What If...? (TV Series) What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? (2023) User Reviews

This was...surprisingly good?

[GregTheStopSign95 · 7/10 · 26 December 2023]

It really was pretty solid, all things considered. We get a good bit of backstory for the alternate Gamora we met last season, we get a bit more of Jeff Goldblum being Jeff Goldblum which is always fun (and, thankfully, he doesn't stray too far into "Jeff Goldblum as a meme of Jeff Goldblum" territory), we get a little bit more Topaz (which I'm always down for, I do love me some Rachel House), and we even get a bit of Mad Max meets Death Race. They also manage to contain Taika and his quips pretty well so that's another plus.

There's really not a lot of story here, though, but that's not a bad thing because they don't try to cram a movie into 25-ish minutes, and they do manage to build out this Gamora's backstory a bit...plus, it might be a bit of a stretch, or wishful thinking, but I THINK we might have also got a little bit of an X-Men tease.

Better than expected

[capricorn40 · 7/10 · 28 December 2023]

This episode uses an actual "What If..." scenario. Tony saves New York in the Avengers movie, but what if he didn't make it before the worm hole closes.

I've seen a a few episodes with cringe-worthy humor, but here it's not too bad.

I like all the nick names Tony gives everyone and this episode captures how the Grandmaster is in the comics.

The Grandmaster in the comics is a gambler and LOVES to play games, but is known for cheating in order to win.

You should read "Thanos Quest" where he battles Thanos in a VR game for the infinity stones and THIS Grandmaster is reflective of that character. It seemed natural he would accept Tony's challenge because that's his nature, but of course he's going to stack the deck in his favor.

So far this is my favorite of Season 2.

Grandmaster Sexay

[southdavid · 7/10 · 9 February 2024]

This episode was initially designed to be part of the first season, as this Gamora was the only person in the Multiverse Avengers, not to get their own episode before that teaming up in the conclusion. Here it is, with a slightly rejigged opening and another decent episode.

Having sent the nuclear missile through the wormhole, Tony Stark (Mick Wingert) falls back towards Earth, but the hole closes before he does. Spinning through the cosmos, he ends up on Sakaar, a planet ruled over by the charismatic Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) who is delighted to have the defeater of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in his midst. The Grandmaster shows his latest game, a race/demolition derby/gladiator battle, whose competitors include Korg (Taika Waititi) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson). Appalled Stark plans an uprising, but he has another problem, the assassin and daughter of Thanos Gamora (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams) is on his tale.

I've got to stop talking about the look of these shows as the animation style is consistent throughout, I would say that I didn't buy these versions of Stark and Gamora as looking like the MCU counterparts and, whilst Wingert's impression of Downey is pretty good - I didn't see much of Zoe Saldana in Gamora. I would say it was another one heavily leaning into comedy. Rachael House reprises her role as Topaz and gets some deadpan laughs alongside Waititi and Goldblum (who, as always, is having a ball).

The long racing action scene in the middle was well done, even if it seems unlikely that The Grandmaster would race himself, or stake what he does. Though, as everyone points out, he is an idiot.

Each episode of this whole series I've found to be good so far, I hope it can keep it up.

What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 12 February 2024]

Once again the second series of What If... is going for a lighter tone in comparison to its first season.

Iron Man didn't fall to New York after trying to get rid off the nuclear warhead. He goes through a portal and ends up in Sakar. The world of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum.) The cool but not so benevolent leader.

He hosts gladiatorial car races to entertain the crowds while there is a famine.

Tony Stark is encouraged to enter the race but he just wants to get home and reunite with Pepper. However Gamora is there and she hates Stark.

As Stark realises that the Grandmaster needs to be stopped. He teams up with Korg but he could do with Gamora's help.

The episode has a Mad Max vibe but with a wackier tone. There is a good blend of humour, having Korg helps. Goldblum adds sinister.goofiness.

So much fun!

[gabrielmikhno · 9/10 · 25 December 2023]

I really enjoyed this episode! Best one of the season! The what if actually felt like a what if that could have played out. With episode 1, Thanos dying, then Ronan coming to Xandar, and this random shield closed before Ronan could enter was all far fetched. Episode 2, all made sense, until Ego got beat so quickly by Peter and with the child saying Ego got into his head after exploding tons of planets, fully aware of it. Why couldn't Ego be in Quill's head while he was killing him? Episode 3, well come on, that Avengers tower heist didn't feel like a threat. I'll give it a pass because it was a Christmas episode.

But E4 made sense and felt natural. What if...? Tony didn't make it through the portal in time. Makes perfect sense. They also didn't go through a montage of paintings to show us it, they literally animated the What if that occurred. Small difference, but worth it.

Also Tony was insanely well written! Like what!? The writers defiantly love and understand these characters. Unlike other characters, Tony was pushed aside last season, and was present in 4 episode, because, well he's Iron Man. But here you get more to the character, it adds on. Like the doctor strange episode and the Ultron episode, Tony got extremely good character development! Gamora was good. Like okay. Again my biggest complaint, add more time to the episode. I'd sacrifice the 20 minute Christmas episode to add more time to some of these episodes. Because they could really use it. Jeff Goldblum was fantastic in this! I just love the character interactions, this is what made me fall in love with season 1, and what they continue to do in season 2, just this episode really shows!

JUST PLEASE, for season 3 add more space to breathe! For example we could've used a fight for Thanos at the end! That would have been awesome! Tony and Gamora fight against him. That would have been perfect.

This is what I signed up for.

[GomezAddams666 · 10/10 · 25 December 2023]

Episode 4 is the LOST EPISODE FROM SEASON 1, This episode happens when Tony throws the nuke at the Chitauri ship, but the wormhole closes and he can't get home, instead landing on Sakaar and facing the Grandmaster in a chariot race while Gamora, still working for Thanos is hunting him sown to kill him.

This is BY FAR the best episode of the series until now, as you see Tony Stark in all his quick-whipped and genius glory fighting two powerful enemies at once. This whole season of "What If...?" has been amazing, but this episode is the best one this tome around.

We all know Marvel Studios is having a hard time right now, but this season 2 is brining fans back.

Filling in the Blanks

[robbysheilds · 9/10 · 30 December 2023]

Gamora's story before Season 1's finale was one that wasn't told yet. But it is one that's also told through Tony Stark's adventures in Sakaar. And it is a story that's told wonderfully.

I really love the chaos of the final chariot race. There are a lot of creative moments within. Something I've also noticed this season being good at is the escalation of action, with action scenes noticeably getting more intense and chaotic as time goes on. This makes the episode all the more fun because of that, really adding to the investment.

In terms of the characters, Tony's written pretty well here. There's a realistic portrayal of his character here in terms of how he'd act after the events of Avengers (2012). He also gets a lot of moments to shine here, like his interactions with Gamora and his new suit that turns into a chariot, which is pretty cool.

I also really love the Grandmaster, who Jeff Goldblum seems to be having a ball playing here. He's just as silly here as he was in Thor Ragnarok, and is just as enjoyable to watch here. There is a lot of really good humor in this episode, half of which is given to us by the Grandmaster.

If I did have a complaint, though, I feel that the ending with Thanos was pretty rushed and anticlimactic. I get that the episode was already over by that point, but his defeat still feels a bit too fast.

Other than that, though, this is a pretty great episode. It's got some great humor, the action and racing is pretty entertaining and fun, and the characters are written pretty well here.