Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first eight episodes of Marvel's What If…? Be sure to check out our review of What If…?: Episode 8.
Much like the comics that inspired it, Marvel's What If…? is an anthology series showing us glimpses of other worlds where familiar events played out differently. That's been both the show's biggest appeal and its great flaw. These glimpses of alternate universes are entertaining, but does any of this truly matter to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? As it turns out, it does.
The penultimate chapter of What If…? Season 1 has revealed a deeper plan at work. There is an overarching story at play, even if that's only becoming obvious now. Let's break down what we know ahead of the Season 1 finale and why What If…? might have just become required viewing for MCU fans.
Ultron's Infinite Upgrade
Episode 8 introduces a Marvel Universe where Ultron successfully implants his consciousness into Vision's body, rendering Earth's Mightiest Heroes powerless to stop his global rampage. But that's only the first of two big upgrades Ultron receives in this episode. He shortly slaughters Thanos and acquires the other five Infinity Stones, effectively rendering him both omnipotent and omniscient. He even becomes capable of peering through the barriers between universes and sensing Uatu watching him.
That's the moment that changes everything for What If…?. Uatu is no longer just a passive observer of alternate realities, but one whose very existence is now in peril. Like many scientists before him, Uatu has learned the hard way that you can't observe an experiment without affecting it. In this case, he's transformed an already unstoppable Ultron into a villain hellbent on wiping out all life in the multiverse.
While not the first episode to end on a cliffhanger, Episode 8 is the first to build on previous chapters in a real, concrete way. We now know why Episode 7 ended with this Ultron/Vision hybrid attacking Thor and Jane Foster. Ultron has evolved to become the true villain of the series, and that threat is only continuing to grow as the finale looms.
Episode 8 seemingly violates traditional Marvel lore when it comes to the Infinity Stones. The stones aren't supposed to function outside the confines of their home universe. Even in the Loki series, we saw that these gems are nothing more than harmless paperweights in the realm of the Time Variance Authority. Is this a continuity error, or has Ultron found a way of channeling their power in any universe? If the latter, that could play into how this genocidal robot will be defeated. Cut off his power source and suddenly the playing field is leveled again.
Uatu: The Watcher No More?
Whether or not Ultron is defeated in the Season 1 finale, it's safe to assume this high-stakes battle will have a profound effect on Uatu. No longer can he merely sit back, observe and pretend his life isn't caught up in the tangled web of those he watches. He's been forced to violate the central tenet of the Watchers – observe, but never interfere.
In the comics, Uatu has a habit of bending or outright breaking that rule when he feels the situation is dire enough. That trend started way back in his original Fantastic Four appearance, as it was he who warned the FF Galactus was coming to devour Earth. Episode 8 seems to be setting that ball in motion in the MCU.
This may well be the start of a bigger character arc for Uatu in the series. Having learned that he can't always sit back and passively observe the multiverse, Uatu may start taking it upon himself to interfere in other crises. Season 2 could be framed around episodes where Uatu tries to "fix" things, only for the unintended consequences of that interference snowballing over the course of multiple episodes. He might have to learn the hard way that there's a happy medium between "never interfere" and "play God with the multiverse."
The real question is whether this might be a catalyst for Uatu's appearance in the live-action movies. Could we see him pop up with a dire warning about Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or heralding the coming of Galactus in Fantastic Four?
It also remains to be seen what sort of ongoing role the various alternate universe heroes will play in the series. Episode 8 suggests Uatu will have to form a team to battle Ultron, starting with the twisted Strange Supreme and probably including other familiar faces like Captain Carter and Episode 7's Thor. Could that team remain active in Season 2? Could the series essentially be introducing the MCU version of the Exiles, a team tasked with protecting the multiverse in the comics? It's certainly one possibility.
Arnim Zola's Surprise Return
Beyond the confirmation that there's a deeper, ongoing narrative at work in the series, Episode 8 has other fascinating implications for the MCU. Here we learn that Arnom Zola's digital consciousness wasn't destroyed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, because a second backup still exists in Hydra's Siberian base seen in Captain America: Civil War.
Obviously, this episode isn't set in the regular MCU, but is there any reason to assume the same thing didn't happen in that universe as well? It's very likely a version of Zola does still exist in the MCU, one simply biding his time until Hydra or another organization boots him back up. Zola seems like a logical choice of villain for the upcoming fourth Captain America movie or a new season of Captain America and the Winter Soldier.
If that happens, What If…? will have set the stage for Zola's return. It's enough to wonder what other Easter eggs the creators might have hidden in the series. Could there be other hints toward upcoming plot twists in the movies? If the prospect of a more coherent, serialized story isn't enough incentive to keep watching, maybe teases for the MCU's future will do the trick.
While we wait for the Season 1 finale, check out IGN's breakdown of all the MCU actors who have provided voices for the series, as well as all the most shocking What If…? moments.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.