The premise of What If…? prepares audiences to see MCU characters and events in a different light, exemplifying the ways that a character is built by the circumstances of their environment. Episodes have shown many different versions of the same character in different timelines. For example, throughout the show thus far, Thanos has been a moderately friendly Ravager, a zombie, and defeated far too easily on more than one occasion. Other characters go through less noticeable alterations, making it tough to track from episode to episode.

Related: Marvel’s What If Keeps Asking The Wrong Questions

Ultimately, What If…?’s biggest problem is that it has ignored the continuity and character development for which the MCU is best known. Marvel Studios built an entire universe full of complex characters through more than 10 years of storytelling. Thirteen years and 25 movies can stand alone or operate as a cohesive storyline, which is no small feat. A crucial reason the MCU is so successful is that characters exhibit some consistency of spirit, motives, and personality. Characters have reacted to events and developed throughout the multiple movies in ways that reinforce their character arcs. It is the MCU's dedication to complex storytelling and attention to character that has attracted so many ardent fans. By its variable nature, What If…? episodes seem to undermine the meticulous continuity established by the movies.

At times, it seemed like Guardians of the Multiverse team capable of defeating a superpowered Ultron. Still, the general impression is that this attempt at continuity comes too late in the first season to convince audiences who were not impressed with previous episodes.