Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? episode 6.

Tony Stark's story in What If…? episode 6 demonstrates that Thanos was right in Avengers: Infinity War when he told Iron Man he was cursed. Tony Stark’s creation of the Iron Man suit founded the MCU, and his death at the end of Phase 3 closed a huge chapter of the franchise. However, the Disney+ TV show is still finding ways to shine light on different aspects of Iron Man’s character.

In Avengers: Infinity War, when Iron Man faces down against Thanos on Titan during the battle for the Time Stone, he’s surprised to find that Thanos knows his name. In response, Thanos tells Tony that he is “not the only one cursed with knowledge.” In the main MCU timeline, building on the alien invasion from the Battle of New York, at the start of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff plays a mind trick on Iron Man that makes him see a vision of the Avengers having failed to protect Earth. These events lead him to create Ultron in the hopes that he might be able to save Earth from the other-worldly threats that he has learned about but ultimately leads to the threat of an apocalyptic event at his own hands.

Related: What If…? Just Made Iron Man The MCU's Curse & Its Savior

In What If…? episode 6, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?,” Tony Stark (Mick Wingert) never builds the Iron Man suit, but the Disney+ show demonstrated that Tony’s curse of knowledge is an innate part of his character. While in the main timeline of the MCU Tony was aware of the larger threats to the Earth and had become a hero, in the What If…? timeline his savior complex rears its head in a different form as he is determined to solve problems put before him, a trait that Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) takes advantage of. Tony Stark’s desire to be “the guy” and to use his knowledge for his perception of good leads to him creating the drone army that marches on Wakanda and spells impending doom.

Tony Stark raising his eyebrow with a computer screen showing a Gundam-like Liberator model in the background in Marvel's What If...?

In a vacuum, Tony Stark is driven to use his knowledge to prove that he can do something in part because of a need for approval. Howard Stark, Tony’s father, has been shown to operate in a very similar way to the Tony of What If…? episode 6. Howard was a genius but used his knowledge to create weapons that wreaked havoc across the world when they fell into the wrong hands, despite his best intentions.

What If…? episode 6 shows that Thanos was right that Iron Man was cursed with knowledge, and he would have been right if he had said the same thing to Tony’s father. What this demonstrates is that the key thing that Tony Stark learned in the cave in Iron Man was not how to build an Iron Man suit. The thing that really changed him was his friendship with Dr. Ho Yinsen and learning a distrust in government and organizations that would want to use his inventions for their own ends.

Next: The MCU Really Wants You To Give Up On Iron Man Coming Back

Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

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