Spoilers What If...? discussion thread

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by The Nth Doctor, Aug 4, 2021.

  1. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Saw the Killmonger episode this morning and as others have noted, I found the ending a little abrupt, even as I'm not sure I wanted to see more, and a bit underwhelming.

    I imagine that at some point T'Chaka will suffer an unfortunate accident and Killmonger will become king of Wakanda, given how events seemed to be progressing.

    I'm a bit confused as to how Shuri(sp?) could have access to the footage of Killmonger dealing with T'Challa and Rhodes. I'm also not sure how Klaue didn't see the sudden-yet-seemingly-inevitable betrayal coming, though I guess it does parallel how things panned out in the Sacred Timeline; I was kind of hoping that their alliance was legitimate in this timeline even though I didn't really expect it.

    Interesting parallels drawn between Killmonger and Stark in the episode, enough to make me wonder whether a better Tony could have swayed Killmonger from his agenda.

    In the end I guess I just don't really know what Killmonger's agenda is in this or any other timeline beyond 'take over the world'. All of his potentially-noble talk is undercut by his hypocrisy, and I don't think we've seen a timeline where he was genuine with anyone...even a moment of self-doubt might make the character significantly more sympathetic. Yes, he was done wrong by T'Chaka, but...is he supposed to be the dark mirror of Stark, in the sense of being someone who never got over his childhood traumas (not that Stark always did either as evidenced in Civil War)?

    TL;DR it's at least a bit less by-the-numbers than Captain Carter, but I can't say whether this one or CC is my least favorite installment thus far.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I would guess that the Black Panther costume had sensors that recorded it. Although that leaves the question of why they didn't receive that telemetry at the time it happened and already know that Killmonger was the bad guy. Maybe she had to reconstruct it from some kind of sensor data that wasn't designed for that purpose.
     
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  3. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    As good an explanation as any.
     
  4. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That or she was able to reconstruct it from Jarvis’s files.
     
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  5. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    One thing though. In the Black panther feature film the only reason Killmonger was able to take out T'Challa in a melee/hand-to-hand fight was because T'Challa had the power of the Black Panther removed prior to that fight.

    In the situation of this What If episode, when the Black Panther appears in an effort to stop the U.S. and Killmonger from obtaining Klaw's vibranium stockpile, one would assume T'Challa was fully enpowered with the Black Panther abilities; yet Killmonger still took him out fairly quickly and easily in the end.:wtf:
     
  6. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Killmonger had a fancy toy that he didn't have in the film.
     
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  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    This episode takes place in 2008, the same time frame as Iron Man, so T'Challa is a decade less experienced than he was in Black Panther. So is Killmonger, of course, but his upbringing has been more violent.
     
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  8. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Question. These multiverses were created as a result of Loki or have they always existed? What would The Watcher be up to if he had no multiverses to watch?
     
  9. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Watching the Monoverse. The Watcher was around long before Marvel introduced the multiverse concept into it's continuity.
     
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  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I don't see how you can define the concept of "before" or "after" when dealing with time travel. Anything that happens in the past has already happened, by definition, even if a single observer's worldline loops around backward and experiences it "later" than an event in the present.


    That strikes me as an unnecessary coinage, given that "mono-" and "uni-" mean exactly the same thing.
     
  11. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I don't expect it to catch on. Just wanted a word that began with "M" like multiverse.
     
  12. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Uatu specifically says "...these vast new realties..." so I take it as these universe are the direct result of Sylvie's actions.
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yeah, but you can't really define "when" that happened relative to us, since Loki didn't take place in the present day. From Loki's perspective, the story began when he fled with the Tesseract in 2012, and after that he was bouncing all over the timeline or occupying a realm outside of time. Heck, the action Sylvie took that unlocked the Multiverse took place at what was explicitly described as the end of time in the far, far future! So it's impossible to define how any of that relates to our time frame as viewers, or the time frame of the MCU characters in shows taking place in the 2020s.
     
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  14. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "New" could simply mean "new to us", as in, realities we as viewers haven't previously witnessed.
     
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  15. valkyrie013

    valkyrie013 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Isn't some of these stories going to have a second part coming out?
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    It's reportedly a possibility, but that's not the way What If...? usually works. It is an anthology, after all.
     
  17. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    New to Uatu. I'm sure he's a time-sensitive being (to borrow from Doctor Who) who can tell when things change in the flow of time for everything.
     
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  18. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    He Who Remains said that he isolated his timeline from the others to save it from the Multiversal War, which leads me to believe all these other realities already existed but now the "Sacred Timeline" is no longer separated from them or the rest of the multiverse.
     
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  19. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I agree that most if not all of What If...? was standalone stories, but I think I do remember at least one occasion where some of the various timelines began interacting with each other.
     
  20. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Admiral Admiral

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    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021