Hey everyone, I'm The Canadian Lad and I just watched What If Episode 6 at 0.25x speed.
This episode is called "What if Killmonger rescued Tony Stark" well, they could have
easily named it "What if Killmonger backstabs everyone he ever works with?"
That's how crazy this episode was!
And I've actually done the counting, there were a total 6 betrayals from Killmonger in
this 32 minutes episode.
That's one big betrayal every 5 minutes or so!
I mean, he could give Palpatine a run for his money!
Anyway, without wasting any time, let's begin our breakdown!
Now for this episode, Michal B. Jordan, Jon Favreau, Chadwick Boseman, Angela Bassett,
Andy Serkis, Don Cheadle and Paul Bettany all come back to reprise their respective
roles.
One of the reasons we can relate to the MCU so much is because no matter how small a role
is, Marvel always ensures the original actors are portraying them.
For example this scene in Endgame when Alexander Pierce walks into the Stark Tower, imagine
if Robert Redford hadn't played this character!
The continuity would be broken and therefore diminish the authenticity of the story.
Which is exactly what makes this episode so great, Paul Bettany even came back to do voice-overs
for less than 5 lines!
Anyway, the episode opens in Afghanistan the exact same way as it did in Iron Man back
in 2008.
Even the two soldiers getting killed who were guarding Tony, the animation has been directly
ripped from the original Iron Man film.
But in this one, instead of getting blown by his own made missile, he gets saved by
Erik Killmonger, who literally hurls the missle even without the powers of Black Panther.
This immediately establishes the extreme strength and ability of Killmonger.
Then we get a glimpse of what was supposed to happen, how Tony was destined to become
one of the greatest superheroes of all time but unfortunately this event changed everything.
Now I loved how Marvel overlapped the Killmonger theme with the Avengers and made it into one
epic background score!
Tony then holds a press-conference answering questions regarding the incident in Afghanistan.
Here he publicly announces Killmonger as the new head of security.
And this obviously shocks Pepper standing in the background but not more than Happy
who says it was supposed to be him.
Now one thing I'm really enjoying in this series is how much attention is given to each
character's expression.
For example in this very scene, Pepper gets shocked but Happy becomes a bit sad.
We can visually see the differences in their expression!
They could have easily given both of them similar facial expressions and nobody would
have complained but they still made sure the story is dictating everything, not the other
way around.
And no, if it wasn't an animated show, I wouldn't have counted this as a detail.
We then see Christine Everhart for the 2nd time in this show after episode 4.
And yes, Leslie Bibb did the voice-over for the character as well.
Now she asks Killmonger what was he doing in Afghanistan in the first place?
And to everybody's surprise, Killmonger admits he was there to kill Tony Stark not save him
and he was working in an operation inside the Ten Rings.
He even reveals that the operation was funded by none other than the COO of Stark Industries,
Obadiah Stane.
My guy even brought receipts to show as proof.
As a result, Tony kicks Obadiah Stane from the company.
- BLAAAAAM - Now even if we take the sacred timeline into
account, it makes perfect sense that Killmonger was in Afghanistan at the time of the attack.
Here is why: Now instead of keeping Killmonger as the new
head of security, Tony promotes him again directly to COO to replace Obadiah Stane.
Now in this party, listen to what Tony and Killmonger say before cheering with their
drinks: "They came for the King and they missed".
This is a famous line from the show The Wire which also starred Michael B. Jordan.
Now it's true innit?
I mean, if you manage to strike at a King, you must kill him otherwise get killed yourself.
We then learn that Pepper had asked Rhodey to do a background check on Killmonger.
So Rhodey says Killmonger has done a pretty good job for a kid from Oakland.
And of course in Black Panther we had previously seen that Erik did grow up in Oakland city
in California.
Erik has been highly trained in assassinations which really scares Pepper.
She says everyone comes to Tony to get some sort of advantage and it's her job to figure
out what exactly it is that they want.
But even she is confused with Killmonger.
She is not able to read his motives or predict any of his moves.
And that's what concerns Pepper the most.
Cut to Tony's garage where he brought Killmonger along with him.
Here we see a series of sports cars just like we've seen in Iron Man 1.
