WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 8, “What If… Ultron Won,?” streaming now on Disney+.
The latest episode of What If…? puts the multiverse at stake in a way never seen before. Not only does the episode resurrect the terrifying might of Ultron, but it also gives him the body of Vision and dominion over the six Infinity Stones. But, then, as an unstoppable force, he singlehandedly begins his true “Age of Ultron” by nearly destroying humanity. Yet, even in a post-apocalyptic world, there are still heroes willing to fight for freedom. But in doing so, some have to make the ultimate sacrifice that homages a classic scene from Avengers: Endgame.
In order to obtain the Soul Stone in Endgame, Hawkeye and Black Widow travel to the planet Vormir where they meet the Red Skull. There he tells them that to get the stone, one of them must sacrifice something they love. The friends argue and even fight over who will be the one to make the decision, but ultimately Black Widow is the one who chooses to perish. The saddest part about the entire scene is that Hawkeye is put in a position where he has to see his friend die while being powerless to stop it.
What If…? sets a similar moment up with Black Widow and Hawkeye traveling to Russia to find a way to stop Ultron. However, this Hawkeye is devoid of hope after years of death, and the loss of his arm, friends and possibly family leave him disillusioned and sick of fighting. Nevertheless, the two find a bunker that contains Arnim Zola’s AI, and they decide to integrate him into a damaged Ultron sentry. But to do that, they have to call in a swarm to their location.
The three make their way up a missile silo, and Hawkeye sets up a barrier to keep the drones at bay. However, a shot from one of them nearly knocks him off the platform before Black Widow catches him. Rather than help to pull himself up, Clint looks at Natasha and says, “I told you, I don’t want to fight anymore.” He wrenches himself free, and Natasha watches Clint fall to his death, like in Endgame. The scene is beautifully crafted and lingers on a shot of him facing the horde, with Clint firing an arrow at one sentry that explodes, destroying the others.
The scene shows that whenever dangerous tyrants gain insurmountable power, there must always be sacrifice to defeat them. With Thanos, it took the loss of Black Widow to acquire the Soul Stone. But with Ultron, Hawkeye’s sacrifice gives Natasha the time she needs to escape with humanity’s last hope at victory. Their deaths were never in vain, and those surviving are also given someone to avenge.
Of all of the enemies in What If…?, the Infinity Stone-powered Ultron is one of the worst. His presence brought about the destruction of the modern world and showed that it would take the combined might of a multiverse of heroes to stand against him. But even in all of the chaos, the series managed to beautifully homage one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most heartbreaking scenes.
To see the reimagined sacrifice, Episode 8 of What If…? is streaming now on Disney+.
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