[MCU Analysis & Review] What If…? Episode 6 [Impressions & Easter Eggs]
Today I’m going to write about What If…? episode 6, the MCU show that dropped on Wednesday 15 September — the points worth flagging, the analysis and review, and predictions for where all of this goes next.
In this article I’ll briefly write up the things that caught my eye on the first watch and the Easter eggs, and then write the analysis.
Spoilers ahead
The WandaVision episode reviews from back when it was airing are here!
Click the image below for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode reviews!
Check the image below for the Loki episode reviews!
Check the image below for the What If…? episode reviews!
The Shang-Chi analysis and review is here!
[MCU Discussion/Review] “Shang Chi” [Impressions, Easter Eggs]
Contents
What I’ve been into lately
I’ve started shooting all sorts of things for fun recently. Camera is a ZV-1, shooting RAW and editing in Lightroom.
This time I shot the science museum in Ueno.
Episode 6, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”
The branching choice
This week it was what if Killmonger had rescued Tony Stark…? A good reminder that Tony would never have become a hero if the terrorists hadn’t kidnapped him, and that Killmonger will do whatever it takes to rule Wakanda.
The Ten Rings
No idea whether it’s because Shang-Chi is in cinemas right now, but out it comes: the ones who took Tony Stark were the Ten Rings!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Killmonger and Tony have that exchange about Butch and Sundance, and those two are the pair of men from the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film ends on the two robbers squaring up to a huge crowd of lawmen. I’ve seen it myself, and it’s one of the great scenes in the history of cinema.
What a hero is
A hero is forged in darkness,
shaped on the battlefield,
and defined by sacrifice.
That saying fits almost every MCU hero, Tony and the rest of them included. Ahh, what a line.
Gundam
Even in the English audio they call the robot Killmonger designed a Gundam.
The oppressor’s uniform
In Black Panther itself Killmonger was fixated on using force to lift the social standing of people of colour like himself.
The scene live action never gave us
T’Challa’s father T’Chaka and Killmonger never got their meeting in the films themselves, but getting it here was lovely.
Pepper and Shuri
Two people who both lost someone they loved to Killmonger teaming up is so good! There are a few shots in the trailer that’s out now that I keep thinking about, so I’ll get into those down in “After watching episode 6”.
After watching episode 6
Where this goes next
Three episodes of What If…? left! Going by the trailers and the poster info, it’ll presumably be “what if… Ultron had got hold of Vision’s body?” with Black Widow and Thor in the lead, then “what if… Gamora had gone along with Thanos’ thinking?” with Gamora and Thor in the lead, and then the finale, “what if… every world so far gathered in the Void?” In the next section I’ll set out my theory on the finale.
So the finale really is the Void?
The trailer ran footage that looks like a continuation of episode 2, the one where T’Challa was Star-Lord, and of this week’s episode. And, as I’ve said over and over on this blog, you can see the characters from the individual What If…? episodes assembling together — Captain Carter, Gamora and the rest. My reading is that each episode ends in ruin — Ego takes over Quill and it all collapses, the zombie world gets wiped out by Zombie Thanos — and that all of this may well be pointing to everyone gathering in the Void that turned up in the Loki series.
That said, as the article below covers, What If…? used the word “absolute point” back in episode 4 when what it actually meant was the Nexus Point from the Loki series. There have been slip-ups like that, so it could easily not be the Void at all. Either way, everyone assembling is more or less locked in, so I can’t wait!
https://theriver.jp/what-if-bladley-regret-after-loki/
About episode 7
[MCU Analysis & Review] What If…? Episode 7 [Impressions & Easter Eggs]
