Marvel's "What If...?" is all about reimagining the MCU as we know it.
Episode 1 saw Peggy Carter become the world's first supersoldier instead of Steve Rogers,
while Episode 2 saw T'Challa as Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill.
However, for Episode 3, it's more than just a simple substitution.
The story revolves around the Avengers and Nick Fury's quest to bring the group together.
Simply put, the question we're meant to ask ourselves in this episode is, "What if the
Avengers never happened?"
"Wow.
So serious."
The episode primarily focuses on how the Avengers are picked off one by one; even the strongest
and seemingly immortal ones get their tails handed to them in one shocking death after
the next.
First, Tony Stark is killed by Natasha Romanoff accidentally.
Then, Clint Barton inadvertently takes out Thor, with the archer's death following in
a prison cell shortly after.
The Hulk is the next to meet his end in rather gruesome death, and sadly, we say goodbye
to Natasha -- again -- as she's the last of the group to bite the bullet.
For most of the episode, we wonder who is the person behind these attacks, and while
they weren't exactly hiding in plain sight, they were right in front of us the whole time.
"What a fascinating choice of words."
Natasha figures out the mysterious killer after logging into some SHIELD files at a
public library.
She realizes that Hope Van Dyne had also logged into the system, despite being dead for two
years.
After hearing Natasha screaming to him on the phone that it's "all about Hope," Nick
Fury heads to the Wasp's gravesite, where he's met by her father, Hank Pym.
Looking absolutely haggard, Hank is revealed as the killer of all five Avengers.
We then get a small flashback of the deaths of the would-be Avengers where we see tiny
little Hank in his Ant-Man outfit killing all of the would-be superheroes — so the
fact that we couldn't see the killer the whole time should have been a dead giveaway.
It turns out Hank is exacting revenge on SHIELD for the death of his daughter, who, Fury explains,
died outside of Ukraine during a mission for the agency.
Hank blames SHIELD for her death and decides the appropriate revenge is killing five people,
wanting Fury to see everything he's worked for regarding the Avengers die.
"You never cared about Hope!"
"I don't give a damn about any of 'em!"
In a shocking twist no one could see coming, Fury takes down the man who killed five Avengers
— with the help of Loki.
The God of Mischief has already come to Earth for vengeance after learning of Thor's death,
but Fury convinces him to give him more time to find the killer.
With the help of Loki's magic, Fury has the upper hand over Hank, and the latter is eventually
taken into custody.
Here is where we get to imagine what would happen in the MCU if Hank killed five of the
six Avengers.
After Fury tells Loki to go back where he came from, the trickster reveals he wants
to extend his stay on Midgard with a mischievous grin.
We then see Loki give a speech at the United Nations in New York City, where he appears
to have become the new leader of Earth.
Now it's time for a new group of heroes to assemble to take down Loki, who is living
out the life he only could have dreamed of in another reality.
"The Avengers fell before they had a chance to rise.
May they rest in peace."
"They can.
But we won't."
As you watch the episode and the poor Avengers get picked off one by one, you might wonder
where Captain America was.
Well, he was still doing time as a capsicle under the ice.
Fury also puts a call out on his favorite pager while dusting the snow off of Cap's
frozen shield.
At the end of the episode, Captain Marvel pops in, ready for battle.
So we now have a team of two Avengers who will take on Loki as he rules the world with
a loyal army of Asgardians behind him.
In this reality, things are vastly different than we know them from the Infinity Saga timeline.
Knocking out Natasha, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Hawkeye means only a few superpeople
and worthy SHIELD agents are left.
Based on this timeline and the story of Hope Van Dyne and Hank Pym, we can assume that
Scott Lang is just a regular old criminal and not Ant-Man.
The Winter Soldier is still out there somewhere, but he likely won't be recruited into a new
Avenger team.
Spider-Man in this universe isn't around yet, and the Guardians of the Galaxy have yet to
be formed.
T'Challa also hasn't taken on the mantle of Black Panther, which means it's slim pickings
for Fury.
It looks like Loki might have a nice run as ruler of Midgard for quite some time, but
Captain Marvel should be a worthy adversary of the trickster.
Together with Steve Rogers, the pair might be able to take him down, but only if Fury
can find them some strong sidekicks.
This episode really has us wondering what it will take for the Watcher to get involved.
If killing five Avengers doesn't encourage him to step in, what will?
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