What If...? has been giving fans a different dose of MCU stories every week on Disney+ by exploring several alternate realities of the vast multiverse.
The debut episode of Marvel Studios' first animated venture introduced a new Star-Spangled Avenger in the form of Hayley Atwell's Captain Carter instead of Steve Rogers. This shift created a whole new reality where Captain Carter ended up in the present-day MCU to take the place of Rogers in the modern-day version of the Avengers.
Meanwhile, the second episode took it up a notch by showcasing an alternate version of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord. In the installment, Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa took over the cosmic mantle due to the fact that Yondu and the Ravagers made a mistake by abducting the future King of Wakanda instead of Ego the Living Planet's offspring.
This mistake eventually led to a domino effect in this specific universe, featuring the rise of the Collector in the cosmos and an unexpected change of heart for Josh Brolin's Thanos.
While the first two episodes gave a taste of what's to come, it seems that the next batch of episodes will even take more risks in terms of exploring many story possibilities.
Now, ahead of the series' third episode, a new trailer has confirmed that another unexpected narrative centered around the Earth's Mightiest Heroes will be explored.
THE DEATH OF EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES
Marvel Studios officially released the trailer for the third episode of What If...?, confirming that it will revolve around the questionable deaths of the MCU's Avengers:
What If... The World Lost its Mightiest Heroes? Discover the answer to the question in the next episode of Marvel Studios' #WhatIf, streaming tomorrow on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/zUrxLebrYt
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 24, 2021
The introduction of the short teaser unveiled a short debrief about the Avengers Initiative led by Nick Fury, but with an added twist:
The Avengers Initiative was a program created by SHIELD Director Nick Fury to bring together a group of remarkable people to face extraordinary threats.
Fury's original list of prospective recruits included Anthony Stark, Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and Captain Steve Rogers.
An unknown assassin targeted the team.
R.I.P AVENGERS: WHO'S THE KILLER?
By presenting the death of the Avengers, many would agree that What If...? is going all-out in terms of exploring a risky narrative that would definitely shock hardcore MCU fans.
In the past few weeks, What If...? executive producer Brad Winderbaum teased that there is a Nick Fury-centric episode that has been dubbed as a "great Agatha Christie" installment, and it seems that he is pertaining to the third episode of the series.
It will be interesting to see how Nick Fury will deal with this unusual threat, considering that his "big guns" are being targeted one-by-one by an unknown assassin. In a way, this episode will let fans see Fury in a whole new light, considering that his super spy skills will be put to the limit.
The promo revealed that the murders will happen during Fury's Big Week from Phase 1, meaning that Tom Hiddleston's Loki will be involved. The inclusion of Loki presents a major possibility that he is the prime suspect, but What If...? could explore another twist instead of heavily pointing to the God of Mischief's involvement.
Given that the MCU has a massive ensemble, it is unknown who is the one behind the Avengers' deaths in the episode. It would be understandable if it's a character that was introduced during Phase 1 of the Infinity Saga, but many would agree that it would be fitting if the killer could end up being one of the future heroes introduced in later phases.
For now, speculation will become rampant ahead of the third episode of What If...?.
Episode 3 of What If...? will premiere on Disney+ on August 25, 2021.
