What If ...? Season 2 (Disney +)

I hate the What If...? Comics but the cartoon is pretty cool. It's a great premise and the comics wreck it nearly every time. Every time the Watcher asks the question in the comics it always ends in tragedy for the characters and the Universe explored. Not only does that fact make the comic less interesting. But it suggests the heroes' victory in the mainline continuity is down to nothing more than random luck instead of the heroes actually being awesome. The cartoon, instead of rubbing our faces in how close to disaster we were, explores different takes and ideas in the Multiverse. Some ARE super depressing tragedies. But it's better than the comic because sometimes it just explores a neat premise.

This is a neat premise. There is less Guardians Of The Galaxy in the tone, and more Blade Runner.

I have come to believe Howard The Duck is the Bill Murray of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You see him rarely, but when you do, you always wish he had a bigger role (and he seldom does). The MCU refuses to turn Howard into Kenneth from 30 Rock, who upon positive fan response was overused until we were all sick of him. He's deliberately underutilized the way Murray always is, or (if you need another sitcom simile) Creed from The Office. Howard's rare appearances seem to be rare to make maximum impact.

Here is why the MCU actually sucks, and it's the receipt for every bad thing its detractors have ever said about it. Quantumania is the first and so far only movie in cinema history in which Bill Murray has a role, and is not the best thing in it. If you ask me, that means Kevin Feige needs to hang his head in shame for that embarrassing fact. If Feige were thinking properly he would have cast Murray as Howard instead of Seth Green to begin with. No-brainer really.

Yeah, I kinda dig the cartoon. Sue me. 3 1/2 stars.

It's not exactly a great episode, but it's why the cartoon is better than the comics. It's a canon variation, instead of a tragedy, which is way more interesting. Plus I really liked the ending. That last shot of this Universe's version of the 1980's Avengers was cool.

And even as a kid, Peter IS the Starlord. 3 1/2 stars.

This is why I like the cartoon better than the comics. That was delightful.

Hulk Hogan! Ha!

I love that when Hammer threatens her Darcy is all, "But I'm adorable!" as if that explains anything. What a doof. Her singing over the end credits was funny too.

I really hope Tony is able to cure Happy.

The Watcher seemed to be having fun with this Universe.

Great episode. 5 stars.

That was dumb. Once Tony turns his armor into a racecar I'm like, "Enough already." It's not like Thor Ragnarok wasn't already too silly. This was just nonsense.

I usually give longer reviews than that, but that would suggest this lame episode made a bigger impression than it did. It's just stupid. 1 1/2 stars.

That was pretty great. The ending was fun and unexpected, and tells me we are getting a sequel to this sequel.

The fight scenes at the end were terrific. I enjoyed the mood lighting very much.

Neat way to resurrect the Steve and Peggy romance in the alternate Universe.

I don't remember OUR Melina being quite so sinister.

Those killer robots gave me the willies.

The show has value because though it's set in an alternate universe, and they could easily have shown Steve killing Bucky with no negative repercussions, the show declines to do that because that's damn mean, and would upset everybody. The comic could learn a few things from this cartoon.

Great episode. The ending changes the show's name to "What The...?" 4 stars.

That was amazing and I loved it. But I think I'll hold off on an in-depth review until I've seen both the end of the season and the English dub. But it was excellent. 5 stars.

Okay, that clarified some things. I had guessed (but wasn't sure) that NONE of the actors actually spoke Mohawk and sounded it out phonetically when speaking it. And the fact that all the same actors have American accents here says they were speaking Mohawk in American accents in the subtitled version. I don't speak Mohawk, and I don't think I ever heard it before. But I could still hear the American accents, although that may have partly been due to the modern line delivery.

The English version most certainly did NOT redo the lip animation to make the English dub flow better. I respect them for not bothering to do that. They are clearly suggesting the subtitled version is the official version.

After having seen the finale, Strange's appearance at the end here now gives me the willies.

I love that in this episode the Conquistadors are portrayed as ignorant and savage and the indigenous Mohawk people are portrayed as enlightened. It's certainly a far cry from how Hollywood used to do things. And that's a good thing.

I like this version too. And I like that it gave me some added context for the official version. 5 stars.

I didn't care for it.

The problem of the first half was that Hela was a poor protagonist. We don't want to see her succeed because he goals are abhorrent.

Then the second half turned into a redemption story. My ears pricked up. Okay, this could be interesting. Ultimately, I found not only her complete turnaround at the end far-fetched, but Odin shifting gears so quickly seemed entirely arbitrary too. I guess I didn't like the episode because it reminded me that part of the conceit of the concept is worlds changing based on a different circumstance. For the comic it almost always led to random tragedy, which I hated. I guess my problem with the show is it also doesn't take free will or actual character personalities into account. It's too scenario-based to be credible to me. It cares more about "What If?" than "How If?". Or even "Why If?" I think those latter two things are better questions and integral to good fiction. The show comes up with neat high-concept premises. But an episode like this doesn't make me actually BELIEVE in them. And that's a failing. 1 1/2 stars.

Most of that was serviceable but the truth is the animation took me out of it.

For fights and action sequences the animation gets the job done. For the characters' facial expressions during both comedic and dramatic moments, it is wholly inadequate. It's awful, is what it is. There I said it.

It's the series biggest weakness and hurts it far more than any recasts ever could. 3 stars.

The actions sequences were great because the animation lends itself to them.

I like the Marvel Studios "What If...?" titles. Recent Marvel TV shows has been slacking off on their Marvel Studios logos so it was good to see it return.

But the series always struck me as weird for always trying to get me to believe Stephen Strange isn't worth a damn. If I were Feige, I would never be doing that, but I guess that's why I don't run the MCU. Sometimes I think it would be better if I did.

Here's an interesting speculation: Kahhori does not seem remotely surprised or phased by the modern trappings of Captain Carter's tech, or all of the modern tools and weapons she sees used. Her episode suggested she and her people who bathed in the fountain are now Immortal. Is it possible when the Watcher return her to her Universe, it's the same Universe we saw in the earlier episode, but now set in the modern day as a present day utopia? I like to think that's the case. It might also explain (or at least hint) why she now speaks English.

It was fun. And a bit frustrating. Story of this show's life. 3 1/2 stars.