WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 8, “What If… Ultron Won?,” streaming now on Disney+.
Since Disney’s purchase of Marvel and Star Wars, there have been plenty of fans of both properties chomping at the bit for s cross-over. With both worlds so distinctly different, it would take a universe-shattering event to bring them together — and such an event very well may have happened in Marvel’s What If…?.
In “What If… Ultron Won?”, an interdimensional battle between and Infinity Stone-infused Ultron and the Watcher tears through reality itself. At one point, they even seem to cross through a familiar Star Wars locale: Mustafar.
While most of What If…?‘s episodes have been relatively self-contained, with the Watcher playing little else other than a passive observer to the infinite alternate realities of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, as the series builds toward a finale, it sets up a cosmic threat that pulls the Watcher into its danger. In a reality where Ultron defeated the Avengers, the sentient robot inhabits Vision’s body, kills Thanos to take his Infinity Stones and conquers everything there is to conquer. Ascending to a new level of consciousness, he realizes that the next horizon ahead of him is the interdimensional domain of the Watcher himself.
The two engage in a battle that shatters worlds, devours galaxies and breaks through from one reality to another. There are several locations seen throughout their duel, but at one point, the two fly through an alien civilization built into a magma-soaked planet that looks quite familiar. If it were a barren volcano, that would be one thing, but those are clearly the towers and structures of Mustafar.
Perhaps best known as the site of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fateful duel as the former Padawan turned to the dark side to embrace his future as Darth Vader, Mustafar has always been a focal point of great evil in the Star Wars galaxy. Vader builds a castle there, and the mining colonies on the volcanic planet create just enough structure for duelists to navigate as they cross their burning blades. Until now, however, it was still a location firmly in its universe separate from the MCU.
And, practically speaking, that will likely remain the case. The locality stands as a cute shout-out and wink to the audience in acknowledgment of the meta-level unity between two of the biggest franchises in the world. Not much else is made of it during Uatu and Ultron’s fight, and it’s such a blink-and-you-miss-it moment that it’s hard to subscribe too great of consequence to it. Yet still, it stands out as an important marker of things that could come to anyone hoping for a crossover in the future.
At the least, it’s confirmation of just how big the MCU’s multiverse really is. While the series frequently teased the infinite variety of realities in existence, that did not necessarily mean there were boundaries into worlds of other fictive settings. All that was explored previously were variations on the MCU’s series of events. However, with such a setup, the series could very well open the door for one-off crossovers or more freeform comedic experimentation, depending on how loose they are willing to get with the franchise.
Regardless of its larger consequence, the moment still stands out as a fun Easter egg that enhanced just how epic the moment could be. It’s hard to find a locale better for a powerful showdown than Mustafar, and in a show as wild as What If…?, creators are free to go to Mustafar when they want to.
To see other secrets of the MCU revealed, Episode 8 of What If…? is streaming now on Disney+.
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