UK/US Disney+, streaming now Head writer AC Bradley Cast Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Atwell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Samuel L Jackson
EPISODES 2.01-2.09 The episode of this show we’d really like to see is “What If… The Wheels Hadn’t Fallen Off The MCU?” Instead, this second season of Marvel’s alternate reality anthology show is a reflection of the current state of the franchise: flashes of brilliance and stunning visuals, but overall looking tired, formulaic and increasingly lacking in focus.
In season one the What If…? scenarios were big, bold and attention-grabbing: Peggy Carter becoming the First Avenger; T’Challa becoming Star-Lord; Ultron winning. Single divergent choices or events that span off into new realities. With season two, though, it feels more like we’re increasingly looking at alternate reality free-for-alls where anything goes: Avengers in 1602; an alternate timeline in which European colonisation of the Americas never occurred; Doctor Strange Supreme’s reality-bridging Sanctum Infinitum.