Marvel Cinematic Universe · What If...?: Season One
What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath? — S01E09
TV · 2021 · 35 minutes · Phase Four · alternate
The Watcher breaks his vow of non-interference and assembles the Guardians of the Multiverse — Captain Carter, Star-Lord T'Challa, Erik Killmonger (as Black Panther), Party Thor, Gamora, and Doctor Strange Supreme — to stop Ultron, who has fused with Vision and claimed the Infinity Stones to become a cosmic, multiverse-threatening being. The team battles Infinity Ultron in the Ultron-ravaged reality where Black Widow is humanity's last survivor, and Gamora's "Infinity Crusher" fails when the stones prove different in every universe. Natasha, working with Captain Carter, ultimately defeats Ultron by firing an arrow loaded with Arnim Zola's AI virus into him while Carter holds open his faceplate, after which Doctor Strange Supreme traps Killmonger and a resurrected Arnim Zola — who had seized Ultron's discarded body and the Infinity Stones — together in an isolated pocket universe.
Follows on from
- What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger? — S01E01crossover — Captain Carter, recruited into the Guardians of the Multiverse, was introduced as the super-soldier of her own variant timeline.
- What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord? — S01E02crossover — Star-Lord T'Challa, one of the finale's Guardians of the Multiverse, was introduced as the variant who was abducted in T'Challa's place.
- What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? — S01E04crossover — Doctor Strange Supreme, the de facto leader of the Guardians of the Multiverse who casts the finale's protection spell and ultimately traps Ultron and Killmonger in a pocket universe, was introduced in this episode's tragic origin.
- What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? — S01E06crossover — Erik Killmonger's variant who became Black Panther and Tony Stark's ally, recruited for the finale team-up, was introduced here.
- What If... Thor Were an Only Child? — S01E07crossover — The Party Thor variant recruited into the Guardians of the Multiverse, and the reckless behavior that tips off Ultron to the team's presence, stem from this episode.
- What If... Ultron Won? — S01E08direct-sequel — Picks up directly from Ultron and Vision's fusion into a cosmic, Infinity Stone-empowered being, and returns to the Ultron-ravaged reality where Black Widow is the last human survivor.