“What if…?” of Marvel premiered in 2021 and its innovative remixes of the status quo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have become constant bright spots during an otherwise difficult time for the franchise. While season 1 of Disney+’s Marvel animated multiverse show combined its stylish animation with rushed narration, season 2 was a zany and refreshing addition to the MCUand both seasons ended up receiving very good reviews overall.
“What if…?” Season 3 began airing daily episodes on December 22, 2024 and ended a week later on December 29, and while critics didn’t greet it as lovingly as its predecessors, it is still an entertaining watch…that is, unless you ask Beau DeMayo. The former “X-Men ’97” showrunner took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his grievances regarding “What If…?” season 3, and his short review made it clear he wasn’t really a fan:
“#whatif, season 3, yeah, just yeah”
In another tweetDeMayo took longer to elaborate. While by no means an essay, this article highlights what it perceives as obvious problems with the writing and basic setup of the episodes:
“[It] has no substance and feels like fanfiction. The dialogue is flat and so obvious, and some of the premises are just plain bizarre. »
DeMayo has issues with Marvel and What If…?
DeMayo’s problems appear to be based on the early parts of “What If…?” season 3. Not only did he post his reviews on December 27 – that is, before the final two episodes were released – but he also tweeted on his disinterest in finishing the series:
“I would watch more to give notes on how this could have been done better, but I have water to watch boiling.”
This suggests that he hasn’t seen the season beyond episode 6, “What If… 1872”, a 19th century adventure featuring Shang-Chi ( Simu Liu) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). Of course, at this point the series has already introduced some pretty crazy stuff, even by the standards of “What if…?”, battles between a Hulk monster the size of a kaiju (Mark Ruffalo) and giant robots to Howard’s special interspecies wedding. Duck (Seth Green) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), resulting in a powerful hybrid daughter called Byrdie (Natasha Lyonne). suggested that the third season’s quality issues might have something to do with Matthew Chauncey taking over head writer duties from series creator AC Bradley:
“This is also the season that AC Bradley stepped aside completely to let Chauncey take over.”
Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that DeMayo has a very personal issue to deal with with the MCU. The drama between ‘X-Men ’97’ creator and Marvel This has been going on since March 2024, when DeMayo was fired shortly before the series premiered. Marvel’s allegations of the creator’s conduct issues and DeMayo’s shouting at his former employer have made the case one of the MCU’s most high-profile behind-the-scenes troubles. Like “What if…?” DeMayo’s comments show that he’s more than willing to criticize MCU products, so expect this particular divide to continue making headlines in the future.
“What if…?” is now streaming on Disney+.
