Between wrapping gifts and sipping egg nog, we unwrapped the third episode of Marvel’s What If…? yesterday. According to Comicbook, the holiday-themed entry, “What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas,” has embedded an easter egg tribute to the late Marvel Comics co-creator, Stan Lee (The Wolverine, Daredevil). Spoilers for the episode are below.
The episode centers on Jon Favreau’s (Iron Man 2, The Mandalorian) Happy Hogan as he oversees the logistics for Tony Stark’s holiday event at Avengers Tower. Stylized as the MCU’s version of Die Hard, the festivities are interrupted when Iron Man villain, Sam Rockwell’s (Charlie’s Angels, The Bad Guys) Justin Hammer, crashes the party. Remotely taking over the Stark Industries tech, Hammer is bent on confiscating a vial of Hulk blood to beat Stark into submission.
As Hogan becomes the last line of defense, he quickly scrolls his phone’s contacts to get in touch with any of Earth’s mightiest heroes. A plethora of names come up, including Stark, Steve Rogers aka Captain America, General Thunder Ross, and Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. The split-second clip captures an S. Lee, a reference to the comics creative.
According to Comicbook, Lee wasn’t the only easter egg listed in Happy’s phone. Two of the series writers, A.C. Bradley (Arrow, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia) and Matthew Chauncey (Self-Center, Ms. Marvel), are also included.
The second season of What If…? continues the various tales of the MCU remixed; how one single decision could change the trajectory of our characters and the multiverse as we know it. Starring Jeffery Wright (No Time to Die, American Fiction) as The Watcher, he observed these scenarios without interference until one scenario threatened their very existence.
According to Comicbook, the remaining six episodes are as follows: “What If Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”; “What if Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?”; “What if Kahhori Reshaped the World?”; “What If Hela Found the Ten Rings?”; “What if The Avengers Assembled in 1602?”; and “What if Strange Supreme Intervened?.”
Premiering on Dec. 22, the nine-episode season will release one episode through Dec. 30. only on Disney+.