Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 Review – More Like…”Why Did They…?”

Time. Space. Reality. It’s more than a linear path… or so we’ve been told by The Watcher for three seasons now. When it first started, many were curious about the true purpose of What If…? beyond expanding the animation side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While not flawless, the first two seasons introduced incredible ideas, beautiful stories, wonderful characters, and a true sense of how great a multiverse can be (when handled properly, Marvel…). Yet, sadly, this incredible show is ending, and as my Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 Review attests, it’s not going out on a high note.

Seriously, I’m dropping all manner of spoilers across the eight episodes— even Uatu would warn you to turn away if you haven’t seen the season for yourself yet! Still here? Okay, let’s watch everything unfold, shall we?

By this point, even The Watcher knows you get the gist of all that’s happening here. Much like in Season 1 (and my personal favorite, Season 2), What If…? dives into the realms of the multiverse to show you what’s possible when certain events go just a bit outside what you expect. One of the great ironies of this season—unfortunately, in a bad way—is that the first four episodes will arguably leave you scratching your head, while the last four will leave you begging for more… and wishing the first four had been replaced with something better.

To its credit, Season 3 does deliver your typical “Marvel madness,” with all sorts of incredible, wacky, shocking, and sometimes even horrifying storylines for you to observe and watch unfold. There’s a Western episode, an episode with the “Mech Avengers,” a musical piece featuring Agatha Harkness and Kingo, and, of course, Peggy Carter (I love her so, so much).

For my money, one of the things that really helped make (most) of these stories shine—even the ones that don’t—is the voice acting. Sure, we’re used to most of the MCU crew showing up to reprise their roles at this point, but something about this season’s cast made it feel even better. We even got new characters played by incredible talents like America Ferrera and Natasha Lyonne!

Whether it was the serious moments or the funny ones, the cast delivered 95% of the time. And the other 5%…? Yeah, you could tell it wasn’t the same level of quality, which just made the main crew feel even better.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the greatness of the animation. Sure, when What If…? first premiered, it was hard to adjust to the visual style, but it’s been refined and even improved since then. Yes, you’ll still find “curious animation lapses” at points that can be distracting, but then you’ll get to an epic sequence—like the one in the series finale (which I won’t spoil, lest I break my oath!!!)—and find yourself thinking, “How did they pull that off?” They even include fun visual gags with the “Marvel Animation” intro at points to really sell the genre they’re exploring, like a Western vibe, an old-school movie opening, and so on.

Now, when the stories are great? They’re great! Don’t let the score of my Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 Review get you down—there are absolutely some standouts in this set.

For example, I loved the Riri Williams episode (for the most part), 1872, and the two-part series finale (and no, not JUST because of Peggy… though she definitely helped a lot). Those four episodes really saved the season in my mind, and there were some excellent teases of the greater Marvel multiverse that I wish would be expanded upon more.

Sadly, that means I must talk about the first four episodes… and that’s a bit painful at times.

The first four episodes had the potential to be great, but they were held back by similar threads, cringe-worthy writing at times, and questionable choices of main characters. Not to mention, there were some “big swings” that may or may not pay off depending on how you feel about certain Marvel movies.

When I say that the first three episodes ended with a “Power of Friendship” conclusion, followed by a “Power of Love” ending, I’m not joking! That’s truly how the first four episodes wrapped up, and it really disappointed me.

Some of the episodes just felt “off” from the start, like the Red Guardian/Winter Soldier episode or the Agatha Harkness episode. That said, her episode was still better than the entire Eternals movie. I said it!

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the now-CANONICAL event of Darcy having Howard the Duck’s child… and literally laying an egg. I… how… why…? Let’s just move on.

That brings me to a key element of my Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 Review. In fact, it’s the literal subtitle of this review: “Why Did They…?”

I asked that question throughout this season (and yes, even in the good episodes). Sometimes, it was for quality reasons. Other times, it was for story reasons. And sometimes, it was because I genuinely had no idea what they were doing or how they got away with certain choices. (Seriously, they had Darcy lay an egg!!!)

For example, in the first episode: “Why did they do an episode about Mech Avengers when that wasn’t the focus of the episode?” I was honestly excited for that premise and eager to see how it all came together. The intro (via the “Gamma Wars”) was mostly intriguing, and with the new Avengers squad and their mechs, I wanted to see an epic battle for the fate of the world.

Instead, we got the briefest of mech fights before it shifted entirely to an “Apex Hulk vs. Apex Monster” showdown. That’s not what we wanted! And yes, that episode ended with the “power of friendship” saving the day—again, not what we wanted.

Or take the Red Guardian/Winter Soldier episode: “Why did they do the ending like that?” Winter Soldier resists the mind control (POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!!!), leaps into battle with his new friend… and then somehow gets captured again? Meanwhile, Red Guardian just casually starts living in America without issue and becomes part of the Avengers? The phrase “leaps in logic” was another one I used frequently this season.

And I can keep going. When it comes to the good episodes: “Why did they not explain the importance of The Hood?” That’s a key artifact in Marvel lore, yet the show barely scratched the surface of its significance. Speaking of lore, another question could be, “Why did they use certain lesser-known MCU characters as key players in the story?” For example, Riri Williams. While her episode was solid, she’s only had a small role in the MCU so far. Or consider the return of a certain Walton Goggins character—did you even remember he existed? I’ve seen every major MCU show and film, and even I had trouble connecting names and faces for some of these characters, even after they reintroduced themselves.

Arguably, the biggest sticking point for this line of questioning is: “Why did they not reveal the origins of The Exiles?”

Season 2 ended with Peggy and Kahhori saving the multiverse before being sent home. In Peggy’s case, she was shown the multiverse before being sent back. Yet by the time we catch up with her in Episode 8, she’s already leading a team of Exiles—and there’s no explanation as to how this came to be.

This stuck out like a sore thumb. Byrdie is now a fully grown woman, Thunder Goddess Storm is on the team, and we’re just supposed to roll with it? How did we not get an episode about them coming together? That would’ve been incredible! Not to mention, it would’ve made the finale far more impactful. Peggy’s sacrifice to save her friends should’ve hit harder, but we’re meeting this group for the first time as a unit. Sure, they infer that they’ve had “multiple adventures together,” but we never saw them!

I’d have happily traded the Red Guardian/Winter Soldier episode—or the Howard/Darcy egg episode—for an Exiles origin story. Yet, it wasn’t to be.

And sadly, that’s where the story ends. My Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 Review isn’t just my take on the season—it’s a reflection on the series as a whole, especially since this might be the end. Sure, the showrunner said it could return, but given the state of the MCU and Disney’s current treatment of animation projects, that feels far from guaranteed.

And that’s a tragedy. Sure, this season might not have been the best, but it had its moments! I wanted this series to continue. I would’ve loved the chance to write an episode or two, to help expand the multiverse further. Instead, we got 27 episodes total—a far cry from the infinite possibilities The Watcher gets to see every day.

You can watch Season 3 on Disney+.