The Nerds continue to review the new Disney+ series Marvel’s What If…?; now we’re up to episode 3! Can this weeks episode top last week’s first ever perfect score?!

The Nerd Review is still not about movies and all about Marvel’s What If…? Series. The general concept for the series is that The Watcher is, more or less, the narrator leading us through some of our favorite stories from the MCU that have had some very important elements changed. In the wake of the Loki season finale clearly setting up the Multiverse, this series is all about the Multiverse and the different variations that can permeate through such a concept.

Also if we compare last week’s numbers, Metacritic never seems to move…seems fairly worthless at this point. IMDB is down a tenth of a point for this episode; and Rotten Tomatoes is finally tied on Critic and Audience score. So generally speaking it’s hold steady or trending upwards. Do our nerds feel the same?

• Metacritic: 69
• IMDB: 8.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 93% – Audience: 93%

Episode 3: What If…. the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes? (2021)

Dave Ungar:

In Episode 3, we get the darkest Episode yet. The general concept explores the notion that Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, The Hulk, and Black Widow all get murdered by an unknown assailant. In one fell swoop, everything we know about The Avengers gets gutted. To make matters worse, Loki takes it very personally that his brother was killed (apparently by someone other than him) and he comes to Midgard with an army of Asgardians who are all too eager to avenge the death of Odinson. This puts Nick Fury in a definite bind as he has to reveal the killer in 24 hours or else Loki will invade with his forces. In the end, Fury and Loki work together to reveal that the killer is none other than Hank Pym, who is highly pissed off and grief stricken that his daughter, Hope, died on Fury’s watch. Pym is foiled and arrested….and Loki takes over the Earth anyway. The Episode ends with Nick Fury having to recruit a couple of “captains” to help him in his struggle against the God of Mischief.

While I will have to disagree with Rey about this being my favorite Episode so far, it is still excellent. Two things really stood out for me and they appealed to my inner child who still considers himself a Marvel comics fan first and an MCU fan second. I loved how Loki was brought back to his quasi-evil roots here. Gone was the playful, mischievous, unsure if he is in love or not, anti-hero from the Loki series. He was replaced by the power hungry, megalomaniacal, oppressive, prick from the comics. I loved that. Loki has always been in the Top 10 of my greatest Marvel villains of all-time. Yes, I love toned down and, dare I say, family-friendly (sort of) Loki from the streaming series and Phase III of the MCU as much as the next guy. But seeing evil Loki return in all his grandeur was just too much fun. The fact that he helps Nick Fury, and then double crosses him and all of Earth, is classic Loki. That is one of the best aspects of What If? Its portrayal of the Multiverse is really, in many ways, just showing us things from the comics that have either been forgotten, or have been watered down sharply over the years.

A point in case is the other aspect of this Episode I liked so much, and that was the showing of a much darker version of Hank Pym. In the movies, Hank Pym has been portrayed as a friendly, neighborhood, almost grand-fatherly type who is clearly on the side of truth, justice, and the Marvel way. Those of us who have read a lot of the comics, however, know this is not an accurate portrayal of Hank Pym. Yes, he is one of the smartest men in all of the Marvel Universe. But he almost always has been one of the most cunning individuals in Marvel and someone who was always tormented by his own self-doubt. In the MCU, it is Tony Stark and Bruce Banner who created Ultron; in the comics, Hank Pym was the creator of Ultron, a being infinitely more dangerous in the comics than his brief and underwhelming appearance in the MCU. Hank Pym had all sorts of mental issues and conditions bordering on schizophrenia. He betrayed the Avengers, abused his wife, and was a Grade A douchebag for much of his Marvel tenure.

Quite a departure from what we got in the movies, right? Well, What If showed the darker side of this same character. And while his motivations might be understandable as he blames Fury for the death of his daughter, seeing Pym portrayed this way is going to be an eye opener for a lot of people. In fact, this variation of Pym, someone who murdered no less than five heroes without much in the way of compunction, is a more villainous version of Pym than we probably got in the comics. It is all brilliantly done though and adds some much-needed depth to the MCU. Hopefully, it drives fans to pick up the comics to get some deeper knowledge of these characters.

