- "The Guardians of the Multiverse. Heroes plucked from across different realities to protect the fate of all of them. But you don't know her story. From the daughter of a Mad Titan to the champion of a multiversal war, Gamora's path to becoming the hero of her story began in someone else's."
- âWatcher
What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? is the fourth episode of the second season of What If...?.
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[]
| This section needs a rewrite |
In 2012, Tony Stark redirects a nuclear missile towards the Chitauri mothership, saving New York. But the wormhole closes before he can return to Earth, instead pulling Stark to other reaches of space, causing him to crash-land on Sakaar. After Stark realizes where he is and being shown reports about the Avengers' victory over the Chitauri and Pepper being acting CEO of Stark Industries, he asked the Grandmaster if he can return him to Earth and the Grandmaster said that he can get Tony on a zoom, but he must stay and celebrate his supposedly twenty-first birthday and after Stark refused by saying that he put his party days behind him, he is forced to stay.
Tony attends the Sakaar Grand Prix, a death race where numerous racers compete for the Grandmaster's entertainment. After the Grandmaster surpised Tony, he told Stark that on Earth (which he pronounced it incorrectly), it would be a chariot race and Tony said that it's like intergalactic NASCAR. After a Snuffy appears and destroys racers' chariots, Stark interferes in the race to save Korg from it, but encounters Gamora, who was sent by Thanos to kill Stark as retaliation for stopping the Chitauri Invasion. Just when Gamora was about to kill Tony, the Grandmaster's chief enforcer, Topaz, captures both Gamora and Stark, and imprisons them. Stark later escapes, but upon learning of Gamora's purpose, he decides to stay and save Sakaar from the Grandmaster.
Stark recruits Korg and Valkyrie, builds a new Iron Man suit, and challenges the Grandmaster to a race for the title of Sakaar's ruler. The Grandmaster uses numerous cheating methods, but Stark ultimately wins the race with the help of an energy boost to his race car from Stark's Arc Reactor. The Grandmaster said to Tony that supposedly, it was a tie and after stating the rule that the choice of winner comes down to him, he chose himself, which the audience disagrees. After Tony said that he won fair and square, the grandmaster ordered Topaz to kill Stark, but Valkyrie crashes her car with Topaz's, causing the former's staff to hit the Grandmaster and melt him into a puddle, leaving Korg to say that he smelled like bad life choices. Valkyrie is crowned the new ruler of Sakaar by its people, and Stark leaves after celebrating with her and Korg. However, Gamora takes Stark to Thanos.
At the Sanctuary, Thanos praised Gamora for capturing Tony and told him that he expected more. Having been convinced by Stark earlier to forge her own path rather than living in her father's shadow, Gamora uses Topaz's staff to kill Thanos with Stark's help. In a post-credits scene, the still alive Grandmaster begs Topaz to collect his puddle form.
Cast[]
Starring Cast
- Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/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
Guest Stars
- Terri Douglas as Additional Voices
- Robin Atkin Downes as Additional Voices
- Melanie Minichino as Additional Voices
- Dave B. Mitchell as Additional Voices
- Michael Ralph as Additional Voices
- Helen Sadler as Additional Voices
- Matthew Wood as Additional Voices
- Secunda Wood as Additional Voices
Non-Speaking Characters:
- Pepper Potts
- Roscoe
- Biff
- Tasba
- N'Jadaka/Erik Killmonger (recap)
- Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (recap)
- Peggy Carter/Captain Carter (recap)
- Thor (recap)
- T'Challa/Star-Lord (recap)
- Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange (recap)
- Ultron (recap)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- Earth, Solar System
- New York City, New York
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial (mentioned)
- Sakaar, Tayo System
- Sanctuary
- Nidavellir (flashback)
- Zen-Whoberi (flashback)
Events[]
- Chitauri Invasion
- Sakaar Grand Prix
- Assassination of Thanos
- Ultron Offensive (flashback & recap)
- Battle for the Multiverse (flashback & recap)
Items[]
- Iron Man Armors
- Atomic Bomb
- Arc Reactor
- Melt Stick
- Colantotte Bracelets
- Godslayer
- Obedience Disk
- Demon Rum
- Thanos' Armor
- Space Throne
- Double-Edged Sword (flashback)
- Infinity Armor (flashback)
- Infinity Stones (flashback)
- Space Stone (flashback)
- Mind Stone (flashback)
- Reality Stone (flashback)
- Power Stone (flashback)
- Time Stone (flashback)
- Soul Stone (flashback)
- Captain America's Shield (depiction)
- Vibranium (recap)
- Panther Habit (recap)
- Black Widow's Batons (recap)
- Black Widow's Bite (recap)
- Captain Carter's Uniform (recap)
- Asgardian Armor (recap)
- Uru (recap)
- MjĂžlnir (recap)
- Star-Lord's Helmet (recap)
- Quad Blasters (recap)
- Cloak of Levitation (recap)
- Yaro Root (mentioned)
Concepts[]
Vehicles[]
- Chitauri Command Center
- Sakaaran Race Chariots
Sentient Species[]
- Watchers
- Humans
- Zehoberei
- Kronans
- Asgardians
- Sakaarans
- Titans
- Korbinites (sculpture)
- Olympians (sculpture)
- Chitauri (mentioned)
- Demons (mentioned)
Creatures[]
- Leviathans
- Snuffys[1]
- Chinchillas
- Rabbits (mentioned)
- Hamsters (mentioned)
Organizations[]
- Avengers
- Sakaaran Guards
- Stark Industries
- Guardians of the Multiverse (recap)
- NASCAR (mentioned)
Mentioned[]
- Phil Coulson
- Loki
- Maria Stark
- Jeffrey
- Howard Stark
- Hulk (sculpture)
- Dark-Crawler (sculpture)
- Ares (sculpture)
- Bi-Beast (sculpture)
- Beta Ray Bill (sculpture)
- Man-Thing (sculpture)
- Wizard of Oz
- Formula One
- The Island of Doctor Moreau
- The Hunger Games
- Xena
- Spartacus
- Oscar the Grouch
- Atticus Finch
- Grinch
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Themes from "Thor: Ragnarok" | Mark Mothersbaugh |
|
| Strut Your Stuff | Aleksi Glick and Adam Ahuja |
|
Videos[]
Clips[]
Trivia[]
To be added
Behind the Scenes[]
- The episode was written in Spring 2019 and was originally intended to be a part of the first season, but was pushed back to the second season due to production delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to head writer A.C. Bradley: "However, due to COVID and production delays, one of our amazing, amazing animation houses around the globe got hit pretty hard by the pandemic. And we were left with two choices: push the entire season to later this year, or push this one episode to Season 2. We made the choice to push that episode to Season 2, and hoped that seeing Gamora in the finale serves as a teaser for what is to come. In season two, it'll almost be like a little bit of a prequel, we'll see how Tony and Gamora became friends, because those two don't even interact in the main MCU universe."[2]
- The original plot revolved around a love story for Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, as well as Stark meeting Peter Quill; however, the episode was rewritten once it was pushed into the second season.[3] At that point in development, it shifted to put focus on Gamora out of interest in exploring why she left Thanos.[4]
References[]
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External Links[]
What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? on Wikipedia
What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? on Marvel Database
What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? on IMDb
What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? on Disney+