"I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me, and dare to face the unknown, and ponder the question: what if?"

Marvel's What If...? Explores pivotal moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and turns them on their head, leading the audience into uncharted territory. I really anticipated the series since it's announcement. The concept is really clever and to have no knowledge of what could happen promises for unique surprises. In fact, I didn't find out what each episode would be until either the night before or moments before starting. While pondering the question "what if?" has a unique outlook, not everything delivered for me making me feel empty by some episodes and the end of the season. Don't get me wrong, there are episodes that are really impressive. My favorites came from episode 4 and 8 because of how they ended up defying expectations from what we saw from previous episodes. With episodes such as the first and honestly most until the finale, we had 30 minutes to tell see a story stuffed to the brim that had only a slight conclusion. It felt as if none of them meant anything. That is until the final episode. All of them do end up having some significance, some more than others, but because of how forgettable many were I probably missed key aspects. When trying to tell a complex story in just half in hour, there will be things not touched upon enough. They really rush each episode. I feel like the runtime was a good choice and it was the storytelling that needed the work. Though I will say I did want certain episodes to be longer.

The most striking element of the series is the animation. It took some getting used to, especially with how they talked, but it's really cool. My favorite came from episode 4, and how they utilized it to its fullest potential. The crazier episodes ended up looking the greatest. Most of the original cast came back to voice act, but the ones who took over for others were pretty good and sounded the part. I think director Bryan Andrews knew what he wanted with the series in terms of how it looked and progressed. Most episodes are directed fairly well. I think it was more the writing team that needed the work, as I mentioned before. Because this isn't one fluent story, I can't say much more without getting into spoiler territory, which I'd prefer not to especially with it being Marvel. In the end I found myself entertained by What If...?, but didn't feel too much about it. The episodes needed to work on story and pacing in order to gain my full attention. Some scenarios just weren't as fun as others, which I understand, but I still wanted more even though I think as a season it's alright. I don't see myself revisiting this season again, but hopefully the next will deliver properly.