Marvel’s What If…? has been a ton of fun so far. Each episode presents an imaginative scenario that takes the familiar MCU in a wild new direction, and it’s been great to see the kinds of creative ideas that come along when writers aren’t tethered to the continuity and the need to set up the next big movie. Every episode has felt like a peek into a world that could legitimately carry its own series, and I’ve enjoyed seeing characters like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:T’Challa and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Peggy Carter in new roles. What If…? has allowed Marvel to take the kind of narrative risks that tཧ𒊎he film series never will, and though I find that to be its most valuable quality, the most recent Thor-centric episode shows what happens when th⭕e MCU reaches too far outside its wheelhouse.
What If… Thor Were an Only Child? is the MCU’s ode to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Rick and Morty, and it overwhelmingly fails to capture the charm, humor, or - and I hate to say this - intellect that makes Rick and Morty so popular. This episode is a cameo-filled comedy with plenty of fan service, but it’s not par🤡ticularly funny, and it doesn’t seem to understand that comedy is much more than an over-the-top premise.
In this universe, Thor grew up to be a super-powered frat boy. Without Loki as a constant source of anxiety and torment, Thor apparently never developed a sense of responsibility or humility. Now he spends his days throwing world-ending parties on planets across the cosmos. When he sets his sights on Earth for his next big soiree, it's up to Jane Foster and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Captain Marvel to stop him before the never-en♏ding party causes the Earth’s de🦄struction.
Jane and Captain Marvel do eventually succeed, but the conflict in this episode exists solely as a framework for the antics of Thor and his friends. More than half of the 22-minute runtime feels like nothing more than a montage of the silliest situations the writers could think of. The Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok plays DJ while Nebula and Korg shoot craps. A tispy Surtur - you know, the one that consumes Asgard at the end of Ragnarok - flirts with the Statue of Liberty before accidentally burning the statue’s arms off. Loki, who is a frost giant now, covers the fac💜es of Mount Rushmore with horns and mustaches. And oh ya, Darcy gets married to Howard the Duck. If you haven’t seen it, it probably sounds like I’m making all of thisꦯ up. Is it wacky? Certainly. Is it funny? No, not particularly.
This episode has a lot in common with the recent Rick and Morty episode A Rickconvenient Mort, in which Rick and Summer travel to planets on the brink of destruction and throw giant, disgusting sex parties. Of course, A Rickconvenient Mort is evocative of the Loki series - - which also dealt with a kin🌌d of apocalyptic tourism. The dire🐻ct comparisons between specific storylines isn’t particularly material to my criticism, however. What if… Thor Were an Only Child? is Marvel’s attempt to capture Rick and Morty’s voice and style, and it falls extraordinarily flat.
In this story, Thor is Rick - a selfish, entitled guy with incredible powers, unbothered by the fact that his actions have consequences for others. Jane, then, is the Morty. She’s an anxious companion to Thor that serves as the audience proxy. In Rick and Morty, it's the dynamics in their relationship, the push and pull between them, that makes the show so compelling. Here, the conflict between the characters only exists to lead us into the next “joke.” The character cameos, be it the Collector, Howard the Duck, Birdperson, or Mr. Poopy Butthole, are just there to season the meal with some flavor, but What If…? made them the main course.
Rick and Morty rarely sacrifices its plot and characters for the sake of a funny scenario. This episod💞e of What If… ? feels like it exists just so Drax can say the line “You are pooping the party.” You can’t create comedy with sight gags and callbacks i♓f the story itself is completely without substance. The series is at its best when our favorite characters are overcoming challenges we’d never expect, but this episode reduces every character down a punchline, and it feels like a huge waste of time.