Including a Ford Flathead Roadster which originally inspired the colors of Tony Stark's suit.
Tony then reveals that he has been working to miniaturize the Jericho missile into a
portable firearm.
Jericho was the reason why Tony went to Afghanistan in the first place.
He showed a live demonstration of what it can do and sold it to the US Military.
I mean, look at the sizes of the missiles and let's not even talk about the destruction
they are capable of causing.
So in this universe, Tony has figured out a way to miniaturize all of that into this
small portable firearm.
Killmonger then says his father was killed in a gang violence.
He tries to gain Tony's support emotionally.
He puts on a facade and shares his plan of creating a drone army to obsolete human soldiers.
Now notice what Killmonger does just moments before sharing his plan:
As you can see Killmonger actually breaks the fourth wall and makes direct eye-contact
with the audience.
Him looking right at the camera or the audience in this case was a direct hint that he is
manipulating Tony to turn his idea into reality.
Tony of course agrees to work with Killmonger.
He thinks he's paying off a favor by doing this.
We then see the design of the drone made by Killmonger which even Tony thinks is a little
too bold!
Now the design looks really similar to Gundam.
Gundam is a fictional Japanese military robot.
Now Killmonger explains why he designed it after Gundam:
Now the fun part is Michael B. Jordan is a massive anime fan so I'm sure he might have
something to do with this line.
We then see Tony a bit struggling with his drinking habit.
And throughout the episode, his drinking kept on increasing by the minute.
This could be a reference to the comics where Tony did have an issue with alcohol.
Even though in the first ever look at Tony, we saw the camera solely focusing on his drink
but the MCU never really paid any great attention to it.
And that's why I find What If so captivating, it sticks to the comics no matter how evil
or dark the story gets.
Tony and Killmonger then work on building the drone.
He uses the same tech as we've seen in live-action.
He then puts Jarvis at the wheel saying "human pilots mean human error"
And in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we saw a sticker on the Quinjet that says "Jarvis is my co-pilot".
Killmonger then trains the drones by teaching them combat moves.
Now the visual look of the drones also resemble the drones Ivan Vanko made back in Iron Man
2.
We get a failed operation test, which is again a callback to the original film.
Now when they both get frustrated by their failure to create a sustaining power source
for the drones Tony comes up with an idea of creating a miniaturized
Arc-Reactor.
A miniature arc reactor, of course, is what kept him alive after shrapnel was embedded
in his heart and chest in Iron Man 1.
Now notice when Tony talks about creating a miniaturized arc-reactor, he even puts his
hand over his heart.
Now to prove that I'm not reaching and this is genuinely a detail, I'll play the scene
for you.
Notice when he has the idea, he puts his hand over his heart but as soon as he drops the
idea, he removes his hand as well.
Killmonger then suggests using vibranium to power the drones, which actually shocks Tony
as he knew the only piece left of Vibranium was used in making Cap's shield.
Now the next detail could be a bit far-fetched but hear me out,
notice we never see the necklace on Killmonger as he keeps it hidden for the most part up
until he needs to reveal it to achieve his mission.
But in the main timeline he always has it hanging on his neck and never tries to hide
it.
So I think this hiding of the ring in this universe could be a metaphor of him hiding
his real motives.
In this timeline, he never really shares what he's up to, unless and until it becomes absolutely
necessary!
So yeah, I think it's a reach but lemme know what you think.
The vibranium then creates an energy field around them which is directly taken from Iron
Man 2 where Tony creates a new element.
But this much vibranium of course isn't enough to power an entire army of drones, so Tony
proposes going to Ulysses Klaue to buy more Vibranium from the black market.
Pepper thinks it's not a good idea so Tony says how about we send Rhodey instead?
To which Killmonger says that's a great idea!
Now notice even at the office, Tony was still drinking or should I say he already had one
considering the glass seems empty.
Now if I just rewind back a few seconds, I loved this exchange between Tony and Pepper.
"Are you allowed to say NO to people in my tax bracket?"
Meaning, this version of Tony learned no lesson as he wasn't held captive in the cave.
But if you think about it, Playboy Arrogant Tony is supposed to talk like this.
In fact he did in the main timeline but that was for a very brief time.
