What If…? released its sixth episode today, which imagined – wouldn’t you know it? – another dark version of the MCU timeline. This week, the animated anthology show altered the entire foundation of the franchise. As titled “What If… Killmonger Saved Tony Stark?”, it revealed a world where Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) rescued Stark (Mick Wingert) from the Ten Rings. Not only did this mean Iron Man never came to pass, but it also meant Killmonger amassed enough power to successfully take over Wakanda. Needless to say, heavy spoilers are inbound.
Killmonger brews a war between the US and Wakanda by murdering both Rhodey (Don Cheadle) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and making it look like they took each other out. When Tony discovers the truth, Stevens murders him, too. Yes, Marvel just killed Tony Stark yet again. What with Avengers: Endgame and two previous episodes this season, that makes four times that the franchise has killed the Armored Avenger.
And fans are not happy about it, with social media full of reactions from devastated fans who are ready to never see Stark die ever again.
Tony’s first What If…? death came in episode 3 when he was the first of the founding Avengers to be murdered by a vengeful Hank Pym. Episode 5 killed him off again by way of the zombie virus accidentally released from the Quantum Realm by Hank Pym. This time, at least, the original Ant-Man wasn’t responsible for Stark’s death.
It’s worth pointing out that Tony’s demise was also vaguely alluded to in both episodes 2 and 4, as well. The Collector had Thor’s hammer and Cap’s shield as trophies, suggesting he had killed all the Avengers, while Doctor Strange Supreme’s whole universe collapsed, so that would obviously include Tony, too. So it’s genuinely true that (almost) every episode of What If…? so far has killed off Iron Man.
Hopefully, it won’t happen again over the next three episodes of the animated series, which unfolds Wednesdays on Disney Plus.