S02.E04: What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

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.

Dropping Monday, December 25, 2023.

[arc]

Honestly, I didn't think Tessa Thompson voiced Valkyrie this time, and yet she did. <shrug> Whereas I figured RDJ didn't come back to do AU Iron Man, but Mick Wingert was nearly spot on as the replacement. Really solid.

The plot felt like a movie cut down to a 30 minute TV episode. Not enough time to explain why Valkyrie would throw in with Korg and Tony, or the Grandmaster would accept the challenge. As Topaz pointed out, the Grandmaster already ruled Sakaar, so it'd be a bet with no upside.

But the racing was fun enough, Iron Man did funny and cool Iron Man things, and I'm still not too annoyed by Korg yet.

[thuganomics85]

I wanted to like this one more than I did.  The Grandmaster basically running his own Death Race, and having Tony taking him on sounds intriguing on paper, but was kind of just okay in practice.  Definitely think part of it was how they rushed Valkyrie teaming up with them, and she felt like more of an afterthought (despite actually getting Tessa Thompson to voice her, compared to them still using someone else for Tony.

Also thought the use of Gamora was odd.  They set her up to be significant for this one, and all it really led to was her trying to kill Tony for most of it, and then about facing after an emotional speech from him.

Is it just me or does this season feel like they aren't using The Watcher/Jeffrey Wright as well as they did last season?  

Best part was trying to picture Jeff Goldblum in the voice recording booth when recording these lines.  I'm sure no matter where he is, he's always full-on Goldblum!

[arc]

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Is it just me or does this season feel like they aren't using The Watcher/Jeffrey Wright as well as they did last season?  

The Watcher is usually just a framing device meant to introduce the What If of the issue/episode, and provide some helpful narration to speed things along and wrap things up at the end. It's really only in the last couple of episodes of last season where he had to do more than just watch and narrate. Given how overstuffed the last two episodes have felt, I wouldn't be surprised if they cut Watcher stuff to make room for the main story.

[Linderhill]

from what I understand, this episode was actually supposed to be part of the first season.  I would have liked to have seen it incorporated then and may rewatch with it inserted there.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:16 PM, arc said:

Honestly, I didn't think Tessa Thompson voiced Valkyrie this time, and yet she did. <shrug> Whereas I figured RDJ didn't come back to do AU Iron Man, but Mick Wingert was nearly spot on as the replacement. Really solid.

The plot felt like a movie cut down to a 30 minute TV episode. Not enough time to explain why Valkyrie would throw in with Korg and Tony, or the Grandmaster would accept the challenge. As Topaz pointed out, the Grandmaster already ruled Sakaar, so it'd be a bet with no upside.

But the racing was fun enough, Iron Man did funny and cool Iron Man things, and I'm still not too annoyed by Korg yet.

The potential upsides for Grandmaster:

1. He gets to win Tony's shiny new armor

2. He doesn't seem a coward in front of his entire planet, and crushes a possible rallying point, thus potentially staving off a revolution and remaining in power. Remember, in this episode, it's clear that he's having trouble keeping people fed. The games are part of a bread-and-circuses strategy that are more important when there's not enough bread.

3. Beating the newly hyped Metal Mojo Man is in itself something that he'd want as an ego boost in general

4. Grandmaster is (classically in the comics, and at least hinted in the MCU) basically addicted to gambling and games. As one of the Elders of the Universe, he has spent millennia on contests of chance. Asking why he would accept the challenge is like asking why a fat kid would want an extra slice of pie.

5. There are no downsides he would perceive, because he would control the course, the cars and pretty much everything. He shouldn't have been able to lose.

[tennisgurl]

You can tell that this was supposed to be aired last season, it doesn't really fit in this season. I liked the sort of wacky races aspect of it and Tony VS the Grandmaster is truly a battle of the hams, but it just didn't work as well as I wanted it to. 

[Sandman]

OMG, even in animated form the Grandmaster is charmless and boring as fuck.

Someone needs to tell Jeff Goldblum (and Marvel) he's not nearly as funny as he thinks he is. This episode was just a slog to get through.