What If…?: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 6

The altered MCU timeline

According to his wiki, Tony Stark was captured by the Ten Rings in January or February of 2009, and was their prisoner for several months. Then after his escape, he spent several more months perfecting his Iron Man armor. As none of this happened in “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”, this means the entire episode supplanted and took place during what should’ve have been the first Iron Man movie.

Yet a unique aspect about “What if… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” wasn’t just what didn’t happen; it’s that certain things still happened, albeit sooner than they did during the main timeline. Tony still holds a press conference, but as he was saved by Killmonger earlier that same day, it takes place during the evening. Likewise, thanks also to Killmonger, Obadiah Stane’s (voiced by Kiff VandenHeuvel) complicity with the Ten Rings and their kidnapping plot is exposed months sooner than it was during Iron Man. And, of course, with Killmonger’s help, Tony spends his time building Vibrainium-powered Liberator drones that look like Gundams instead of Iron Man. Moreover, the Liberators essentially replace Tony’s Iron Legion from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Then there’s Tony’s welcome home party at his Malibu estate. Everything about it feels like it’s been lifted from a similar party in Iron Man 2 (2010), only without the throw down between Tony and Rhodey (Don Cheadle). There’s also more allusions towards Tony being a high functioning alcoholic than he was in the MCU films. Yes, he did get infamously drunk during Iron Man 2, an allusion towards the “Demon in the Bottle” storyline from the comics. But what’s implied here is that his captivity in the main timeline worked as a kind of extreme form of sobriety. Without it, he’s more prone to drinking, as there’s almost no scene in which Tony doesn’t have a drink in hand.

This acceleration of events doesn’t stop with all things Iron Man related, of course. Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) “sells” his black market Vibranium on his ship, the Churchill, six years before he was originally supposed to. Likewise, Killmonger recruits Klaue into his scheme to take over Wakanda almost a full decade before Black Panther. And speaking of which, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) makes his debut as the Black Panther much earlier, too. Given that T’Challa’s father, T’Chaka (John Kani), would’ve already bestowed the mantle to him around this time, this could also mean that T’Challa’s attempt at stopping the Vibranium deal was also his first mission outside of Wakanda.

Finally, there’s Killmonger’s entire plan, which also includes his murdering Klaue as the means for showing the Wakandans his “good will.”  Not to mention his becoming a “Black Panther” years before and drinking the Heart-Shaped Herb. That last bit is problematic as the herb is only consumed by the newly crowned King of Wakanda and T’Chaka is still very much alive. This also brings up a very interesting question, however…