If there was a noticable complaint about the first season of What If…? it was the majority of epidodes had abrupt, slightly unsatisfying endings which eventually paid off when we found that it was building toward the surprise assembling of the Guardians Of The Multiverse. As a result, season two has mostly gone the other way, hardly setting up the finale at all save for the occasional cameo of Strange Supreme or a teaser for the 1602 episode. Still, after eight episodes streamed over eight days, we find ourselves at the end with precious little set-up to clue us in to what’s on store – however, with What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?, we get a rather abrupt climax that feels a little half-baked for a show that’s not afraid to go big or outlandish. Yes, we get a metric ton of deep cut references and its yet another great outing for Captain Carter and a solid showing for Kahhori, but is it more a case of So What, rather than What If?
After fixing the universe tearing rifts of the 1602 reality by banishing all the super people, a despondent Captain Carter is visited by Strange Supreme, one of her fellow members of the Guardians Of The Multiverse. In case your memory is a little hazy, this version of Dr. Stephen Strange went and carelessly destroyed his own universe in a reckless quest for power in order to save his dead love, but he seemingly found a sense of salvation after being chosen by the Watcher to aid him in thwarting an Infinity Stone powered Ultron.
Since we’ve last seen him, Strange Supreme has been busy, gathering up and imprisoning other would-be universe destroyers in a bid to preserve immeasurable lives and to redeem himself for his own lapse into megalomania in the past. He wants to recruit Carter for a mission as his latest target has proven to be tougher to subdue than he first thought and always eager to help, Carter volunteers happily.
However, the other, superpowered shoe suddenly drops when the being Carter’s been enlisted to capture turns out to be Kahhori, the Tesseract-powered Mohawk hero we met a couple of episodes ago, and the terrible truth makes itself known. Not only has Strange been gathering up universe destroyers such as variants of Ultron, Thanos and *checks notes* a cowboy Loki, but he’s also been imprisoning universe savers too with the aim to feed these immensely powerful beings to something called the Forge, a giant cosmic machine that will recreate his destroyed universe. Realising that Strange has reverted back to his grief stricken crimes, Carter and Kahhori have to unite to stop him, but after they release a sizable amount of his prisoners to create a diversion, all multiversal hell promptly breaks loose.
In many ways, series director Bryan Andrews has found himself in a damned if you do, damned if don’t situation when it comes to once again turning this anthology series into sequential one because while season one had a bit too much foreshadowing, this time we have too little. I’m not too sure what the correct balance would be, but while the Guardians Of The Multiverse plot felt appropriately seismic, Strange Supreme reverting back to his power hoarding ways feels a little inconsequential in comparison. Once again sticking Captain Carter at the head of proceedings proves to be an exceptionally smart choice and her team-up with Kahhori makes perfect sense even though she wears a flag on her chest that undoubtedly means something quite different to an ancient Native American than it does to everyone else. Even the use of Strange Supreme makes a certain amount of logic as his shift from self obsessed power leech to hero felt a little too neat for comfort (remember, Scarlett Witch relapsed after WandaVision too) and we all know how much Benedict Cumberbatch loves to get stuck into a voice-only role, and yet despite all the cosmic fireworks on display, there’s something about the episode that feels curiously nonessential.
Plot logic isn’t something I worry too much about when it comes to the Multiverse (the 1602 episode in particular was riddled with inconsistencies that simply wasn’t worth worrying about), but surely recruiting the legendarily resourceful Captain Carter to his dastardly plan is a ridiculous miscalculation from Strange, even in the midst of his latest power junkie phase.
Still, the episode moves fast, is entertaining and has a great moment where Captain Carter has a great, “Cabin In The Woods” inspired moment where she springs a bunch of Strange’s prisoners, but it also highlights yet another trope the series is starting to fall back on way too much. While the assembling of numerous teams, the repeated deaths of Tony Stark and the casual dismissing of Thanos have risen their heads during numerous episodes in the past, joining the list of overused elements of What If…? are characters engaging in tests of strength using various energy beams – something this episode does a lot.
Also, while it’s fun to get numerous callbacks to such season one characters as Zombie Scarlet Witch and the Infinity Armour wearing Killmonger, it doesn’t particularly mean much in the greater scheme of things, especially as the majority of this season has been all about creating something new. Similarly, moments where Kahhori and Carter get impressive power boosts when they are bequeathed numerous items of immeasurable power should be moments that make you leap up and punch the air, but the sight of Carter clad in the Infinity Ultron armour and wearing Hela’s crown as she’s flanked by Kahhori using her powers to levitate Mjolnir just don’t hit like you’d expect. Maybe the power levels between Carter, Kahhori and Strange all rise so quickly, it nullifies any sense of drama but I was curiously unmoved by a lot of the power on show here.
Still, while the finale doesn’t manage to engage despite being crammed with cameos, surprises and rampant fanboying, the season as a whole has been a breath of fresh air in a year when comic book properties (particularly multiverse related ones) were lambasted all over the place. In fact, What If…? may be the only truly guaranteed refuge for the MCU during these trying times and its final shot of the Watcher giving Captain Carter a tour of the multiverse and heading toward the World Tree seen at the end of Loki’s second season is a genuinely touching moment.
With news that What If…? is guaranteed a third season, it seems that we’ll be spending some more time with the Watcher (and most likely Captain Carter too) in the future and I for one will welcome continuing to play nosey parker across endless possibilities.
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