From the opening scene of Iron Man again in 2008, the military-industrial complicated has been stitched into the material of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America, the Hulk, War Machine and Captain Marvel are all concerned in it to some extent. But the portrayal has all the time tilted towards the optimistic attributable to Hollywood’s long-standing partnership with the US military. This week’s What If…? makes use of the liberty provided by animation to go slightly darkish on the topic and present us how simply the enterprise of conflict may have overrun the narrative.

The level of divergence this time round is that Erik Killmonger is outwardly assigned to an undercover mission with the Ten Rings and, within the course of, finally ends up saving Tony Stark’s life. So Tony isn’t injured and compelled to construct the Iron Man go well with, as a substitute persevering with his conflict profiteering methods — although now with a brand new BFF at his aspect. Instead of changing into somebody who buries himself in his work (and builds a literal go well with of armor to guard himself) Tony as a substitute lashes out, with Killmonger all-too-ready to level him within the course of taking down Wakanda.

This pulls Wakanda into the narrative so much prior to its main-timeline debut in 2006’s Captain America: Civil War. The nation’s isolationist coverage has been used because the retcon for why we by no means heard a peep from Wakanda sooner nevertheless it rapidly involves the forefront right here, in lieu of all of the tales that spun out of the preliminary assault on Stark: the battle with Obadiah Stane and Tony’s palladium poisoning within the first two Iron Man movies, after which later the assault on Sokovia in Age of Ultron and Baron Zemo’s revenge scheme in Civil War. General Ross even makes an look right here, casting doubt on whether or not the occasions of The Incredible Hulk even nonetheless occurred the identical manner. Instead of being launched to Wakanda via a UN peace convention, as a substitute they’re a rustic on the defensive towards a horde of mechanical forces.

The episode makes it rapidly obvious how a lot of the MCU was depending on Tony Stark’s participation, although not in a feel-good George Bailey It’s a Wonderful Life manner. In Civil War, Vision factors out that the facility proven since Iron Man’s debut invitations problem. Here, we find yourself in a significant battle anyway, displaying that the aggressive vitality that created the MCU’s Heroic Age already existed, spurred on by advancing expertise. Without superheroes to choose up the banner, it’s the army that turns into the beneficiary of all that energy.

However, the army is a system as a lot as it’s folks, and there’s a bizarre sense all through the episode that accountability is not in any explicit particular person’s fingers, even Eric Killmonger’s. We’re clearly proven the place he’s pulling the strings, however characters like Tony Stark and General Ross are all too prepared to be tugged alongside. But even they don’t really feel totally accountable for what occurs. The battle simply escalates rapidly and disproportionately within the episode’s half-hour runtime, maybe a sufferer of the present’s want for expedited storytelling.

It’s no coincidence that the conflict that began the MCU was the battle in Afghanistan, although it’s happenstance that this episode aired solely a month after the US introduced its involvement to a messy shut. It’s been a lifestyle for therefore lengthy that it’s simple to really feel swept away by the entire thing, particularly if you happen to have been born after 9/11. This episode reinforces the MCU’s function as escapism throughout this period, a spot the place we may transfer past all this ugly terrestrial battle and tackle extra cosmic points. By eradicating the heroes from the equation, the MCU turns into a grim mirror of the mindset we’ve been residing in for 20 years.