Marvel fans already know that there are untold surprises ahead for them when it comes to the rest of Phase 4 of the sprawling film and TV franchise known as the MCU. Loki is about to debut on Disney+, but later this summer will see a (potentially) even weirder series, when Marvel's What If...? debuts and takes a look at how some of the most important events in MCU history could have gone down very differently. Now, though, it appears as if at least one episode has been spoiled by the release of a LEGO set.
What If...?, which is based on the long-running Marvel comic series of the same name, will be an animated anthology series which explores many of the most life-changing events from the MCU (and the comics, for that matter) as though they happened with very different participants. We've already seen teases of things like T'Challa becoming Star Lord, and Peggy Carter becoming a super solider instead of Steve Rogers, but now it appears that the episode which features Tony Stark / Iron Man has been spoiled by the LEGO set meant to tie-in with that installment. Take a look at the Instagram photos which supposedly reveal how Tony will factor into What If...? and we'll discuss, below:
Oooooh. Alright, if you've scrolled through the post and seen all the pictures and are still wondering what's going on and how this could spoil What If...? for viewers, let me call your attention to the writing on the box underneath the large "8+" which tells parents the appropriate age for this LEGO set. It's described on the package as being "Tony Stark's Sakaarian Iron Man," you guys. This means that instead of finding Hulk on Sakaar and him being forced to fight in the Grandmaster's arena, we could see Tony creating this massive mech suit and fighting as a gladiator, not Bruce Banner.
Obviously, wherever Tony went, he was unlikely to have been there long without inventing something cool, so this version of his Hulkbuster armor makes total sense for Sakaar, seeing as how it appears to be built from a lot of intriguing scraps and also capable of turning into a what looks like a race car. But, even if this does spoil the main scenario of this particular episode, there are still plenty of other questions that need to be answered.
For instance, did Tony take off in a Quinjet after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron and end up getting sucked into a wormhole that dropped him on Sakaar, like Bruce does in the original timeline, or did he get there some other way? Will this armor be enough to make Tony the star of the Grandmaster's arena, like Hulk? Speaking of the gladiatorial competitions, we see that Valkyrie and The Watcher (who narrates What If...?, will both play a part in this adventure, but what about Thor? Will there be a different Marvel hero who crashes on the garbage-heavy planet and helps overthrow the Grandmaster?
As you can see, even if this LEGO set does tell us something about Tony's adventures during What If...? we still have a lot to learn about how he'll play into the series. Marvel's What If...? will debut at some point this summer on Disney+, but for more to watch in the meantime, check out our guide to 2021 summer TV!
