YMMV / What If…? S2E2 "What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"

• Character Rerailment: After many years of depicting Thor more comedically both in the Sacred Timeline and as Party Thor on this very show, many fans were happy to see him return to his pre-Ragnarok characterization in this episode. Throughout the episode, Thor takes Ego as a threat very seriously and fights ferociously in battle, yet is still a noble man who wants to save Midgard even after losing everything.
• Complete Monster: The version of Ego the Living Planet faced by Celestial Star-Lord is as vile as his Sacred Timeline counterpart. Ego is a powerful Celestial who seeks to initiate an event called the Expansion, whereupon Ego plants cosmic seeds on every planet in the universe and assimilates it into himself at the cost of wiping out all life. Ego is also a hideously Abusive Parent to his son Peter "Star-Lord" Quill and forces him to activate the seeds and use them to wipe out countless inhabited worlds like Asgard. Arriving on Earth in search of Peter, Ego intends to activate its cosmic seed to wipe out Earth. He eventually reveals to Peter that he killed Peter's mother for being too "mortal" and tries to kill Peter himself when Peter rejects him.
• Fanfic Fuel: The ending of the episode leaves plenty for the writers to explore, from character interactions to the far reaching consequences of the changes made in this universe. What further adventures do the 80s Avengers experience? How does Peter adapt to living with Hank and Hope, and will he reunite with his grandfather earlier than in the Sacred Timeline? Where does Bucky go after breaking his brainwashing and how will this affect the reunion between him and Steve in 2012? How do their new friendships with the Avengers affect T'Chaka, Lawson and their respective fates in the films? How does Thor cope with being the only survivor of Asgard? What's Tony's relationship with his parents since they'll still be alive in December 1991? Better yet, even though Bucky will no longer hunt the Starks down, what's to say another Winter Soldier fulfills the deed? How will this all affect the creation of the Guardians of the Galaxy and what happens if Peter meets up with Yondu again? Will Peter meet up with Mantis as well? Will Scott Lang still become the second Ant-Man?
• Unexpected Character: Though he's only named in the credits and doesn't appear onscreen, it's still surprising to hear Vasily Karpov of all people act as the Winter Soldier's handler in this universe, complete with his original actor voicing him.

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