With today's culture and time, I don't think people would have appreciated Tony's character
and simply jump to conclusions and cancel him.
If we learn anything from seeing the entire arc of Tony, that is everyone deserves a 2nd
chance, nobody is perfect.
We then meet Ulysses Klaue in the Salvage Yard.
It’s the same place where Klaue hides out when we see him for the first time in Age
Of Ultron.
Ulysses shows Rhodey a Dora Milaje spear as well as tons of vials containing Vibranium.
But that's when the ship gets infiltrated by T'Challa aka Black Panther.
He takes out each and every man of Ulysses Klaue, that too in some fashion!
Now this slo-mo shot over here shows just how fast Black Panther is!
I mean, this guy didn't even get enough time to look at Black Panther, he is still gazing
upwards towards his front.
While Black Panther over here has already reached a vicinity from where he can easily
throw a punch!
I think this is the first time we are seeing Black Panther utilizing his speed in hand-to-hand
combat.
T'Challa asks Rhodey to let him take the Vibranium where it belongs
but enters Killmonger who uses a sonic taser which instantly neutralizes both Rhodes and
T'Challa.
We saw a similar version of this weapon in live-action as well but of course every weapon
in this universe is either drastically bigger or smaller than the live-action one.
Now I've seen some people asking how did Tony not know that Killmonger took the Sonic taser
with him in this ship, well don't forget Tony was the one who made
him the COO of Stark Industries, so Killmonger has access that doesn't require oversight
from Tony.
Now Black Panther who was already struggling with the sonic taser then literally gets shot
with a sonic blast and this eventually kills him.
Killmonger rips the glove off of T'Challa and uses it to smash this door open!
He says: This was foreshadowing how he will eventually
take on the mantle of Black Panther.
He then kills Rhodey and we come to know Ulysses and Killmonger were in on it together.
That's why Ulysses was slowly walking backwards without anybody noticing!
Killmonger was the one who spread the word to the Wakandans that Rhodey will be here
to buy Vibranium.
So bringing T'Challa here and killing him was all part of Killmonger's plan.
The Dora Milaje then carries the body of T'Challa away in a casket while the Military takes
Rhodey's.
Now in T'Challa's casket it says "Wakanda Forever", I've actually checked the Wakandan
letters so I can confirm it.
Tony then exposes Killmonger by showing him holographic footage of the murders he committed
recorded by Jarvis.
This does seem like the same holographic technology that Tony used in Iron Man 3 to investigate
who attacked Happy.
Tony is of course again drinking but notice he has a bracelet on this time.
He didn't wear it until now.
This was foreshadowing that he completed making the Drone and can control it through this
bracelet.
Now Tony says something here that is probably one of the heaviest lines in the MCU:
Tony then uses these metal panels enclosing the room so that Killmonger cannot escape.
I'll be honest, the way these metal panels were closing kinda reminded me of Endgame
where Tony did the same in the Avengers compound just before Hulk's snap.
Now against the drone, Killmonger was in fact struggling but then realizes he has to change
the pattern of his fight because the drone already knows all of his moves from it's training.
In the process the Drone rips off Killmonger's shirt and it reveals the marks that he made
for each kill.
Killmonger spots this vibranium spear which he uses to take down this drone.
He then throws the spear towards Tony and says he genuinely thought he wouldn't need
to kill him.
After Tony dies for like the 4th time now giving really tough competition to Vision
eh, Killmonger then uses a knife and adds another mark to his collection of scars.
This is the first time we visually see him adding a scar on his body.
The next day General Ross shows up and seizes all of Tony's assets.
Happy and Pepper both get suspicious of Killmonger, as security footage as well as Jarvis' memory
were all wiped clean!
And who has access to wipe all this?
That's right.
So a character that looks like Gwyneth Paltrow again finds herself in a situation that is
really similar to the plot of The Talented Mr Ripley.
I wish Gwyneth Paltrow came back to do voice-over for her character so I could phrase this whole
point in an even better way!
Killmonger then pulls off another chess move as he convinced General Ross that Tony's murder
was done by the Wakandans to take revenge for T'Challa's death.
So General Ross commands them to begin production on the Automated Drones so they can go to
war with Wakanda.
