What If…? started with the strong visual of Agent Peggy Carter as a super soldier and followed up with the strong emotional response of hearing the late Chadwick Boseman’s voice again as T’Challa/Star-Lord. In the third episode, we get the strongest storyline thus far. It’s a What If…? whodunnit with the part of Mr. Body played by The Avengers.
In this reality, as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Lake Bell of Secret Life of Pets and HBO Max’s Harley Quinn) look to recruit the big guns, each one suffers a critical misfire. Tony Stark is poisoned by Widow’s own hangover cure. Thor and Hawkeye die within yards (and minutes) of each other. Mark Ruffalo is recast into a pivotal scene from Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk that plays out very differently, to everyone’s surprise, even General Ross’.
Fury and Widow have to play Rorschach and Nite-Owl in a Watchmen-esque “who’s killing capes?” It’s not just a matter of salvaging the Avengers Initiative and protecting S.H.I.E.L.D. assets, either. One of the mystery murderer’s victims was a prince of Asgard, which is a world filled with superhuman warriors, armed with magical technology, and ruled by an unopposed Loki (Tom Hiddleston.)
After the big reveal, that last part becomes every bit the issue it was in the original timeline (if not more so). But Fury always keeps his eye on the bigger picture, and heroes can, have, and will come from anywhere.
The episode is less sizzle but maybe even more steak than the first two. The two-part punch of the What If…? comic book series was always answering the question of “What if…?” but finishing with the question of “What now…?” The Avengers have had possibly the most fluid and diverse membership in mainstream comics (as any sweeping George Perez illustration will attest). The ending looks forward with heroes from the past and those yet discovered. And that’s a great start for any story.
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