What If's Final Iron Man Insult Was The Worst One

Warning: SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? Season 1 Finale - "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?"

Iron Man (Mick Wingert) was literally forbidden by the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) from helping to save the Multiverse in Marvel's What If...?'s season 1 finale, which is the worst insult to Tony Stark in the animated series. The Watcher assembled a group dubbed the Guardians of the Multiverse to stop Ultron (Ross Marquand), who wielded the Infinity Stones. But despite being physically capable of joining the heroes, Iron Man was benched by the Watcher even though the Guardians of the Multiverse needed all the help they could get.

What If...?'s mandate was to highlight different incarnations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's superheroes and focus on characters who weren't as prominent in the films. Therefore, it's understandable that Iron Man was deemphasized throughout the series, considering Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was the center piece hero of the mainline MCU, and Iron Man had a heroic death saving the universe from Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Endgame. However, along with Thanos, the different versions of Tony Stark seen throughout What If...? have been disappointing. Tony was easily killed by an insane Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in episode 3 and Iron Man was a mindless, Stark Tech-wearing zombie in What If...? episode 5. In episode 6, Tony was bamboozled by Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who easily disposed of the billionaire playboy en route to conquering Wakanda.

Even then, the way Iron Man was treated in What If...? season 1's finale was shocking. Desperate to stop Ultron, the Watcher pulled heroes such as Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Party Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and even the same Tony Stark-killing Killmonger from their respective timelines. The Watcher then traveled to Nidavellir to recruit a version of Gamora (Cynthia McWilliams) who killed Thanos in her universe. Teamed up with Gamora was this universe's version of Tony Stark, who was wearing a cosmic version of Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor. Despite Iron Man's willingness to join the Watcher's cause, the cosmic being insultingly commanded, "Not you, Stark," and only took Gamora on his quest, leaving Iron Man behind. But why didn't the Watcher also recruit Iron Man?

As shown in the Guardians of the Multiverse's battle with Ultron in What If...? season 1's finale, the heroes were still outmatched by the omnipotent android. The team assembled by the Watcher actually wasn't enough, even though they had Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch) among their ranks. In fact, the Guardians were saved by inadvertently traveling to Ultron's home universe, where Natasha Romanoff (Lake Bell) was the last surviving human. It was because of Black Widow that the Guardians beat Ultron, thanks to her arrow loaded with the A.I. of Arnim Zola (Toby Jones). So since the initial team the Watcher handpicked wasn't enough, he should have also drafted Iron Man along with Gamora and not insultingly left Tony Stark behind.

Judging from his cosmic armor, Tony Stark could have made a difference against Ultron. Even if Iron Man's raw power was insufficient, the Watcher should have banked on the presence of Ultron's "father" unbalancing the android to give the Guardians a desperately needed edge. Had Iron Man died (again) fighting Ultron, at least it would have been for the noble cause of saving the Multiverse. Not even giving Tony Stark the chance to fight made even less sense considering who the Watcher did recruit: Party Thor, an oafish version of the God of Thunder, the evil Doctor Strange Supreme who destroyed his universe, and Killmonger, who ended up betraying the Guardians.

The Watcher purposefully excluding Iron Man from the Guardians of the Multiverse also sends a bizarre message. Considering Tony Stark died saving the universe in Avengers: Endgame, does the way Iron Man was portrayed throughout the animated series mean that no other version of Stark is capable of also saving the universe? Iron Man is one of the MCU's greatest superheroes but What If...? didn't treat him as such and What If...?'s finale benching Tony Stark when the Multiverse was at stake was the worst insult of all.

Next: Every MCU Easter Egg In What If...? Episode 9

Marvel's What If...? Season 1 is available to stream on Disney+.