Amph "Ponder the Question" Marvel's 'What If...?' [Disney+]

Very much liked this episode

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kinda loved how chill Loki was

 

We see what you did there.

 

Is it me or did time seem a bit funny here?

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Heimdall whisked Jane up and got her to Frigga pretty fast. But it sure seemed like he delayed Frigga’s travel to Earth long enough to give Thor and the others time to clean up.

My theory: He was afraid of Frigga’s wrath being turned on him. He was supposed to be watching Thor afterall…

So he slowed her arrival to buy them time.

I did love the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off vibes that this gave at the end.

Random UltronVision was random though.

And where was Tony, Steve, Banner, Nat, Clint? I get why Hill went to Carol after Nick was comatose, but genius billionaire playboy philanthropist wasn’t available to solve this? Was he too busy partying with the aliens?

 

That was a really fun episode.

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I really appreciate that the stakes felt lower in this one, especially compared to what we've had recently in What If ...?

At least, they felt lower until the end ... and speaking of that ending, was anyone else a little disappointed that the "big bad" reveal in the episode wasn't Hela? The entire premise "what if Thor was an only child" is wrong from the get-go because of Hela, it's "what if Odin hadn't raised Loki as his own child?", and I thought Hela would have been a nice pay-off.

Perhaps if UltronVision is going to tie the What If multiverse together it'll be worth the reveal being them, but still felt like Hela was great there.

I did love how packed his one was with characters we know and love, even if some of them felt a little forced.

And I love the above theory about Heimdall

 

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To deal with a god, I guess Hill felt she needed someone on Thor's level like Capt Marvel. Sure, maybe Banner/Hulk could have worked out, but he's kind of a wild card so I guess she decided to go with a "sure thing".

 

This episode was operating under the reality of a Looney Tunes Cartoon. That included the earth from afar labeled like a globe. And the slow down of travel as a plot device.

this episode was a lot of fun.

I think we learned in the movies that Odin started a second family and was intent on not having Thor turnout like his sister Hela. It was interesting to see Thor not a complete monter here, but a party monster.

 

Folks are forgetting the timeline here.

Let's assume this takes place at the same time as Thor (the original movie). Stark is dying and is working on the new element (Fury and Widow met with him two days before the opening scene). Hulk is on the run, and is about to destroy the university with Ross (partially working with SHIELD) chasing after him -- he has not yet destroyed Harlem.

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There was no other option other than Captain Marvel at the time.

 

What If: 10 Ways Captain Carter Changed The First Avenger

An interesting synapsis of episode 1. Many of these were obviously on first viewing but there were some others that you'd actually have had to think farther ahead in the known MCU timeline.

 

This week’s ep was another in the hit column for me, so much fun after finding last time rather meh. The action was so good, the romance somehow more adorable than the movie version, and some fantastic gags.

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Darcy and Howard being the most amazingly ludicrous thing I’ve ever seen

Every week leaves me wanting more, and the final two seem very tantalising.

 

My ranking of the What If episodes thus far:

1) Captain Carter

2) Star-Lord T'Challa

3) Killmonger Takes Wakanda

4) Avengers Assassinated

5) Party Thor vs. Captain Marvel

6) Doctor Strange Gone Mad

7) Zombies

I really liked Peggy becoming the superhero. It was nice to see her overcome the sexism of the time with the Hayley Atwell charm and determination. T'Challa was a much more competent Star-Lord than Peter Quill ever was, and California Thanos was amusing. Killmonger was even more like a rational version of Heath Ledger's Joker in this episode than he was in the movie. It was interesting how he put aside his vendetta for T'Chaka and was still absolutely ruthless. I liked how Shuri met with Pepper at the end to discuss how to fix the situation. I mainly liked the Avengers Assassinated episode for Michael Douglas' performance as an evil version of Hank Pym, since I'm a fan of Douglas, and the potential for Pym to turn out that way is definitely there. I liked the Party Thor episode because I mostly agreed with Captain Marvel and I liked that they confirmed that she could destroy half a planet on full power, but, of course, she would not want to do such a thing. Plus, it was chilling to see a successful Ultron in Vision's body and all of the Infinity Stones. I appreciated the Doctor Strange episode mainly for Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as both Stranges, but the story was so darn depressing. The Zombies episode was my least favorite because it was so depressing and nihilistic. Good performances all around, but I didn't agree with how Vision was depicted as helping Zombie Wanda whilst betraying humankind. It was out of character. And it was awful that he captured Black Panther to slowly feed to Wanda. Honestly, I may be in the minority, but I've never been a fan of zombie storylines in general. I just don't see the appeal, and I've never gotten into any of them or finished viewing any. I think the concept makes sense, but maybe the name zombie makes me want to ignore it and not take it seriously, since it is in my perception an unserious name. But this was the first zombie story I watched from start to finish, and I do admit I liked the ominous ending with Zombie Thanos.



If anybody's interested, MissedThePart made one of his good videos to conclude that episode, and I agreed with his take.

 

If it's a minority, just know you're certainly not alone in this forum.

 

That's good. It just seems that many Americans have been fond of zombie stories since 2011 or so. Some critics have said that depicting this zombie virus as originating from the Quantum realm was lazy, but I don't think so. God knows what could be down there. I suppose one thing that interested me about it was that the zombies retained their knowledge, skills, and powers (i.e. Ebony Maw, Dr. Strange, and Wanda retaining the powers they had at the levels during the time they were transformed). But, yeah. I imagine if Wanda at more powerful stages of her career became a zombie. Ugh. Scary.

The interesting thing about the Dr. Strange story was that it essentially said that Dr. Strange had to be at least a little too arrogant in order to become the person he was supposed to be. His love for Christine turned into a mad obsession. In the main timeline, he loved his hands more than anything. Frankly, I felt that Strange did not deserve Christine even as a friend at the beginning fo the film, but by the time he had witnessed the Ancient One's passing, he has on track to becoming a better person. Of course, I've been told that many surgeons are arrogant. The surgeon who performed my gender-affirmation surgery was arrogant, but he did a damn good job. In fact, it is said that most sociopaths are CEOs, lawyers, ministers, politicians, newscasters, and surgeons. If you think about it, that actually makes them very effective, for good or ill. In the case of surgeons, they have to be that way. Like, no emotion. They have to perform a surgery as if the body is not a person. Else, their emotions might hinder their efforts. In the old days, apparently serial killers found work as surgeons by sawing off wounded limbs and so on. With the advent of anesthesia, surgeons have to be very detached and precise in order to not get anything wrong. Now, I'm not saying that Dr. Strange is a sociopath. If anything, the evil Dr. Strange seemed to have another disorder, such as PTSD or major depressive disorder. As the Ancient One said, "We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them."

The same is true with trauma. In many cases, trauma remains in our brains, but we can learn to rise above it and channel it to make us stronger. That's one thing that I hope that Dr. Strange tells Wanda in the Multiverse of Madness. Honestly, I was a little excited about the Avengers meeting the Guardians in 2018, but I'm even more excited about Dr. Strange and Wanda interacting.

At any rate, these What If stories are, I'd surmise, what is happening in the branch timelines that sprung at the end of Loki. I think that Watcher is going to intervene so Captain Carter, Gamora, Dr. Strange, evil Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, etc. can fight Ultron.

 

Douglas was pretty chilling as Yellowjacket. Goes to show that Howard Stark was not kidding that Pym could be dangerous with this technology if he was angered. I'm still not sure if it was Pym's fault or not about Ghost's father being deported.

So, how did you guys feel about the line where Party Thor asked Captain Marvel to smile? I didn't mind it. I think that episode was Marvel hitting back against the trolls who hate her. I just never understood the hate that Captain Marvel and Brie Larsson got for that film in 2019. I can see why people would prefer 2017's Wonder Woman, but I thought that Carol, Talos, Maria, and young Nick Fury were fun characters, and my girlfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed the film.



