What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

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What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark
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"What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"
What If...? episode
Promotional poster
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed byBryan Andrews
Written byMatthew Chauncey
Produced byA. C. Bradley
Editing byGraham Fisher
Original release dateSeptember 15, 2021 (2021-09-15)
Running time33 minutes
Cast
Episode chronology
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"What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" is the sixth episode of the

Wakanda that involves saving and befriending Tony Stark. The episode was written by story editor Matthew Chauncey and directed by Bryan Andrews
.

Watcher, with this episode also starring the voices of Michael B. Jordan (Killmonger), Jon Favreau, Chadwick Boseman, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Andy Serkis, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany, John Kani, Leslie Bibb, and Mick Wingert (Stark). The series began development by September 2018, with Andrews joining soon after, and many actors expected to reprise their roles from the MCU films. Animation for the episode was provided by Flying Bark Productions, with Stephan Franck
serving as head of animation.

"What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" was released on Disney+ on September 15, 2021. Critics praised the focus on Killmonger and noted the episode's portrayal of him as an anime fan, but criticized the abrupt ending.

Plot

In Afghanistan,

vibranium
ring as a power source.

Needing more vibranium to create a drone army, they arrange for

Dora Milaje
spear, staging it as a Wakandan attack. Shortly after, Killmonger creates an army of drones with the stolen vibranium.

The United States and Wakanda enter a conflict over the deaths of T'Challa, Rhodes, and Stark. The American military, led by General

Ramonda
. Killmonger cuts off Ross' command of the drones, then secretly reactivates their combat capabilities so that he can lead the Wakandan army in defeating them.

After the battle, T'Chaka bestows the Black Panther mantle to Killmonger. In the astral plane, Killmonger meets with T'Challa, who warns him that he will be defeated one day. As the American military plans to eradicate Wakanda, T'Challa's sister

Pepper Potts
, proposing that they expose the truth of Killmonger's deceit.

Production

Development

External videos
video icon What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? | Marvel Studios' What If...? | Disney+, a promotional video introducing the episode's "what if" concept with narration by
the Watcher, video from the What If...? Twitter
account

By September 2018,

Wakanda.[9] This version of Killmonger was marketed as "King Killmonger".[10] "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" was released on Disney+ on September 15, 2021.[11]

Casting

Christine Everhart.[12] Don Cheadle also reprises his role as James Rhodes, who was played by Terrence Howard in Iron Man; Cheadle was cast in the role for Iron Man 2 (2010) onwards, and the episode integrates Cheadle's portrayal into alternate versions of Iron Man scenes that Howard appeared in.[9]

Pepper Potts, replacing Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ozioma Akagha voices Shuri, replacing Letitia Wright.[12] Other characters who appear in non-speaking roles include Stark's robot Dum-E, a mercenary working for Klaue who was portrayed by Bentley Kalu in Age of Ultron, and the Avengers—Steve Rogers / Captain America, Bruce Banner / Hulk, Thor, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, and Clint Barton / Hawkeye.[9]

Animation

Animation for the episode was provided by Flying Bark Productions,[7]: 4  with Stephan Franck serving as head of animation.[13] Andrews developed the series' cel-shaded animation style with Ryan Meinerding, the head of visual development at Marvel Studios.[14][15] Though the series has a consistent art style, elements such as the camera and color palette differ between episodes.[7]: 4  Concept art for the episode is included during the end credits, and was released online by Marvel following the episode's premiere.[16]

Music

A soundtrack for the episode was released digitally by

Marvel Music and Hollywood Records on September 17, 2021, featuring composer Laura Karpman's score.[8]

What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? (Original Soundtrack)[8]
No.TitleLength
1."Convoy"0:53
2."Saved"1:09
3."Speech"1:11
4."Bankrolled"1:02
5."Return the Favor"0:52
6."Building Montage"0:56
7."Juice"0:56
8."Salvage Yard Fight"1:11
9."Eyes on This"1:26
10."Uniform"1:26
11."Justice"1:40
12."You Work For Me"1:36
13."War is Here"1:07
14."Drones"1:21
15."Impossible"2:11
16."Loyal Servant"0:50
17."For Chadwick"1:02
Total length:20:49

Marketing

After the episode's release, Marvel released a poster for the episode, featuring Killmonger and Stark together with a quote from the episode.

