The MCU Just Improved WandaVision's Villain Twist By Accident

Warning: Contains spoilers for Marvel's What If...? episode 3.

Episode 3 of Marvel's What If…?, “What If… the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?,” makes a basic mistake in its mystery format that improves WandaVision’s twist. Both WandaVision and episode 3 of What If…? trade on a mystery behind a sinister plot. However, What If…?’s failure on a simple point highlights the success of WandaVision’s approach to the format.

In WandaVision, audiences were left to wonder who was really behind the Westview simulation and the manipulation of its residents. In What If…? episode 3, viewers are posed with the mystery of who is killing off all of the Avengers as or before Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) can recruit them. WandaVision provides the climactic reveal that Agatha Harkness (née-Agnes) had been behind Westview with a special theme song “Agatha All Along,” whereas What If…? went with a dramatic reveal in a foggy graveyard that Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) as Yellowjacket had been behind the murders.

While What If…?’s narrative was closer to a classic whodunnit thriller, it failed the viewer by breaking the fundamental rules of mystery stories. The twist reveal is almost entirely unpredictable until the final act. For the mystery to be properly paid off for the viewer, Hank Pym or some connection to him would have needed to have been mentioned, if only in passing, earlier on in the episode to present him as a possibility. This could have easily been achieved by including a mention of Hope Van Dyne’s death as an agent of SHIELD a couple of years before in a conversation between Fury and Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). However, having the first clue to the true solution come at the 20-minute mark of a 34-minute episode in the form of Janet Van Dyne’s name on a screen was ultimately a letdown.

Hank Pym addresses Nick Fury in What If...?

This highlights how successful WandaVision was in its execution as its careful storytelling provided a natural build to Agatha’s reveal. While some viewers who were keen to see evidence of Mephisto in the show missed the clues, Agatha’s role is subtly telegraphed from a very early point in the Disney+ series. WandaVision obviously had more room to work with as it spanned nine episodes, however, the mystery element of the show was only a single facet. While some viewers found other elements of the series to fall flat, such as WandaVision’s ending battle, it managed to be a better mystery show than What If…? did when they only had a single plotline to contend with.

The fact that What If…? exists within the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe gave them a unique opportunity to play off of a huge cast of characters that already existed to act as potential suspects. As easily as the villain could have been Hank Pym, it could have been related to an infiltration by Hydra, actions conducted by the Winter Soldier, or a sort of precursor to Baron Zemo. However, beyond Betty Ross (Stephanie Panisello) being suggested as an extremely brief red herring, no suspects are mentioned in episode 3 until Black Widow (Lake Bell) finds the answer shortly before her own demise. Ultimately, Marvel What If…? failed at creating a true detective episode by making the reveal a totally unforeshadowed twist.

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