What if... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?

"What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?" is the fourth episode of the second season of the Disney+ streaming television series What If...? and the thirteenth episode of the series overall. It aired on December 25, 2023. It was written by A.C. Bradley and directed by Bryan Andrews. It takes place during an alternate scene from The Avengers.
==Synopsis==
After his gambit to destroy the Chitauri fleet during the Battle of New York strands him on the planet of Sakaar, Tony Stark's efforts to overthrow the Grandmaster lead to a ceremonial, grand prix-turned-demolition-derby-a death match that could land Tony on the Sakaarian throne.
==Plot==
The Watcher's opening narration flashes back to his formation of the Guardians of the Multiverse. He acknowledges that he has not yet revealed the story of Gamora, Slayer of Thanos, and so begins telling said story.
In a universe where Tony didn't make it back to Earth during the Battle of New York, he finds himself on Sakaar, where he meets the Grandmaster. Tony is immediately recognized as the one who defeated the Chitauri (which, due to how time works on Sakaar, happened several days ago to them). While Tony wishes to return to Earth, he is forced to attend the Sakaar Grand Prix, under threat of melting, to celebrate the Grandmaster's 21st birthday.
Tony is horrified to learn that the Sakaar Grand Prix is a barbaric death race, with the champion being a colossal elephant-like creature (which Korg claims is called Snuffy), stomping the other competitors. Tony attempts to escape, but his suit fails, sending him crashing into the arena next to Korg. As "Snuffy" is about to stomp them, Gamora blasts the Champion to bits, having been sent to Sakaar by Thanos to kill Tony for defeating the Chitauri. However, the Grandmaster steps in and places restraining bolts on both Tony & Gamora, locking them in a cell with Korg.
Tony is able to use his ARC Reactor to detach his restraining bolt and escapes with Korg, while leaving Gamora behind. As they reach the hangar, Korg is able to knock out the guards, but before they can grab a ship, Gamora arrives (having broken out of her cell), but Tony uses a guard's controller to activate her restraining bolt. Tony learns that Gamora is the daughter of Thanos, the one responsible for the Chitauri attack. In his anger, Tony nearly kills Gamora, but then overhears the Grandmaster's announcement on Tony's escape, saying that Tony is "not the hero (they) thought he was", which gets Tony to not only spare Gamora, but choose to liberate Sakaar.
Tony & Korg team up with Valkyrie and build Tony a new suit from the junkyard. Tony then challenges the Grandmaster to a race: if he wins, he gets the planet, but if the Grandmaster wins, he gets Tony's suit. Both Topaz & Gamora warn the Grandmaster that he has more to lose than gain from this, but the Grandmaster reminds Gamora that the race can give her the perfect opportunity to kill Tony.
During the race, it's revealed that Tony's suit also doubles as his car, with Valkyrie & Korg as his support. Tony speaks with Gamora, convincing her that she can be more than just the "daughter of Thanos", and, like how he became Iron Man, she can choose to change for the better. This gets through to her and she uses her car's weapons to take down two more "Snuffy"'s that the Grandmaster sent after Tony.
Tony wins the race, but the Grandmaster refuses to admit so and tries to get Topaz to melt Tony. Fortunately, Valkyrie drives her vehicle into Topaz's, sending the melt stick flying and hitting the Grandmaster, melting him. The people of Sakaar cheer and name Valkyrie their new king, with her appointing Korg as her counsel.
With Sakaar free, Tony prepares to return to Earth, but Gamora arrives and tells him she still needs to bring him to Thanos. The episode closes with her doing so...only she and Tony have teamed up to use a melt stick on Thanos himself.
A mid-credits scene shows that the Grandmaster is still alive, even as a melted puddle, as he asks Topaz to get him a bucket or something to be absorbed into.
==Cast==
*Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/The Watcher
*Mick Wingert as Tony Stark/Iron Man
*Jeff Goldblum as En Dwi Gast/Grandmaster
*Tessa Thompson as Brunnhilde/Valkyrie
*Taika Waititi as Korg
*Rachel House as Topaz
* Josh Brolin as Thanos
*Cynthia McWilliams as Gamora
==Trivia==
*This episode was originally written for the first season, but was delayed due to the COVID pandemic, which is why The Watcher lampshades the fact that her story wasn't told yet.
*According to A.C. Bradley, the original pitch was a Tony & Pepper love story with Tony meeting Peter Quill, as well as featuring a moonlighting joke. This changed when development was pushed back to the second season.
*This is the first episode in the show to have a “Previously on” recap.
* Young Gamora makes an appearance in the recap, but Ariana Greenblatt doesn't voice her. The footage during this recap also appears to be taken from a later episode.
*Snuffy, Sakaar's champion, resembles Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.
*A LEGO set based on this episode was released during the time of Season One.
*When Tony's suit accidentally catches fire, Grandmaster & Topaz make an order to "release the foam". The Grandmaster makes the same order in What If... Thor Were an Only Child?, this time for a dance party.
*Tony refers to Valkyrie's alcoholism as a "Demon in a Bottle". This is the title of a famous comic book storyline, in which Tony confronted his own alcoholism. This story would have been adapted in the MCU, but Robert Downey Jr. vetoed it due to having his own history of substance abuse and not wanting to fall back into that frame of mind.
*Topaz saying The Grandmaster senses a spark between Tony & Gamora may be a reference to how the two hooked up during Brian Michael Bendis' run on the Guardians of the Galaxy comic.
*This is the second time that Iron Man does not die in What If...?, following "What if... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?".
*The opening scene is the animated form of when Iron Man flew the nuke missile into the wormhole in the first Avengers film, meaning the episode takes place in 2012.
*While speaking with Valkyrie, Tony Stark uses the term "demon in a bottle," referencing the comic storyline Demon in a Bottle, which detailed Stark's struggle with alcoholism.
==References==
Category:What If...? episodes