Personally, I was amused by Hemsworth's performance as Party Thor, even though I thought the character was a dick. It was cool how he was nice to his mom, though. It's funny how Frigga is a better parent to Thor and Loki than Odin. Plus, that first shot of the What if episode...I mean...man. Laufrey seems really happy to get baby Loki back. Kinda makes you think that Odin lied about why he took Loki and altered his physiology.

 

If you want my opinion, there are some comic nuts out there who are just uncomfortable with a female superhero who can take on pretty much anyone you can think of in the universe, alone.

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Makes sense. I'll admit I didn't like how Captain Marvel talked at the beginning of Endgame, but I think that's because she filmed that before Captain Marvel and she didn't know that much about the character. But I did like how she prevented Thanos from snapping at one point. Even so, Wanda would have killed him if Thanos hadn't ordered a blitz.

I don't really have any problem with how Wanda or Carol are portrayed, but I can see why men have complained that Natasha Romanoff is sometimes portrayed as stronger than she should be. But it depends on the film 'cause Winter Soldier and Black Widow showed her limitations more. I agree with those who say the whole Mary Sue thing is sexist, and I never was fond of the term.

Personally, I think they should do a What If story about what would have happened if someone else, like Mar-Vell or Maria Rambeau, got Carol's powers. From what I've heard, Carol Danvers is hard to write in the comics. Plus, in these stories she's basically asexual, ya know, and I've been told that Wonder Woman is more relatable, given her romance with Steve Trevor. Depends on one's preference, though. But for what it's worth, I have a big poster of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel in my dining room next to one of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, so I'm down with this take.

 

Unfortunately Odin knows his sons were born into a destiny they can not escape - especially Thor. Odin is doing the best he can to be loving father while also raising his sons for Ragnorok. I’m convinced Odin adopted (maybe stole) Loki as a way to help Thor not turnout like Hela. Having a brother gives Thor an advantage in fighting Hela - he’s not alone - and instills different values and compassion in Thor that Hela lacked.

It’s not fair - but that’s the reality Thor is born into.

 

I thought those were frost giant villagers or something. I remember the narration was "Odin gave Loki back to his people", which I took to mean he took baby Loki to some random people that took him in and also them saying it wasn't Laufey, since if the guy is willing to leave his newborn child to die it wouldn't really make sense that he'd want him back.

 

It's interesting that you mentioned that, because just this past weekend I watched what kind of amounts to DC's version of What If? in the "Flashpoint" film; and in the alt universe,

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Queen Diana leads her army against Arthur and the Atlantians - and in one scene you actually see her meeting Trevor and taking it upon herself to kill him.

 

I thought that was the Frost Giant King Lauren who excepted baby Loki. Is Odin an unreliable narrator? Was the intro inThor narrated by Odin and history about Loki the truth fro a certain point of view?

 

Next episode is Ultro-centric. Not ckear if it's a sequel to the last one.

 

It's an interesting question. I'll have to go back and watch that part. I get what you mean. Laufey seemed like a sociopath in Thor. Very menacing guy. It's interesting how Loki kills not only Laufey but wants to obliterate Jotunheim to erase his connection to it, whereas Loki in the Avengers Assassinated story seems to embrace his Frost Giant heritage at least insofar as he is fond of using the Casket of Ancient Winters. Always thought that was a cool name.

Personally, I found Infinity Ultron more frightening than Thanos.

I thought Thanos in the Star-Lord T'Challa story was actually very likable. I liked how he and Nebula saved each other in the final battle.

If they do anymore What-if stories with T'Challa, they may have to find someone who can sound like Chadwick Boseman. So sad that we haven't found a cure for cancer yet.

 

Yea, re: Loki in the assassination story, that's interesting because assuming the events of the first Thor film played out the same, he should only just be finding out about his origins. I guess Thor's murder changes his priorities and maybe his view on being the heir to both the Asgardian and Jotunheim kingdoms.

I think there's one more left that Boseman recorded, probably the first season finale.

 

Trailer for tomorrow’s episode

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Nice to see Ronin-era Clint back (Glad to hear Jeremy again), also Natasha is using Red Guardian’s shield.