Obligatory disclaimer: real life still sucks, so let us talk about something else here – the third episode of ‘What if?’ maybe?
Well, yes, but also no, seeing how the first trailer
for the upcoming ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ movie has dropped yesterday, and we
will be talking about it too. Then, Where to begin?
We begin with the admittance that SM: NWH film will be
having a strong moralizing plotline as well as anything else: in the comics,
Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker was revealed from time to time to the
general populace, but it would disappear eventually – because Spidey would make
an especially dumb deal with Mephisto, or something else that. Here, in the
trailer, we seem to have Peter do something similar with Doctor Strange…until
he began to have second thoughts, and the good doctor screwed-up the spell most
magnificently. Now what?
Well, the trailer only reveals that Peter is going to
be end-up dealing with many villains in a single movie – maybe it is even an
MCU version of the Sinister Six; who knows? That particular villain team has a
rather flexible roster, so why not what we have seen in the trailer after all? However,
where is the moralizing element?
Why, it is right there: Peter’s in the pickle because
he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He does not want to be revealed as
the infamous Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, but he wants his friends to know
it regardless; he is trying to sit on two chairs at once, and even with his
fantastic sense of balance and other spider-skills, that will not work. Not for
long, anyways, and as the trailer shows, the Sinister Six are coming to end
this – and him after all.
Moreover, Dr. Strange is right there with him, since
he cast the spell even though Wong warned him not to. Yes, Wong was just doing
his part, seeing how he was actually going to challenge the Abomination to 10
rounds of good old-fashioned fisticuffs, but still, Dr. Strange is an adult
here, he should know better – and he does. He certainly treats Peter in the
trailer in a similar manner as to how the Ancient One, (Tilda Swinton version),
has treated him in his first film, so there is that.
…Yes, continuity here is wonky; ‘here’ I mean between
the previous film, (the one featuring Mysterio, duh), and this one, but that is
to be expected: on one hand, there are the RL issues, such as the fight between
Disney/MCU and Sony after the second Spider-Man movie ended, and on the other?
So far MCU’s entire Phase 4 had been about deconstruction: the Avengers have
disassembled after the events in ‘Endgame’ and they have experienced many
different personal changes – just ask Wanda. Ergo, there is no surprise that Peter’s
experiences and adventures after his aborted European tour have taken-off in an
entirely new direction – and this brings us to ‘What if?’, which is all about
storylines taken off in new directions. In this week’s episode, for example,
Stark, Thor, Banner/Hulk and Hawkeye died, killed by a Yellowjacket version of
Hank Pym, because his daughter Hope used to be an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in this
universe and had died on one mission, so he is now having his revenge. Groovy,
right? …And also, just as out of the left field as T’Challa being the Star-Lord
is. The series’ premiere – Peggy Carter becoming the world’s first
super-soldier - was actually tame by the series’ standards, apparently. What is
left?
…Not unlike the ‘proper’ episodes of ‘What if?’ the
third Tom Holland Spider-Man film is about a ‘typical’ MCU hero – namely, the
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – who finds himself in a new, ‘atypical’
situation that wasn’t covered by his past experiences. He is existing – or is
going to be existing, rather – in a brand-new scenario, in a different part of
a Marvel multiverse, with Dr. Strange going along for the ride in a Doc and
Marty McFly scenario, from the ‘Back to the Future’ franchise. Yes, I know that
the current ‘Rick and Morty’ cartoons are a more recent example, but frankly,
if I can use a more likable and sane example, then that is the one I am going
to use. Where were we?
…By destroying ‘the sacred timeline’, Loki and Sylvie
found themselves not just in a mess – in a several messes. One mess is the
emergence of a new Kang, one that is more competent and coherent than the old,
late, He Who Remains. Now Loki and Sylvie are going to defeat him, a task that
will be even harder than the victory over the He-Who – but that is up to them.
What is not up to them, apparently,
are all of those alternate timelines, like the three that we’ve seen already on
‘What If?’, that would’ve been erased by the TVA pre-‘Loki’, but now are
getting a chance to flourish – hurrah. The T’Challa one was a positive example;
the Hank Pym going mass murderer is a negative one. Where will the MCU take us
all tomorrow (next week)? That is only for them to know.
…And in real life, of course, Disney/MCU might have
shot themselves in the foot with their new approach, of course. Having a ‘sacred
timeline’ meant that there was at least some
standard by which to measure the new timelines as well as an anchor point to
which to return to. But now that the ‘sacred timeline’ is gone, everything and
everyone is up for grabs, which means that no one and nothing is safe, just as
this week’s episode of ‘What If?’ has demonstrated.
…Well, this is it, for now. See you all soon!
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