"What If... The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?" is the fifth episode of the third season of the Disney+ streaming television series What If...? and the twenty-third episode of the series overall. The episode was written by Matthew Chauncey and Ryan Little, after a story by Bryan Andrews, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little and directed by Stephan Franck. It premiered on December 26, 2024.
Synopsis[]
In a Universe where The Eternals never stopped The Emergence, the birth of an incubating Celestial shatters the Earth. Civilization endures on the rocky remnants of our planet, where Quentin Beck leads an authoritarian regime until freedom fighters recruit Riri Williams on a deadly mission to take him down.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher
- Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams
- Alejandro Saab as Quentin Beck
- Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
- Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
- Michelle Wong as Ying Nan
- DC Douglas as The Incarnate
- Darin De Paul as The Executioner
- Kenna Ramsey as Okoye
- David Chen as Wong / Additional Voices
- Jason Isaacs as The Eminence
Guest stars[]
- Terri Douglas as Additional Voices
- Matt Yang King as Additional Voices
- Andrew Morgado as Additional Voices
- Kari Wahlgren as Additional Voices
- Debra Wilson as Additional Voices
- Shelby Young as Additional Voices
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The wreck of the Titanic is shown, meaning the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 happened no matter what universe.
- White Vision appears in this episode, who debuted in WandaVision. He is nicknamed Casper, after Casper the ghost, from the film with the same name.
- Riri's white suit is similar to the superior Iron Man suit from the comics.
- This is the first and only What If...? episode to feature a Spider-Man villain who made his/her live-action debut in the MCU Spider-Man movies.
- This episode marks the first time in the MCU where a Spider-Man villain actively hunted down, tortured and killed various heroes who are not related to Spider-Man.
- This is also the first time in the MCU where a Spider-Man villain managed to rule the Earth, or rather what is left of Earth in the case of this episode.
- This episode marks not only Mysterio's third overall appearance in the MCU, but also his second time in the MCU to be portrayed as the main villain aside from Spider-Man: Far From Home.
- Jake Gyllenhaal, who played Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, does not return to voice the character due to his contract being bound to Sony Pictures, the current owner of the Spider-Man movie rights.
External links[]
What If... The Emergence Destroyed the Earth? on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki- What If...? (animated series) Season 3 5 on Marvel Database
