"Why wear the uniform of your own oppressors? Fight for them? Die for them?"
This episode of Marvel's animated Anthology series has plenty of people talking thanks to its entertaining premise. The idea of Tony Stark being saved by a notorious villain or Antihero, had me intrigued among many viewers!
As with several episodes of What If, there's the retconned scenario taken from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, where instead of Stark being injured during an ambush by the "Ten Rings" Terrorists, leading to the origin of Iron Man, former Navy Seal specialist, now turned Mercenary N'Jada/ Erik Stevens aka Killmonger, tosses the Stark Industries shell before it detonates. Stark feeling reciprocal honors Stevens during a press conference where once again Killmonger saves Tony by exposing who was responsible for the ambush.
A naive, but very grateful Stark signs Stevens onboard as "COO " but not everyone is "happy", surely not Hogan! (See what I just did there?) This episode practically writes itself, as we all know what's about to go down. However, the execution of this story was handled exceptionally well.
Stark's ego, naivete and insensitivity, has led to some serious ramifications involving dire outcomes, including his own. With Stark not facing potential mortality with his heart inches away from shrapnel, has made him far less humble and not the hero that was given. Killmonger is basically the same character from Black Panther, just in a different scenario and well... animated.
The elements and even parts of the soundtrack along with the voice talents of Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman and even Angela Basset carried over from the 2018 blockbuster.
The social commentary is more in your face without the need for being critiqued as "woke". There's a good reason why Stevens does what he does even if it seems unethical, its credible.
However, there is a bit of optimism towards the finale of this episode, but unless there's some continuation, the following events is left to one's imagination.
What makes Killmonger such a dynamic villain is how he, in Jordan's words, compared him to Malcolm X, Tupac Shakur, and Magneto, who in fact, was inspired by Malcolm X. And as with the X-Men antagonist, some can empathize with Killmonger’s cause, even if it's a bit too extreme.
This is another episode that delivers, thanks to high-quality animation an intriguing story with top notch voice acting and even a Gundam reference thrown in! Marvel's What If, is another solid offering from Disney Plus.