As I mentioned, this is not my favorite Episode, or even my second favorite. But I thought it was another stellar Episode to be sure. Its not going to appeal to everyone and the sight of two of the Big Three getting killed is going to turn some people off pretty quickly. But it is a compelling story that is a definite throwback to the early days of Marvel Comics and is another fantastic installment in this excellent series.

Rating: 4.5/5

Rey Cash:

Last week’s episode of What If…? was given a 5 out of 5 by both me and Dave.  It’s not often that happens.  In fact, had our fearless leader Patrick O’Dowd been here, he surely would’ve given it some weird Eastern European-esque number much lower than 5.  Joking aside, as perfect as last week’s episode was, Episode 3 was even better.  Marvel continues to raise the bar.

With respect to last week’s episode, it was one based wholly on emotion.  You had the emotion of T’Challa changing everyone he was around, the emotion of seeing Thanos turn into Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince, and most importantly, the emotion of hearing the legendary Chadwick Boseman in his final Marvel role ever.  This week, however, was all about the story.  And because of that, it hit on so many more marks for me.

It’s no secret that quite literally and figuratively, there is no MCU without The Avengers.  On screen, the 6 OG’s have saved the world more times than Loki has turned on Thor.  However, in real life, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an unsure idea at the beginning of this journey.  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johannsen, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner quite literally built the brand to where it is today.  So on What If…?, the question of “what if the Avengers never existed,” once again, quite literally changes everything.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury famously had an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people and see if they could become something more.  In this episode, he never gets the chance to see that idea through.  Iron Man is killed in Iron Man 2 just as Fury and Black Widow try to heal him.  Because of this death, Widow is imprisoned.  Fury, always two steps ahead, gives her the means to escape so that she can find out who framed her.  In New Mexico, Agent Phil Coulson finds Mjolnir and Clint Barton is tasked with protecting the site.  Just as Thor is going to grab Mjolnir, Barton’s arrow releases and kills Thor.  He too is arrested.  In SHIELD jail, he is found dead.  Natasha, still trying to find the perpetrator, goes to find Betty Ross in hopes of finding Bruce Banner.  General Thunderbolt Ross and the US Army finds her and goes to attack her and Banner, and as Banner turns into the Hulk, he literally explodes.  And finally, Romanov is killed just as she finds out who the killer was.

Who doesn’t love a good whodunnit?  Thinking of a world with no Avengers is almost unimaginable, but here, it’s the reality that Fury, Coulson, and SHIELD are faced with.  To make matters worse, Loki, Sif, and the Asguardian army come to Midgard AKA Earth to get vengeance for Thor’s killing.  Fury barters for time and Loki obliges.  He gets Widow’s dying message saying the word Hope, and instantly, Fury knows who the killer is.  It’s Hank Pym, the original Iron Man.  See, in this universe, Hope Van Dyne joined SHIELD as an agent and was killed in duty.  Pym, who was never the most stable guy anyway, garners the Yellow Jacket suit and finds the Avengers Initiative, killing all of the candidates to send a message to SHIELD.  The final battle with Loki disguised as Fury is a great ending to a great story.  And in typical Loki fashion, he chooses to stay on Earth and subjugate it, taking dominion over the world’s countries.  Fury and Coulson bury the 5 Avengers and heads to the Arctic and sees the Captain America shield in the ice.  And he’s joined by his old friend and Earth’s greatest protector, Captain Marvel, ready for a fight.  The fight for Earth is back on.

This episode has what the other two didn’t – a fully formed story much deeper than a moment.  I’d pay to see this episode be converted into a full movie.  That’s what good entertainment is supposed to do – leave you feeling satisfied and wanting more.  Once again, Marvel flawlessly knocked this one out of the park.  This was so good, I’m going to have to go to the Tokyo Dome for my score.  6 stars baby!

Rating: 6/5

Overall Nerds’ Rating for What If…. the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?: 5.25/5.0