Funko Pops based on Killmonger and General Ramonda.[18]

Reception

Audience viewership

What If...? was the second-most streamed series for viewers in the United States for the week ending September 19, 2021 according to Whip Media's TV Time.[19]

Critical response

Gavin Jasper at

Wenwu. However, Jasper felt it was the "flattest" episode of the series so far and gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars, criticizing it as "meander[ing] until abruptly ending" following the reveal of Killmonger's intentions.[20] IGN's Tom Jorgensen also criticized the episode's abrupt ending and felt the final battle lacked stakes, but he was otherwise more positive about the episode and gave it 7 out of 10. He agreed with Jasper that the episode did a good job taking Killmonger from the films and expanding on him, praising the decision to keep the character's motivations the same and just change the setting that he is in as a way to show what the version of Killmonger from Black Panther would have done with more screen time. He positively compared this to the series' second episode as well as the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016), which he thought was another good example of expanding on an existing story to add meaning to the original.[21]

Sam Barsanti at

The Mary Sue. She wrote that some fans, including herself, had already considered Killmonger to be an anime fan due to Jordan being one himself and his costume having similarities to that of Dragon Ball character Vegeta. She said they were surprised and happy that this episode confirmed it.[25]

Notes

  1. ^ This rescue is when the story diverges from the events of the film Iron Man (2008).
  2. ^ This action is when the story diverges from the events of the film Black Panther (2018).

References

  1. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 18, 2018). "Loki, Scarlet Witch, Other Marvel Heroes to Get Own TV Series on Disney Streaming Service (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Sciretta, Peter (March 12, 2019). "Exclusive: Marvel Studios Producing 'What If' TV Series For Disney+". /Film. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  3. Marvel.com. Archived
    from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  4. ^ Guttmann, Graeme (August 2, 2021). "What If..? Writer Spoiled Avengers 4 and Thor 4 When Pitching Show". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Ashaari, Alleef (August 2, 2021). "Marvel's What If...? Crew Explains Why They Went 3D Over 2D & A Scrapped Episode That Was Too Close To GOTG 3". Kakuchopurei. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (August 24, 2019). "Everything we learned at D23's Disney Plus presentation". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "What If..? Production Brief" (PDF). Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. July 30, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "'What If...Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?' Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. September 16, 2021. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Elvy, Craig (September 15, 2021). "Every MCU Easter Egg In What If? Episode 6". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Boone, Josh (August 4, 2021). "Marvel's 'What If?' Promises to Reveal 'the Totality of the Multiverse' (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "(#106) "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Lethbridge, Thomas (September 15, 2021). "What If...? Episode 6 Cast Guide: Every New & Returning MCU Character". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  13. ^ Arrant, Chris (April 15, 2020). "Work on Marvel Studios' What If...? Continues During Coronavirus Pandemic". Newsarama. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  14. ^ Jones, Marcus (August 23, 2019). "What If on Disney+ will feature voices from majority of Marvel Cinematic Universe cast". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  15. ^ Salazar, Andrew J. (September 6, 2019). "'What If...?' Showrunner Ashley Bradley Talks 'Trollhunters', The Beginning Of 'What If...?', Captain Carter, The Watcher & Star-Lord T'Challa (Exclusive)". Discussing Film. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  16. ^ What If...? [@whatifofficial] (September 18, 2021). "The worlds of Marvel Studios' #WhatIf continue to expand in the sixth episode, now streaming on @DisneyPlus. Check out this concept art as seen in the credits!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ What If...? [@whatifofficial] (September 16, 2021). "Step into a new journey. The sixth episode of Marvel Studios' #WhatIf is now streaming on @DisneyPlus" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. Marvel.com. Archived
    from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  19. Media Play News. Archived
    from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Jasper, Gavin (September 15, 2021). "What If...? Episode 6 Review: Killmonger to the Rescue". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  21. ^ a b Jorgensen, Tom (September 15, 2021). "What If...? Season 1, Episode 6 - Review". IGN. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  22. ^ a b c Barsanti, Sam (September 15, 2021). "Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger lives up to his name in What If...?". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  23. ^ a b Pulliam-Moore, Charles (September 15, 2021). "What If Tried to Make Killmonger Tony Stark's New Black Friend™". io9. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Warmann, Amon (September 16, 2021). "Killmonger stakes his claim as the MCU's 'best villain' in What If... episode 6". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  25. The Mary Sue. Archived
    from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What_If..._Killmonger_Rescued_Tony_Stark%3F&oldid=1216411323"