Guardians of the Galaxy, but T'Challa. In the third, Nick Fury and a highly unusual team of Avengers face mysterious murders. There will even be an episode where Killmonger rescues Tony Stark. And one day the world of Marvel will be completely captured by zombies.

Cinematic projects have already firmly settled on Disney +. Moreover, all three released series - "Wanda / Vision", "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Loki" - fully continued the themes of feature films and prepared for further events. Formally "What if …?" can be considered a development of the latter: parallel worlds appeared just at the suggestion of the god of cunning, and the viewer has already been introduced to a dozen versions of the charming hero.

But if "Loki" eventually became a turning point in the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then the animated series simply ironically plays on familiar stories. More importantly, even the episodes of What If …? are set in more than one world: each half-hour episode resets the plot.

And this is good, because it would be foolish to build a full-fledged alternative world every time: canon stories look much more interesting. Moreover, most of the characters were described in detail in solo projects.

For example, Peggy Carter devoted two seasons of the series. Here, her formation, similar to the fate of Rogers in "The First Avenger", slips through in a matter of minutes. And more than enough unusual versions of Loki have been shown before.

Therefore, new variations of heroes do not change the canon. Plots "What if …?" - just entertainment: in each episode you can guess what the authors will surprise this time.

Unnecessary morality

The only problem is that the authors of the animated series at some point try to make it more serious than it should be. The first episode does not do without the theme of strong women, traditional in recent years: Peggy Carter, even with super powers, is not allowed to reveal her potential.

Further, T'Challa will again act as a model of nobility and re-educate a gang of criminals. In the third episode, they will try to flirt with the detective, setting the action in the spirit of the famous "Guardians".

But serious topics can hardly be considered successful. There are two reasons. First, it takes more time to solve a drama or a detective story. For half an hour, viewers are only superficially introduced to the schematic world. And secondly, the plots will still remain the retelling of classic stories for the fans.

The series is built only on deceiving expectations: the characters behave differently from what they showed before, and they say completely different phrases. This makes each story ironic, so trying to add sociality to them is more of a hindrance than a help to get into the plot.

Simplified comic style picture

Even before the release of the series, there was a lot of controversy between fans about the visual series. Against the backdrop of many cutting-edge Pixar projects, the dynamics of "Spider-Man: Into the Universes" or at least the recognizable author's animation "What If …?" looks too simple.

Most likely, the creators wanted to show a semblance of a comic book that came to life. And, alas, not in the style of Jim Lee or Dave Gibbons, who drew every detail, but with the sketchiness of Mike Mignola. At the same time, the animators, unlike the scriptwriters, did not have complete freedom: they had to preserve the features of the original movie actors in the characters.

The format of the output of the animated series will definitely turn out to be a plus here. If Disney + had followed Netflix's lead, then in Episode 3 and 4, viewers would probably have grown tired of a specific picture. And half an hour a week will fly by unnoticed.

Although many will probably have the feeling that the story would look more interesting if the anthology was built in the same style as Love, Death and Robots, making an individual style for each episode. And so it remains only to follow the plot, the animation is unlikely to surprise anyone or even just be remembered.

"What if…?" only illustrates the idea of a multiverse, without adding anything important to the main plots. But this is also its main advantage: Marvel briefly departs from the canons and simply entertains the viewer, showing the most insane variations of its favorite characters. After all, after Loki the alligator, only zombies by Captain America can surprise fans.