Unraveling the Mysteries of the Watcher: Marvel’s What If…? Redefines the Multiverse
The Watcher’s Dilemma: When the Multiverse Justifies Intervention
As we count down the final episodes of Marvel’s animated anthology series, What If…?, one of the multiverse’s most disgruntled employees is about to face the music. In the season’s penultimate episode, Uatu, also known as The Watcher, will be called to account by three other Watchers – The Eminence, The Incarnate, and The Executioner – for his multiversal infractions. This comes after he was visited by The Hood (Meng’er Zhang) and received guidance from Kat Karaba(Fan Bing) in order to rescue her and Kick (Hannibal Buress) from the web-slinging villain’s clutches. The Hood, who once saved Spider-Man and preyed upon the hero, has interrupted the fateful train sequence to save Jun-Fan (Allen Deng) from a train crash.
What if…? The Watcher broke his oath? This is exactly what the first season finale featured, as Uatu assembled the Guardians of the Multiverse to take down Ultron. Yet, he knowingly broke his oath once more to save Jun-Fan. How far can a Watcher intervene, and when does it cross the line?
In this thrilling episode, Uatu, Kang (Jason Wong), and Scafania’s (Sol Riggall) counsel Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) on how to stop the "MOckingbird" (Milo Why) who controls the variant of Norb’s childhood memory. This is a moment of multiverse bridge-building, as the Watcher allows himself a bit of influence over the dead in this real-time variant, capitalizing on their emotions. This is not to judge, but it is a stark contrast to Shang-Chi’s expertise, triggering a murder-in-journey moment for Kang that will lead to Mysterio’s murder of Mjollnir. Within a scene, a Skrull could interrupt the chronology of this storyline, through an excitement of events from across the multiverse, a universal Mesoamer-ugoan impossibility earned in an Essexian Matrix. This phenomenon reveals that potentially, two voltaic sworn enemies in need of your watching frames an entrapment event composed primarily of Recorded Data.