Killmonger then again succeeds on his plan of producing hundreds of Drones with the help
of the US Military, that too with money coming in from Stark Industries.
If you think this was a genius move, just wait until the end of the episode where he
pulls off even greater moves!
Ulysses then shows Killmonger the path to Wakanda and of course as soon as Ulysses became
useless to him, Killmonger killed him as well.
He then drags his body to Wakanda in order to prove his loyalty as he just killed the
man who used to steal from Wakanda.
King T'Chaka welcomes and accepts Killmonger with open arms while Shuri and Ramonda are
a bit reluctant.
Now notice Shuri is relatively shorter here than the rest of the people.
If you found it odd, don't forget it's taking place back in 2008 so Shuri was still a kid.
But what's different in this universe is the fact that Shuri has these white dots on her
face all the time whereas in the main timeline, our Shuri only had it during a battle.
Killmonger then warns that the US Military is sending an army of drones.
I mean, this is the sixth time he is betraying someone and this time two entire nations!
So he is always playing on both sides which guarantees his victory.
I mean, how could you lose when you have the ability to switch sides whenever you want?
Honestly, if this plot was made into a 2 and a half hour movie with a lot more character
developments, it would definitely be a smash hit.
Now notice how advanced Wakandan tech is even in 2008.
They could see holographic visuals of the drones as they approached the border.
Killmonger then says they have to let the Drones come inside their force shields and
once they're all in, closing the force shield will disconnect Jarvis from all of these drones.
Now kudos to the writers who wrote this epic dialogues for Killmonger which are so compelling
and at the same time hits right where it needs to.
Now the battle begins and everything happens as Killmonger predicted but that definitely
isn't the end, as he now secretly takes control of the drones from Jarvis.
Now listen to the way Killmonger says Wakanda Forever:
It just doesn't sound right, does it?
He doesn't say it with as much conviction as he needs to.
I think that was intentional from the creative team and Michael B. Jordan
I mean, Killmonger is not really in this for Wakanda, all he wants is power!
Now the way the Wakandan army activates their shield is again directly taken from Infinity
War.
And these rhinoceros that Killmonger takes a ride on, was also shown in the end battle
of Black Panther.
Now notice when Killmonger attacks the Drones from the side, even though it made Ramonda
happy but if you think about it, that's kind of Killmonger policy innit?
He's a highly trained warrior who wants nothing but power and for that he will execute any
plans.
He doesn't have to worry about moral grounds and that's why even though Ramonda attacked
from the front but Killmonger didn't hesitate to approach from the rear end or the side.
And notice, in the entire battle, none of the drones tried to attack Killmonger, which
made it easier for him to save the Dora Milaje and gain their trust.
So this proves the drones were in fact under his control.
Again, playing from both sides!
Now here is one more incredible detail from this episode and this is probably my favorite.
When Killmonger stands on top of a damaged drone, he drives his spear across the chest
of this drone, damaging a few letters of the Stark Industries logo.
Now notice if you take out the broken letters, it spells out "Stark In Dust"
And this drone that was built using Stark's resources is also dead.
This is probably one of the best easter eggs I've ever come across in this series.
Now having gained King T'Chaka's trust, Killmonger gets the herb that allows him the powers of
the Black Panther.
Killmonger then meets T'Challa in the Ancestral Plane where T'Challa warns him that power
unearned will eventually get the best of you.
We then see Killmonger donning the black and golden Black Panther suit just like the movie
version.
Now over here General Ross is preparing to deploy the Jericho missiles aiming at Wakanda.
And a helpless Pepper Potts goes back to her office but to her surprise, she finds Shuri.
Now Shuri came here with proof that Killmonger is the one who killed T'Challa, Rhodey and
Tony Stark.
So just like Jarvis was able to record footage of this double murder, T'Challa's Black Panther
suit did the same as well.
But because it's 2008 so I guess Shuri had to do some digging and tinkering with the
suit in order to find out what T'Challa really saw just moments before his death
and this is what he saw, his cousin N'Jadaka aka Killmonger aiming a sonic weapon!
And that's how today's episode ends.
So in the words of The Watcher: "Heroes are never really gone, they live forever."
And that's it, this would be my breakdown of What If Episode 6 at 0.25x speed.
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