An interesting experiment by Marvel Studios in the past few years is What If...?, which shares its name with a series of Marvel comic titles, with the first issue published in 1977. However, the show's episodes are not adaptations of the comics, they merely provide alternative storylines to existing movies. The show began in August 2021 and on December 22nd the final one, What If...? Season 3 started streaming.
Therefore, fan excitement was palpable when the title for the first episode of the third and final season was announced because it involved Hulk. The episode "What if...The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?" gave the impression that it was adapting writer Greg Pak's 2007 event World War Hulk. However, that's not the case.
What is What If...? Season 3 Episode 1 about?
Unlike The Avengers of the Earth-616 (or Earth-199999 if Across the Spider-Verse is to be believed), the team featured in the opening episode of What If...? Season 3 are wearing a mech suit similar to the ones seen in Power Rangers or Voltron. The Bruce Banner of this earth in a bid to get rid of the Hulk shoots himself with gamma radiation. However, the radiation instead of destroying the Hulk just separates the two and the monster dubbed "The Apex" starts his rampage.
The Avengers team comprising of Stark, Rogers, Barton build themselves a mech suit to fight The Apex, only to be killed. However, a new team of mech-suited Avengers led by Sam Wilson's Captain America subdue The Apex. After a decade, The Apex returns to spread carnage again. It is up to Sam and his team to end this threat once and for all.
Is the first episode of What If...? Season 3 an adaptation of World War Hulk?
No, the episode is not adapting the critically and popularly beloved comic book storyline even if both involve the Hulk and The Avengers fighting. If you are interested to know what happens in World War Hulk, you can consider reading the comic. As of now, the popular 2007 comic even remains unadapted. In this episode, the Hulk monster is an antagonist, while he is sympathetic in the book.
In fact, in the book, the four members of the Illuminati imprisoned by the Hulk, Tony Stark, Blackagar Boltagon, Reed Richards, and Stephen Strange are in the wrong. Tony especially was unpopular after his morally dubious actions in the 2006 Civil War event. And, yes, the 2006 comic book event served as a basis for the 2016 movie that softens Tony to make him palpable and makes the story all the while better.
What was the reaction to this episode of What If...? Season 3?
Hardcore Marvel fans after watching the first episode felt a bit let-down that despite waiting for an adaptation of World War Hulk, for almost a decade and a half, they are yet to experience, the story in a live-action or animated form.
Fans were a bit hopeful back in 2016 when the title of the twenty-second episode of the third season of the animated series Avengers Assemble was announced to be World War Hulk. However, even that was for naught as that episode has a different storyline altogether. So, an adaptation of World War Hulk remains a distant dream. They are also hoping that Marvel can solve its Hulk problem soon.
The MCU's Hulk Problem explained:
You may have noticed that after Age of Ultron, Hulk's storyline feels very rushed throughout the MCU. Even in Endgame, Professor Hulk's introduction comes out of nowhere. Banner does explain that the process of merging Banner's consciousness with Hulk's body was tough, but that does not feel enough. The reason for these rushed storylines can be attributed to rights issues.
Back in the 1990s, Marvel Comics declared bankruptcy, and for the purpose of cash inflow, it sold the rights to beloved characters like Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men and Fantastic Four. In the mid-2000s, Marvel Studios got the rights to Hulk from Universal Studios, but the latter held on to the distribution rights. This resulted in the last solo Hulk movie The Incredible Hulk that starred Edward Norton.
However, due to some reason, Norton did not return as Hulk in the 2012 Hulk movie even if Mark Ruffallo's interpretation is a continuation from the 2008 movie. That's because any solo Hulk movie would require Marvel to share profits as Universal still has held on to the character's distribution rights. Therefore, Hulk's storylines have been feeling a bit rushed for a while, including in What If...? Season 3.
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If Marvel's complicated rights issues don't bother you, you can watch the movies and shows featuring Hulk in Disney+. As of What If...? Season 3, seven episodes are left. The second episode of the season, "What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?" will stream on the platform on 23rd December 2024.
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