The following article contains spoilers for What If…?.
Comic book adaptations have always had to wrestle with deciding who exactly their target audience is. Most films and television shows focus on one specific demographic — but the lines get blurred when it comes to animation. The medium often labeled merely as cartoons are seen as childish to some. That doesn't mean that these films or shows are truly meant for children. Such is the case with Marvel Studios What If…?. The animated series has released a variety in its first six episodes — from heartwarming instances of T’Challa as one universe’s Star Lord to an attempt at post-apocalyptic zombies.
But the show has been marked by its choice to tell some of the more darker and mature stories in the entire MCU. The season’s third episode showed a world where the original Avengers team was murdered, while the fourth explored a version of Doctor Strange transformed and so consumed by grief that he implodes a universe in the process. The sixth episode takes the darker themes from previous episodes and runs full force. “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” is the perfect showcase of just how close the series can touch serious themes and may have fans asking who exactly the show is meant for.
As its title suggests, What If…?’s sixth outing hinges on Erik Stevens, better known as Killmonger in Black Panther, saving Tony Stark in Afghanistan during the events of the first Iron Man film. The premise starts out innocently enough — because Stark is never kidnapped, he never gets to start the emotional journey he needs to become Iron Man, instead gaining a new friend in Killmonger. But the episode soon shifts into the darker tone fans have gotten accustomed to in What If…?. Killmonger uses Stark’s bombastic drive against him, convincing him to bargain for Vibranium from seedy dealers, killing James Rhoades and T’Challa (in another voice appearance by Chadwick Boseman) in the process. The deal gone wrong starts the beginnings of an all-out war with Wakanda over the death of the Black Panther. But Killmonger’s plan doesn’t stop there, and he doesn’t care what body count he has to rack up to complete it. No one is able to get through to Stark except Killmonger, which ultimately results in his death, wiping out the concept of Iron Man entirely. The scene is one of the most gruesome in What If…? so far, as fans are forced to watch Tony Stark realize his betrayal as a spear sinks deeper and deeper into his body.
The episode ends with a glimmer of hope, as Wakanda’s Shuri and Pepper Potts are left to team up to expose the world to Killmonger’s master plan. While the “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” infers that the bad guys don’t always win, it doesn’t feel like an episode some would be running to show their children. It falls into the case-by-case basis some may have already started using with What If…? — some episodes seem more friendly to younger audiences, while others focus on themes meant for adults.
But What If…? never dives fully to one side or the other, instead taking the well-traveled middle route. This isn’t surprising behavior from the MCU, whose bread and butter are blockbusters that never go above a PG-13 rating. Why appeal to one group when you can cover the most ground and have the best chance at making money? But it does come with consequences. Creators are given more hoops to jump through and strict ratings mean that some content can feel overused instead of ambitious and fresh. If Marvel was willing to commit to an older target audience, for example, then perhaps fans could have seen the true carnage Killmonger is capable of in “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” instead of only a few tastes of his villainous behavior. The stories in What If…?, especially this most recent episode, feel like they’re hugging a line that they can never fully cross over.
Producing for a specific audience would be an interesting strategy for Marvel to use, but why change a system that doesn’t feel all that broken? Perhaps more adult content is on the way, buried in the onslaught of MCU content to arrive in the coming months, and even may be coming in the final three episodes of What If…?, but only time will tell. All viewers know now is the series continues to step outside of previous MCU boundaries — only to pull itself back in at the end.
What If…? is available to stream on Disney Plus with new episodes released on Wednesdays.