Summary
Killmonger on a different path is an interesting experience and one that will leave the imagination going wild for the audience.
Read the recap of the previous chapter.
Welcome back to our continued coverage of What If…? that has been capturing our imagination of alternative timelines. As the title suggests, episode 6 ponders with the idea of Killmonger rescuing Tony Stark.
What If…? season 1, episode 6 recap
Episode 6 begins with Tony Stark in Afghanistan in a military truck — this is clearly before he was meant to be Iron Man. They are suddenly attacked by enemy forces, and there are many explosions. Killmonger saves Tony Stark. Iron Man never came to be, but the villain forged a new path.
Killmonger has now gained Tony’s trust. Tony Stark returns to the USA and announces Killmonger as the new Head of Security of Stark Industries. At a press conference, Killmonger reveals he was part of a plan to attack Tony Stark by the COO of Stark Industries, but he foiled it. Pepper Potts is not buying the heroics of Killmonger and wants to understand what he wants.
Tony wants to return the favor for Killmonger saving his life and helps him build the “Liberator Drone.” In testing, Killmonger says they need vibranium and that he knows where to get it from. Killmonger and a team of soldiers head to the black market in Africa and negotiate with Klaue for more vibranium. During the negotiation, Black Panther shows up and attacks.
And this is when Killmonger enters the fight and shows his true colors. He kills Black Panther and the colonel with a weapon provided by Stark Industries. However, when he returns to the USA, Killmonger is still not seen as the villain as no one knew what had happened during the negotiation. The U.S. military wants to retaliate for the loss of their men in the attack.
Tony Stark knew what happened as he had surveillance during the negotiation. He traps Killmonger in a room and sets the Liberator Drone on him. However, Killmonger destroys the drone with ease and then kills Tony Stark with a spear. In this timeline, this is the end of Tony Stark.
With another tragedy, the U.S. Military seizes Stark Industries, and they plan to retaliate — they have no idea Killmonger orchestrated all of this. Killmonger finds Wakanda and kills Klaue. He enters Wakanda and announces himself as part of the blood line. He lies to the Wakanda people and states he brought the man (Klaue) who murdered their leader. The U.S. Military is then surprised to find Wakanda — they have never found this place before. Wakanda faces a whole army by the Liberator Drones sent by the military, but using the technology at hand, Wakanda manages to sap the power from them. Wakanda welcomes Killmonger, but he continues to manipulate and uses a backup protocol to turn the Liberator Drones back on. The Wakanda army fights the drones and defeats them.
The ending explained
As the episode draws nearer to the end, Killmonger is made the next Black Panther. During the process, the spirit of T’Challa asks Killmonger if it is worth it and warns him that everything he has done will catch up to him eventually. In America, Shuri speaks to Pepper Potts and reveals that Killmonger killed Tony. They agree to work together, knowing that the threat is much larger than they anticipated.
Killmonger on a different path is an interesting experience and one that will leave the imagination going wild for the audience.
You can stream What If…? exclusively on Disney+.
What did you think of What If…? season 1, episode 6? Comment below.
Thought it was stupid.