The second season of Marvel’s What If…? is here. The animated series will once again take us through various hypothetical situations that put some of our favorite characters in completely new circumstances. And to kick things off, we get an answer to the question, “What If… Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?”
The episode opens with a look back at the Guardians of the Multiverse, who assembled in the first season finale. The Watcher points out though that we don’t know the story of that version of Gamora and lets us know that we’re about to.
After the title sequence, we see that this episode takes place at the end of Avengers, when Tony brought the nuke through the wormhole. In this universe though, Tony didn’t get back home. Instead, he winds up on Sakaar with the Grandmaster.
After some initial confusion, the Grandmaster reveals that they’ve all heard of Iron Man, though he can never seem to get his name right, and he’s a bit of a celebrity here. He invites Tony to stay for his 21st birthday, which Tony politely refuses. So, the Grandmaster threatens him into staying for his 21st birthday, which Tony accepts.
Tony joins the Grandmaster in his booth in the colosseum, just like we saw in Thor: Ragnarok. Only here, instead of gladiator battles, it’s a grand prix the Grandmaster hosts for entertainment. We see that Valkyrie and Korg are both participants in this grand prix, which unsurprisingly quickly becomes violent. Cars begin to get destroyed but Tony takes notice of Valkyrie who maneuvers brilliantly through the chaos.
Eventually, Val’s car is wrecked but she emerges unscathed. The Grandmaster has the fans throw cans and then chinchillas at here in some kind of weird tradition. The Grandmaster then releases his champion, which in this case is not the Hulk because he hasn’t mae it to Sakaar yet. Instead, it’s a giant elephant-like creature, which Korg calls Snuffy. Korg finds himself about to be trampled by Snuffy before Tony summons his armor and flies in to save him. Or, at least Tony tries to save Korg before he realizes his armor is malfunctioning. Instead, they are both saved by Gamora, who uses some kind of huge gun to blow Snuffy.
Before Tony can get any answers, Gamora turns the gun on him and begins to fire. The two begin to fight before being tagged with those shock collars we also saw in Ragnarok. Both Tony and Gamora are escorted to some kind of cell by Topaz and locked inside, before noticing Korg is also in there with them. Gamora reveals herself to be the daughter of Thanos, which means nothing to Tony at this time because he has never heard of Thanos yet. Tony uses his arc reactor to remove his collar and opens the door to their cell with his tech. He calls for Korg to join him but locks Gamora in the cell as they leave.
Korg takes out a bunch of guards as they try to steal a ship to escape but their plan is interrupted when Gamora blows up that ship and shatters a window. Tony grabs a guard’s control and shocks Gamora before the Grandmaster’s projection pops up over the city and he asks for the citizens to track down Mr. Metal Mojo Man… which of course is what he calls Tony.
Gamora once again tells Tony Thanos will have his revenge which prompts him to finally ask more about Thanos. She then reveals that the attack on New York was launched by Thanos, something Tony didn’t learn until Avengers: Infinity War. Tony decides the best way to anger Gamora is to save Sakaar from the Grandmaster. After he and Korg fly off, Topaz arrives to shock Gamora again.
Tony explains that he needs a driver for his plan and he and Korg meet with Valkyrie in a bar. He convinces her to help him overthrow the Grandmaster, if for nothing else than the thrill of it. Topaz opens a cell where Gamora is being kept but Gamora quickly steals the melt stick and takes out her guards. Meanwhile, Tony gets to work on a new suit in a scene that is very reminiscent of Iron Man.
Gamora holds the Grandmaster and Topaz at, um… melt stick point and demands Tony Stark. After she explains to the Grandmaster who that is, a projection of Tony pops up and challenges the Grandmaster to a race. Despite the urging of both Topaz and Gamora to turn down the challenge, he accepts.
All of the racers arrive on the track and the Grandmaster presents Tony with the chariot he’ll be racing in. We then see that Topaz will also be in the race, in a car armed with the melt stick. Tony also see Gamora being loaded into a car and forced to join the race. He puts a communicator in her car so they can keep in touch throughout the race.
The Grandmaster gets a head start and the race begins. It appears the plan is for Valkyrie and Korg, who are racing together in one vehicle, to keep the other racers off of Tony’s back while he tries to catch the Grandmaster. Meanwhile, the Grandmaster controls obstacles on the course that take out a number of cars, but Tony, Valkyrie and Gamora get through them.
Topaz takes out Tony’s chariot but he gets away and his new suit becomes a car, which he lands in and continues driving. Tony tries to convince Gamora that she doesn’t just need to do the bidding of her father, something he freed himself from years ago. He sites the events of Iron Man, when he saw his inventions fall into the wrong hands and end up hurting people. Gamora remains unconvinced for the moment but then Grandmaster unleashes two more Snuffy-like creatures, she decides to help Tony get past them before her own car is taken out.
Val and Korg get talent out as well, leaving only Tony and the Grandmaster left. After some dramatic back and forth, Tony wins the race by a hair. Grandmaster tries to rule the race a tie before Topaz arrives in her car, pointing the melt stick at Tony. Val manages to collide with Topaz’s vehicle, launching the melt stick into the air. The odd weapon lands and rolls to the feet of the Grandmaster, barely tapping his foot and melting him, which he weirdly enjoys.
As Val emerges from her wrecked car, the crowd chants her name and Tony decides she’s been selected as their king. The three celebrate their victory and Tony explains its time for him to leave, with Val remaining to run Sakaar and Korg serving as her special counsel. Tony gets into a ship to leave but is ambushed by Gamora, who says she can’t return to Thanos without him.
Gamora presents Tony to Thanos but they reveal it was a trick. Gamora leaps at Thanos and Tony tosses her the melt stick, which she uses on her father. Remember, in season one, we knew this Gamora had killed Thanos in her past. That closes out the episode save for a post-credits scene in which we see the Grandmaster still enjoying his melted state.
This was an action-heavy episode but really it played more as an action comedy. What else can you expect when you get characters like Tony Stark, Korg, Val and the Grandmaster together? The action remains one of the most impressive features of this new season, but it’s also incredible how different each episode manages to be. You never know what kind of adventure you’re in for next.
New episodes of Marvel’s What If…? season 2 will debut daily between now and December 30 on Disney+.