Marvel's What If...? Episode 6: Fans react to return of Shuri, Killmonger and Black Panther

With the latest episode of What If…?, Marvel Studios explored the parallel universe, which took fans back to the alternate events of 2008's Iron Man. Episode 6 showcased a timeline in the What If alternate universe where Erik "Killmonger" Stevens saved Tony Stark from the Ten Rings in Afghanistan.

Here's more on the episode.

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Marvel's What If...? Episode 6: What is it about?

What If…? Episode 6 deals with the period of the first MCU film where Tony's business partner Obadiah Stane plotted to abduct and kill him. The event of the original film showcased Tony Stark building the Iron Man armor and served as the precursor to the "Avengers initiative". However, with Killmonger saving Tony, he never became Iron Man and joined the Avengers.

The episode had several callbacks to the previous Iron Man (2008) movie. It also presented moments from the later events of the main MCU timeline, where Tony Stark sacrificed himself to stop Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.

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Warning: The content below contains spoilers for What If...? Episode 6.

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How fans reacted to What If...? Episode 6 with the return of Killmonger, Shuri and T'Challa

What If...? Episode 6 not only had callbacks to previous Iron Man-related MCU films but also managed to bring back several actors to voice their original characters. These include Michael B Jordan's Killmonger, Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan and Leslie Bibb's Christine Everhart from the first movie.

Due to Killmonger's involvement, the episode also included callbacks and references to Black Panther (2018). Erik, like in the 2018 movie, plots to take the throne of Wakanda. However, this time is much earlier than the events of the main timeline. While Black Panther is reportedly set in 2016, What If…? Episode 6 is set in 2008.

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Who voiced Whom in Episode 6?

Jeffrey Wright returns as The Watcher to guide viewers through the alternate universe while Michael B. Jordan reprises the role of Killmonger after three years. Just like in the previous episode, Jon Favreau returns to voice Happy Hogan, and late actor Chadwick Boseman also voices T'Challa/Black Panther for one of the last times.

Other actors who voiced their original characters were Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Don Cheadle as Rhodey. Meanwhile, to fans' surprise, Leslie Bibb (who voiced Christine Everhart) returned after she voiced the character in Episode 4. John Kani also returned as King of Wakanda, T'Chaka.

Cast members who replaced the original actors but were unable to return include: Mick Wingert as Tony Stark, Kiff VandenHeuvel as Obadiah Stane, Beth Hoyt as Pepper Pots and Ozioma Akagha as Shuri.

Although Killmonger's return in future What If…? episodes of season 1 is unknown, T'Challa (voiced by Chadwick Boseman) is expected to return in the finale episode.