Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? episode 6.
In What If…? episode 6, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?,” the MCU revisited Tony Stark’s origin story, but in doing so, did a huge disservice to Iron Man’s legacy. While What If…? takes place within alternate realities, producers behind the show have confirmed that with the birth of the multiverse in the MCU, the events of the Disney+ series are considered canon. That means that the characters' actions in these episodes reflect how the main timeline versions could have behaved.
What If…? episode 6 shows Tony Stark (Mick Wingert) being saved from his near-death experience by the meeting Dr. Ho Yinsen, miniaturizing an arc reactor, and building a prototype of an Iron Man suit, Tony flies back to the US and doubles down on his weapons contracts. Killmonger is then able to manipulate Tony into building the first of the Liberator drones before eventually killing him.
After an extended send-off and tribute in building the Iron Man suit and seeking vengeance. In the What If…? timeline, Tony is still aware that it is Stark Industries weapons that are being used against the US military and he still saw the service he had been with die in front of him because of his technology. His choice to continue weapons manufacturing and create the Liberator done after that betrays the comion that the main MCU timeline’s Tony Stark was shown to be capable of, as well as his hesitance to build weapons that will not be properly controlled.
This is a particular disservice to Tony Stark because it suggests that without having built the Iron Man suit, he would not be a hero. There is a long-running refrain throughout the MCU that questions the worth of the person behind the superpowers. It was most recently explored in a conversation between Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers in What If…? episode 1. Tony Stark himself makes reference to it in Spider-Man: Homecoming when he insists that Peter Parker needs to be more than the suit saying, “If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.” To then show Tony as nothing more than a narcissist who is easily defeated by Killmonger denies the character his own MCU legacy.
It could be argued that the real change for What If…? episode 6 is that Tony Stark doesn’t meet Dr. Yinsen. This would mean that he wasn’t inspired by Yinsen’s story and self-sacrifice and isn’t able to put a human face on the pain that his weapons have caused. Tony Stark also doesn't go through the humbling experience of feeling powerless while incarcerated. The plot of "What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” technically fits the character's established background; however, this still runs afoul of betraying the work that the larger MCU did to create a sympathetic Tony Stark who has already had his closure within the larger timeline.
Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
