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

An all-new, all-different Age of Heroes?

By the end of “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”, Pepper Pots and Shuri have uncovered Killmonger’s deception, and are starting to work together to expose him and end the war between the US and Wakanda. Couple this with the Watcher’s narration, and the implication is that Tony and T’Challa’s deaths will inspire a new generation of heroes, starting with Pepper and Shuri.

However, when you take into consideration the entirety of the MCU, the Watcher does undersell this just a bit. Because even though the circumstances surrounding Iron Man and Black Panther changed, other aspects did not.

For starters, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still very much active, as would be Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye. That also means Fury’s “Avengers Initiative” would still be very much on the table, as Tony was only one potential candidate and a reluctant one at that. Bruce Banner is still wandering around trying to cure himself of being the Hulk. Thor hasn’t yet been banished from Asgard. Steve Rogers is still frozen somewhere in the Arctic Circle. Carol Danvers is helping the Skrulls find a home in outer space. Bucky is still the Winter Soldier. Pietro and Wanda are still Hydra test subjects. And Sam Wilson has his Falcon wings. In other words, a group of Avengers could still be formed without Tony.

Even if Pepper and Shuri do fail to convince their governments to cease fire, things still do not look so hopeless as far as Wakanda goes. Even though General Ross plans to bombard Wakanda with the Jericho missiles – the same ones Tony demonstrated to the military in Afghanistan if you recall – did we all just forget that Wakanda is protected by an invisible force field? Powerful as that missile system is, they still wouldn’t penetrate such an advanced defense system like that.

Compared to previous offerings of What If…?, the ending of “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” leaves more room for optimism, even if the episode also feels as if it finishes sooner than it should have. Looks as though this will be another episode that, based off of various sneak peaks and teaser trailers, will be revisited later. It sure will be crazy to see what the T’Challa Star-Lord will make of a Black Panther Killmonger.

See any other Easter Eggs or clues in What If…? episode 6 that we might have missed or overlooked? Have you been enjoying What If…? so far? Let us know in the comments section below.