Marvel's What If...? finally just completed its first, and possibly only, season on Disney+, and fans everywhere have been veritable chatterboxes ever since. Questions have woven themselves through the viewing public starting from the very first episode. But now that everything managed to come together with a neat little interdimensional bow, those queries have only multiplied and evolved, similar to the big bad Ultron himself. In fact, many of those quizzical conundrums revolve around the relentless A.I. baddie.
When the final few episodes began to tie everything together, some fans insisted that it should have stayed disconnected, while others began to raise questions about the various details. For starters, why did Paul Bettany not voice Ultron in What If...? After all, the unhinged creation of Tony Stark did inhabit the body that would have eventually gone to Vision in this alternate universe. It certainly would have been an interesting twist to see an evil Vision out there, at least aside from the white version seen in WandaVision (who wasn't evil, just misunderstood, as many shippers say of their favorite characters). Well, it turns out there's more to it than that.
According to lead writer AC Bradley and series director Bryan Andrews, they wanted things to be a little more nuanced than simply rehashing past characters in new situations. On that note, they brought in Ross Marquand (who also took over the role of Red Skull in his appearances after Captain America: The First Avenger) to voice a new take on Ultron rather than having Bettany take the part or bringing in James Spader to reprise his role from Avengers: Age of Ultron. "We wanted Ultron to be as terrifying as possible, because he's terrifying, and Paul Bettany is the loveliest man on earth," Bradley explained in an interview with EW. "He is such a sweetheart. We felt that, if Paul Bettany using Vision's voice voiced Ultron, it would be too much of a disconnect, because we're asking the audience to believe that this is Ultron in Vision's body and not Vision."
It makes a lot of sense, particularly that last part. Fans will remember that, in Age of Ultron, Jarvis retained his voice when he became Vision. So the body didn't really have an effect on the personality of whoever inhabited it, rather the opposite. This also provided for some new opportunities. "What's interesting is it makes for a brand new type of disconnect where people are seeing Vision's face and they want to hear that voice that they love so much," Andrews added, "but they get this evil voice coming out. It's an extra layer of unsettledness and tension."
Granted, a lot of this could also be a roundabout way to say that Spader wasn't available so they just made do with what they had. But Marquand is both a talented impressionist and an excellent actor in his own right. So the opportunity to create a new Ultron separate from the character's past appearance was probably too delicious to pass up. It certainly allowed for some tense moments, many of which were only intensified by the performances.
What If...? allowed for some truly engaging ideas to see the light of day. What if Doctor Strange abused his powers? What if Chadwick Boseman got one last chance to play T'Challa? What if Thor and Loki were just 2 wholesome party animals? There was a lot to love about the season, and hopefully, that means there's more to come.
Source: Entertainment Weekly