Review: Marvel’s What If…? “What If…Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

An alternate scenario in which an American soldier named Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) saved Tony Stark’s life from the Ten Rings.

Our Take:

Iron Man saw a crucial point that made Tony Stark an Avenger. He was captured by the ruthless Ten Rings and created his first Iron Man suit to escape. At least, that’s what happened in our universe. In a different universe, he didn’t save himself. Instead, he was rescued by someone else.

This week’s episode of Marvel’s What If explores another scenario in which Black Panther’s formidable foe alters Tony Stark’s destiny. The episode began the same way the 2008 film did, with Tony Stark’s (Mick Wingert) convoy being ambushed by the Ten Rings. However, instead of getting captured, Stark is saved by Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, who returns him home and exposes Obadiah Stane’s (Kiff VandenHeuvel) involvement in the ambush plot. That’s one way to end the movie quickly. After that, Stark and Killmonger form a friendship and build a humanoid droid called “Project Liberator” to protect America using vibranium. But, of course, their alliance didn’t last long as Killmonger’s plan slowly came to fruition.

Killmonger’s actual goal was to find Wakanda and become the Black Panther. He sneakily killed James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and Tony Stark from the U.S. and T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) from Wakanda and disguised their deaths as attacks from the two countries. Killmonger successfully led Wakanda to victory and became the next Black Panther. However, his reign won’t last very long as T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Ozioma Akagha) teams up with Pepper Potts (Beth Hoyt) to prevent further conflict between Wakanda and the United States.

The episode is a mixture of Iron Man and Black Panther, but with some differences. Due to Stark being rescued by Killmonger, he never became aware of his weapons being responsible for the death of innocent people, which led to him becoming Iron Man. He’s still the same careless human being who creates weapons to attack specific threats. However, the story doesn’t center on Stark’s alternate destiny. Instead, it focuses on Killmonger’s quest to assume the Black Panther name.  

Like the show’s first episode, its sixth episode followed the same story beats as the MCU films it’s based on, with some alternate moments, mostly Black Panther. There were also a couple of scenes where the pacing dragged a bit despite being 30 minutes long. It felt like it was ten minutes longer than the show’s usual 31-37 minute runtime. Aside from those flaws, it’s an entertaining and beautifully animated episode that puts the spotlight on one of the MCU’s best villains.

Michael B. Jordan was the main highlight of the voice cast as he reprised his role as Killmonger from Black Panther. The character’s understandable motive, along with Jordan’s magnetic performance, is one of the reasons why Black Panther became one of my favorite Marvel solo films to date. The fact that these elements remain intact in the episode made me glad that the writers still understood what made the Marvel characters (and the actors who portrayed them) tick. This also featured another appearance of Mick Wingert, who has voiced Tony Stark in the other Marvel animated shows and video games. He still did a great job at manifesting the charming attitude of Stark, although, at times, he almost came close to sounding like Jack Black. I should know because Wingert served as Black’s replacement for Po in the Kung Fu Panda show and video games. The rest of the voice cast was also respectable in their roles, ranging from Boseman as T’Challa to Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue.

Overall, the “Killmonger” episode was the weakest part of the first season regarding its familiar elements and pacing. Still, it did wonders in giving Jordan’s Killmonger a second chance in the spotlight after his appearance in Black Panther. Its voice cast, direction, and beautiful visuals make this another watchable alternate scenario, even though it’s inferior to some of the show’s best episodes, mainly its second and fourth chapters.