Usually, regifting at Christmas is looked down upon as it usually denotes a lack of originality or – worst yet – a lack of respect toward the recipient; however with Marvel’s fourth episode of the second season of What If…?, we get a episode we should have originally got back in 2021.
Due to various, COVID-19 related issues it’s not worth going into right now, the original episode count of the previous season dropped from ten to nine after one of the episodes simply couldn’t come together in time. Now, this normally wouldn’t be an issue with a seemingly unconnected anthology show, but What If..?’s big twist was, thanks to an assault on the multiverse by an Infinty Powered Ultron, the variant of a Gamora that had managed to slay her father was seemingly recruited out of nowhere to join the Watcher’s Guardians Of The Multiverse. Well, thanks to the new season and an impressive spot of recycling, we now have that missing episode – and what a banger it turned out to be.
Remember that time when Tony Stark flew a nuke into a worm hole? Sure we do, the guy never let us forget it, but in this latest rug pull of the MCU, Tony never made it out of the worm hole after defeating the Chitauri and instead emerged on the other side of the universe on the planet of Sakaar. For those of you fuzzy on Marvel astronomy, Sakaar is the trash can planet of lost things that’s governed over by the flamboyantly batshit despot known as the Grandmaster whom we first met back in Thor: Ragnarok.
Essentially going through the same induction process as Thor went through, Tony finds himself as something of a celebrity as his defeat of Thanos’ army proceeds him, however, as he is increasingly horrified at the awful quality of life your regular Sakaarian has to endure, Stark forms a bond with Valkyrie and Korg and plots to make things right.
Meanwhile, looking to bring Tony Stark before her father to punish him for his victory, a determined Gamora tracks the bewildered Iron Man down and makes her move. But even the deadliest woman in the galaxy hasn’t counted on how truly loopy Sakaar truly is and after her initial attempt fails, she finds herself caught up in the violent gladiatorial games the Grandmaster uses to get his kicks.
However, in an all-or-nothing bid to wrestle control from the glittery maniac, Tony suggests a wager that sees the fate of the entire planet hang on the winner of a brutal chariot race that takes the danger of Ben-Hur and then adds even more danger by merging it with the last twenty minutes of Mad Max 2. But even if Tony, Valkyrie and Korg manage to beat the Grandmaster, they’ll still have to contend with Gamora’s mission.
Firstly, I’m going to throw my hands up and fully admit that the plot of What If… Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster really isn’t much more that the entire plot of Thor: Ragnarok, however, considering that Taika Waititi’s first crack at the MCU is still one of the most enjoyable entries of the entire franchise. The basics are trotted out dutifully with an awkward introduction into a crazy world shifting into a displaced Avenger playing freedom fighter to the Grandmaster’s hedonistic Caesar as he trades barbs with his new allies. However, instead of just being a slightly altered re-tread like the original Captain Carter episode was to the first Captain America movie, there’s a couple of aspects that not only makes it stand on it’s own two feet, but helps it to be one of the strongest episodes so far.
The first is the vocal dexterity of voice actor Mick Wingert who now has his uncanny impersonation of Robert Downey Jr. down so pat, at times you’d swear that the actor himself had waived his gargantuan fee and leapt into the recording booth. Such effortless line readings and endless wise cracks not only fits in perfectly with the bizarro world of Sakaar, but it’s reminded me that we’ve gone through four whole episodes of this season and Tony Stark hasn’t died once – which is some sort of record by What If…? standards.
While RDJ’s absence has been rendered mute by the efforts of Wingert, I reckon there’s no one on this earth who could replicate Jeff Goldblum as his most absurd, and thankfully, no one had to because the man himself delivers a truly deranged performance that proves to be as resplendent as it is unhinged. Either once again bouncing off the scowling tone of Rachel House’s Topaz, or illogically putting the throne of Sakaar on the line simply because his monstrous ego stubbonly wants an Iron Man suit of his own, it’s a gift that keeps on giving and if we’re being honest, both Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and Cynthia McWilliams’ attempt at Zoe Saldãna’s Gamora get somewhat edged off the screen.
However, the final plus point that pushes the episode over the top is the massive race that closes out the episode that proves to be one of the show’s most expansive action sequences. Throwing in a sizable nod to the Pod Race from The Phantom Menace to go along with all the other references, the race throws in such things as giant, elephant monsters, more up shifting than a Fast & Furious movie and an absolutely bitching moment where Stark’s Sakaarian Iron Mad suit flies off his body to reform into a sick hot rod mid-race.
The down points are minimal. McWilliams is a good-not-great Gamora who is relegated solely to single-minded warrior woman and, with his second appearance in only four episodes, is anyone else getting a little tired of Taika Waititi’s rambling Korg? Still, with a Thanos-facing denouement that finally justifies Gamora’s entry into the Guardians Of The Multiverse, this episode manages to plug some holes, stir up some genuine laughs and deliver a kickass race that doesn’t skimp on spectacle despite the animated show’s limitations. Best of all, the show continues to resist simply solving all of its problems by simply forming a team and throwing them at it – something the series has been guilty of one too many times. Ok, sure, Tony forms an alliance with Valkyrie and Korg – but in my defence, a trio is technically not a team… I guess.
Anyway, from the depths of a holdover from season one comes the second season’s biggest highpoint so far. It may have been released at Christmas, but much like the Grandmaster sings at every given opportunity, you’ll think it’s your birthday.
Starkly brilliant.
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