Marvel's ‘What If..?’ Episode 8: “What If... Ultron Won?” Recap and Review
The many worlds of Marvel’s multiversal saga begin to collide as an unstoppable force battles with the confines of The Watcher’s rules.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
The ambiguous ending of last week’s episode left us with plenty more questions than we had answers. …Who is this version of Ultron? …Where has he come from? …What does he want? Thankfully, the newest episode of What If..? answers all these questions and more, whilst setting up for an explosive finale next week. The episode gives us a chilling insight into a world where Ultron was given the chance to take over Vision’s body during the events of Age of Ultron, and as such becomes completely unstoppable with the power of the Mind Stone. In a sharp contrast to last week, this is one of the show’s more serious and solemn episodes as we imagine what the world - and multiverse - might look like without the Avengers to stop him.
The Recap
This week’s episode opens on a brilliant chase sequence featuring fan favourites Black Wudow and Hawkeye, and a bunch of deadly Ultron drones. The severity of the situation becomes abundantly clear as one of the drones shoots off Haweye’s new mechanical arm, leaving him left for dead were it not for his partner Natasha. Naturally, the duo manage to overcome the robot hoard and reveal themselves to be in Russia in search of the sceret to taking down Ultron once and for all. Meanwhile, The Watcher’s narration gives us a quick rundown on the situation up to this point - following Ultron’s acquisition of an organic body, his connection to the Mind Stone made him completely unstoppable. Despite the Avengers’ best efforts, he managed to defeat them all and lay waste to planet Earth using a worldwide neclear barrage. When Thanos inevitably arrives on Earth in search of the Infinity Stones, his efforts are cut short and he is killed immediately by Ultron, who then takes the stones from his body and uses them to elevate his powers further. Using his newfound powers Ultron travels to endless new worlds - Asgard, Sakaar, Xandar - in search of civilisations to eliminate in his search for universal peace. After eliminating the entire known universe, Ultron stands alone to look over his works - but this isn’t where things end for the mechanical tyrant. His connection to the stones seems to make him aware of The Watcher’s prescence, and he begins to realise that there is a world beyond his own with infinitely more planets to conquer.
Back on Earth, Natasha and Clint begin to search the KGB archives in search of a secret that will give them the ability to take down Ultron, but after hours of searching they find themselves with nothing. Watching fron the shadows, The Watcher toys with the idea of intervening to help them, but decides that the integrity of his oath is too important to do so. Before long, Natasha stumbles across a document relating to Arnim Zola, a German scientist who transferred his consciousness to a computer and lives eternally in a database. They consider the idea that he may be able to infiltrate Ultron’s mainframe, and travel to a deserted HYDRA base in Siberia to track him down. After some persuading, Zola agrees to their plans and downloads his consciousness into one of the Ultron drones that they lure to the base. Upon trying to transfer his contral to the entire Ultron hive mind, however, Zola discovers that he is unable to as Ultron himself is no longer in this universe. As the team attempt to escape from the oncoming Ultron hoard, they seem become overwhelmed and Hawkeye is forced to sacrifice himself to save Natasha and Zola’s consciousness. It’s now a race against time for Natasha and Zola to find Ultron, who we learn has managed to break through the boundaries of the multiverse and come face to face with The Watcher in his domain. Following a spectacular multiversal battle between the two, The Watcher flees at the last second and recruits the dark Strange Supreme from Episode 4 - breaking his oath of interference and vowing to protect the multiverse from Ultron.
The Review
I won’t be the first to observe that this week’s episode of What If..? feels the most like a typical MCU project so far. It’s a sweeping tale of interconnectivity and familiarity that we’ve seen plenty of times before, but told in a refreshing way that capitalises on that signature MCU style. As I’ve said plenty of times before in these reviews, What If..? works best when it’s telling bold and creative stories that aren’t possible within the confines of the main cinematic universe - which is exactly what this episode does well. There’s no way we’re going to see this story play out in the main timeline, but the show gives these impossible stories a home where they can unleash their creativity without suffering any consequences outside of the show. The show offers so much possibility - and that’s why it’s often so frustrating when these possibilities aren’t explored in the most fulfilling ways, which thankfully this episode doesn’t fall victim to. It’s an extremely effective story both on its own and in the continuity of the multiverse, and it does a great job of building anticipation for the finale to come.
As a whole, What If..? has been a bit of a mixed bag so far, but it seems like it’s shaping up for a great finale with some effective emotional payoffs that will hopefully make those less interesting episodes worth it. It’s been great to see so many interesting characters returning and going back to plenty of exciting locations from the MCU’s history, and I’m sure that seeing these worlds collide is going to be a great conclusion to the series.