What If…?: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 4

The Watcher’s gets involved…sort of

One of the most surprising developments about this episode is that What If…?’s all-knowing, all-seeing narrator, the Watcher (Jeffery Wright), ends up as an actual participant in the story. He even considers breaking his vow of noninterference as he witnesses Strange spiraling further and further into madness and darkness. As your humble writer briefly explained when going over Episode One’s Easter Eggs and clues, this particular Watcher, Uatu, does tend to step into the affairs of Earth from time to time. And when he does, that’s usually a sign that things are about to get really, really bad.

Even though the Watcher first appeared in Fantastic Four #13, the first time he canonically got involved in Earth’s fate was during Neil Gaiman’s 1602, a series which re-imagined Marvel’s heroes and villains living in the 17th century during the Age of Discovery, Elizabethan England, and early colonial America. As it turned out, this was the result of a possible future version of Steve Rogers travelling back in time, which also ended up causing reality to be re-written and, thus, threatening to destroy the universe unless corrected. The person he told of this to was 1602’s version of… Doctor Strange.

There were also several times the Watcher made himself known to the Fantastic Four, either when they ended up on his doorstep in the “Blue Area” of the Moon, or whenever they needed help against one of their many enemies. Of course, the most prominent time he got involved was when Galactus came to Earth, but he also got involved the first time Kang the Conqueror tried to change history, and was key in helping Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Sue Storm/Invisible Woman get married, even lending out his home as their honeymoon suite. He even acted as Reed’s defense attorney when the latter was on trial for letting Galactus live.

In terms of major Marvel Comics storylines, he made appearances in both Civil War and Secret Invasion. He also teamed up with the TVA in a multi-part What If…? story in order to save the entire multiverse. In fact, one of the reasons why Uatu observes other realities is to see what potential threat they could pose to other realities, particular the main reality of the Marvel Universe.

So yes, the Watcher could have gotten involved in this episode if he wanted to. But he doesn’t break his vow unless he feels it’s absolutely necessary. And as he told Stephen at the end, he doesn’t make it a habit to mess with the proper flow of time, and for good reason. Still, the fact the Watcher did interact with one of the people he observes for the first time during this series is very significant. And, if previews of upcoming What If…? episodes are any indication, it won’t be the last time either.

Any clues, Easter Eggs, or Marvel related references from What If…?, episode 4, that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments section!