Over the last eight weeks, What If…? has taken viewers down different rabbit holes of the multiverse, introducing us to various worlds in which our heroes suffer in almost unimaginable ways. We thought we’d gotten a break from the suffering by the end of the last episode, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?” only to have that hope torn away from us at the last moment by the appearance of Ultron wielding the Infinity Stones. The latest episode, What If… Ultron Won?” delves deeper into the appearance of that Ultron, showing us how he gained his massive power.
In case this is your first time here, the following contains massive spoilers for the latest episode of What If…? so if you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend doing that first.
Following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the latest episode of What If…? imagines Ultron besting the Avengers and maintaining the synthezoid Vision. After uploading himself into Vision’s body, Ultron is able to use the Mind Stone to wipe out the Avengers and launch the world’s nuclear arsenal. Only Hawkeye and Black Widow survive the attack, and they use the last of their energy to battle back against Ultron.
Shortly after the nuclear Armageddon, Thanos arrives on Earth. Ultron is intrigued by the five Infinity stones he holds and slices him in half with the Mind Stone, taking them for himself. Through the power of the stones, Ultron discovers the existence of other planets and sets off to eradicate them as well. We see the destruction of Asgard, the Sovereign, Sakkar, even Ego the Living Planet. He runs into some opposition when he visits Xandar when Captain Marvel shows up, but he easily destroys her along with the planet.
The destruction of everything gives Ultron a cosmic awareness, and he soon learns about the existence of the Watcher. He decides to search out the being and learn more about the existence of the multiverse.
Back on Earth, Hawkeye and Black Widow break into the records room of the Kremlin in Russia in search of anything that can stop Ultron. The Watcher watches their search and desperately wants to help them, but because of his vow of noninterference, he cannot. But They eventually discover what he would have led them to: the last known location of Arnim Zola.
They plan to use Zola’s computer brain to infiltrate the Ultron hivemind. Hawkeye loads the program onto a jump drive arrow, and together they lure the Ultron sentries to their location. Hawkeye lets the arrow fly, allowing Zola to uplink to the hivemind as Widow and Hawkeye fight off the army of robots. In a last-ditch effort to hold back the sentries, Hawkeye sacrifices himself so that Black Widow and Zola can get away in an amazing parallel to Widow sacrificing herself on Vormir in Avengers: Endgame.
But Zola is unable to uplink to the hivemind because, even though the sentries can communicate across interstellar boundaries, it seems that Ultron is beyond the reach of the observable universe.
Back in space, Ultron breaks through the barriers of the multiverse and discovers the Watcher. The pair battle hardcore, with the Watcher finally unleashing the awesome cosmic power he possesses. But Ultron is strong, and their fight leads them across the multiverse. The Watcher is also strong, but Ultron proves to be too powerful, having gained cosmic strength along with his awareness. The Watcher can only run away to regroup.
After he escapes, the Watcher is approached by Dark Doctor Strange, the variant that we met way back in Episode Four. It seems Strange’s actions led to the destruction of his world but trapped him in an inescapable bubble. Strange is willing to help the Watcher, but he makes the deity ask for it specifically. The Watcher does so, thus breaking his vow of not interfering with the events of the multiverse.
Fans of the comics were likely waiting for this moment to happen. Though the Watcher claimed a vow of noninterference, interfering seems to be all he does in the comics. In one of his earliest appearances, the Watcher tries to prevent the Silver Surfer from leading Galactus to Earth to feed, an act that would have destroyed the planet. Seeing him break his vow in the show is no surprise and is actually what most fans have been waiting for. And with only one episode left in the series, it will be interesting to see how the Watcher and Dark Doctor Strangecano stop Ultron.
One of the low points in this episode is the voice casting. While Jeremy Renner makes his appearance as Hawkeye, Lake Bell takes up the mantle of Black Widow. We’ve seen her in this role before, and she isn’t bad. She’s able to encapsulate Scarlet Johansson’s tone and inflection well enough to be almost identical. But the real disappointment is in Ultron himself. Originally voiced by James Spader in Age of Ultron, Ultron’s manner of speaking is unique. For this episode, Spader was replaced by Ross Marquand, who does his best to imitate Spader but seems to fall just short. Instead of giving his own spin to the character, the imitation comes off as just that; it’s like listening to a rookie comedian do an impression of a famous actor.
I was pleased that the episode didn’t spoil the final twist in the opening credits as well. Benedict Cumberbatch returns to voice Dark Doctor Strange, and, thankfully, the showrunners were considerate enough to leave his name out of the opening credits. This is a move that we’ve seen them do before, back in Episode Three when they kept the mystery of who killed the Avengers. Too often, television shows and actors’ contracts require that the actors’ names go in the opening credits, which often reveals a sudden twist or surprise ending. But What If…? has so far not done that, showing that they value the storytelling over the acclaim.
One of my favorite things about the episode is the animation. Not that it’s any different from the previous episodes, but this one stands out because of the use of the famous Kirby Krackle in the battle between the Watcher and Ultron. “Kirby Krackle” is the name of the art style Jack Kirby, the man who helped pioneer Marvel Comics along with Stan Lee, gave to certain types of energy throughout different comic books. The style shows thick beams of light surrounded by small dots or orbs which, when combined just right, give the energy an otherworldly effect. The battle between Ultron and the Watcher heavily features Kirby Krackle, and it’s those sorts of flourishes that have made What If…? shine as a series.
There’s just one episode of What If…? remaining, and if this episode is any indication, it’s going to be a doozy. While the series just kind of meandered for a while, seemingly focused on entertainment rather than world-building, it’s plain to see that that has all been a smokescreen for some time. We’ve gotten a few glimpses of what’s to come in the final episode from the mid-season trailer a couple of weeks back, and I have no doubt that it will lead to an explosive finale.