What If? Episode 9 Review: ‘A finale that felt way too easy’

What If? episode 9 is now available to watch on Disney Plus. The What If? finale focuses on the Guardians of the Multiverse going up against the powerful force of Ultron who wields all Infinity Stones. It’s a final battle that the other episodes have been slowly building up, so expectations are high for something epic. Sadly, it ultimately disappoints, though not without some highlights. Here is the What If? episode 9 review and ending explained. (Spoilers below!)

What If? episode 9 review

What If? episode 9 starts with a bang, with the Watcher moving rapidly between universes assembling a team, in a similar vein to the MCU’s Nick Fury recruiting the original Avengers. Within the first five minutes, the Watcher has collected his group of fighters who will go up against Ultron. He names them the “Guardians of the Multiverse.” They are comprised of Captain Carter, Black Widow, Star-Lord T’Challa, Gamora, Killmonger, Thor, and Doctor Strange.

It becomes clear that this version of Doctor Strange is very formidable and is able to protect the other Guardians from Ultron’s energy blasts. While the Doctor is protecting them, the other characters join forces to barrage Ultron with non-stop attacks. It’s a great animated sequence, but it does make Ultron look weak. He never really gets a good shot in and the stakes never feel high, which is a stark contrast to the ending battle of episode 8.

With episode 8 showing the full power of Ultron wielding all Infinity Stones, with the AI able to go toe-to-toe with the Watcher and eventually come out on top, it does feel as though he has been nerfed for this final fight. His inconsistent power level makes for a disappointing final battle where he is dispatched without much worry. It still looks great animation-wise, but it is vastly overshadowed by the Watcher vs Ultron fight.

The Guardians of the Multiverse achieve a relatively easy win over Ultron, who is defeated much early than I expected. None of the Guardians die, though Doctor Strange does end up sacrificing himself to spend eternity watching over a trapped Ultron and Killmonger. That latter character does end up betraying the other Guardians, though that is expected and telegraphed early into the episode.

It’s just too easy a battle and there’s no significant twist or bigger, unexpected problem that the team has to work together to face. There’s no major revelation, either.

What If? episode 9 ending explained

At the end of What If? episode 9, Ultron and Killmonger are both fighting over the Infinity Stones. With the assistance of the Watcher, Doctor Strange is able to capture the two villains in a pocket dimension, where they will remain for all eternity struggling to secure the stones.

Doctor Strange sacrifices himself to spend his remaining existence watching over the pocket dimension, to make sure the potentially cataclysmic forces of Ultron and Killmonger remain trapped.

After the credits, Black Widow shows Captain Carter a recovered HYDRA Stomper. Carter is told that “someone is inside.” This teases the return of Steve Rogers in season 2 of the show.

What If? Episode 9 Review: The final verdict

Overall, What If? episode 9 fails to stick the landing and doesn’t make up for a rocky season.

This final episode of What If? secures my opinion that this series can be happily missed without issue from most casual viewers. Diehard Marvel fans will find some of the episodes entertaining, but there are too many misses that fall short of their potential.

For season 2, I hope Marvel pushes the boat out by including more episodes that take a wildly different path to the MCU stories we already know. The more divergent episodes were the stars of season 1, so hopefully Marvel embraces that for its next attempt.