What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

What If…? 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

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What If…? is one of the most ambitious projects Marvel has taken on yet, featuring the return of virtually everyone who has appeared in the MCU.

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What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

As Marvel marches further into Phase 4, the world’s largest cinematic universe continues to push expectations and boundaries. In the MCU’s latest Disney+ escapade, Marvel Studios unleashed the multiverse through the animated series What If…?, a collection of stories from alternate timelines based on the comic run of the same name.

While explosive and wild, What If…? is one of the most ambitious projects Marvel has taken on yet, featuring the return of virtually everyone who has appeared in the MCU thus far. Although the series couldn’t secure every star – like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man – many actors did lend their voices to re-imagined versions of their iconic characters.

10 Fell Short: Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Is From Another Time

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

It’s fair to say audiences have grown accustomed to seeing Sebastian Stan as the edgy Winter Soldier who loves to give people the longest death stares. After witnessing Bucky Barnes’ tragic transformation in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it was clear that the character would never be the same again.

It’s only in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that Barnes is finally able to find some peace with his tragic past. However, the inaugural episode of What If…? erases this journey completely, reverting Barnes back to his 1940s self. Given Stan’s embodiment as HYDRA’s premier assassin, his dialogue in What If…? certainly feels a little stiff and out-of-place.

9 Nailed It: Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger Is Forever Tragic

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

If there was one performance that eclipsed Chadwick Boseman’s awe-inspiring take on the regal T’Challa in 2018’s Black Panther, it would have to be Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of the emphatically tragic Erik Killmonger. Unfortunately, Killmonger was slain by his cousin, preventing the MCU from fully realizing what Jordan could offer as the multifaceted villain.

The sixth episode of What If…?’s first season corrects this egregious oversight. Centered around the anomaly of Killmonger saving Tony Stark in Afghanistan, the episode is a slow reveal of the villain’s true genius, seeing him manipulate people and events to ultimately secure the Wakandan throne.

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8 Fell Short: Benicio del Toro’s Collector Is Just A Jerk

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

Part of what makes Benicio del Toro’s portrayal of the enigmatic Collector so good is the mysterious allure he brings during his brief appearances in Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. Even in this continuity, it was clear that del Toro’s character was a being of immense power based on his interest in the Infinity Stones.

What If…?, unfortunately, dispels the illusion behind the man, effectively turning him into a replacement for Thanos after the Mad Titan abandoned his quest for power. Fans were irked by a Collector with pecs, and del Toro’s overly sassy depiction didn’t do much to help, making it all the more satisfying when the cosmic being finally got his comeuppance.

7 Nailed It: Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter Gets Reimagined

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

For a woman so important to Steve Rogers’ life and female empowerment in the MCU, Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter has been largely absent from the universe thus far. Sure, Carter found a spotlight in ABC Studios’s Agent Carter, but the canonization of the series is contentious at best. With What If…?, Atwell’s Carter takes front and center as the world’s first super-soldier.

Although What If…?’s first episode is not the series’ most memorable, it nevertheless gives Carter an opportunity to shine as a superhero. Furthermore, Captain Carter becomes the moral compass of the Guardians of the Multiverse and is set to be a returning character in What If…?’s second season, with possible teases of a live-action debut.

6 Fell Short: Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye Is Still Sidelined

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye just cannot catch a break. Among the six original Avengers, the arrow-wielding assassin has always held the misfortune of being the most forgettable. In fact, with the release of Black Widow in July 2021, Hawkeye is the only original team member to not have an individual solo movie.

Unfortunately, What If…?’s first season doesn’t do the archer any favors either. Appearing in just two episodes (three if counting his zombified self ), Hawkeye is relegated to doing more or less the same thing his original counterpart did: support others. Hopefully the upcoming Hawkeye series with Kate Bishop gives the Avenger the justice he deserves.

5 Nailed It: Party Thor Is Maximum Chris Hemsworth

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

When Thor: Ragnarok released in 2017, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the God of Thunder’s previous two self-serious outings. Not only did the character feel more real, but Thor and Chris Hemsworth had never felt more synonymous with one another. The movie was such a success that it’s prompted a fourth entry in Thor: Love and Thunder.

What If…? smartly adapts the Thor fans saw in Taika Waititi’s vision, giving the world the God of Partying in a rare upbeat episode that held significantly less catastrophic stakes. More importantly, this gives Hemsworth a chance to rewrite MCU Thor’s past, and inject it with the playful recklessness the character should have always had.

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4 Fell Short: Beth Hoyt Doesn’t Quite Embody Pepper Potts

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

When compared to the stellar performance that Jordan gives as Killmonger in What If…?’s sixth episode, it’s rather jarring to hear Beth Hoyt portray Tony Stark’s renowned assistant, Pepper Potts. Not only does Hoyt’s voice not resemble Gwyneth Paltrow’s, her stiff cynicism flies counter to Pepper’s exasperated depiction in 2008’s Iron Man.

Right off the bat, Hoyt’s Potts is suspicious of Killmonger, and colludes with Happy Hogan to determine what the Wakandan’s angle is. Unfortunately, she comes up empty-handed and only discovers the truth when Shuri brings her proof that Killmonger killed both Stark and T’Challa in his quest for power.

3 Nailed It: Chadwick Boseman’s Star-Lord Is Loads Of Fun

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

While the late Chadwick Boseman puts on a phenomenal performance as Wakanda’s most iconic Black Panther, he simply lights up the series as the galaxy-saving Star-Lord. In this continuity, not only has T’challa turned Yondu Udonta and the Ravagers into intergalactic heroes, he convinced Thanos to abandon his genocidal conquest to join his cause.

Perhaps what best illustrates T’Challa’s influence is Korath the Pursuer’s reaction to meeting him, turning the original Guardians villain into Star-Lord’s biggest fanboy. Furthermore, it’s clear that Boseman has a great deal of fun as the cosmic superhero, sharing this amazing incarnation of T’Challa before his passing.

2 Fell Short: Lake Bell’s Black Widow Is Out Of Character

What If 5 Voice Actors Who Nailed Their Roles (& 5 Who Fell Short)

With Scarlett Johansson parting ways with the iconic character she has portrayed for the last decade, actor Lake Bell steps in to fill the shoes of Natasha Romanoff in What If…?’s first season. Unfortunately, among the vast crew and cast that appear in the expansive inaugural season, Bell’s performance feels the most off.

While Bell’s Romanoff feels more akin to her MCU counterpart in the closing two episodes of the season, the most jarring performance comes in the series’ third entry, which prominently features the Russian assassin. Here, Romanoff bubbles with dry humor, making her tonally dissonant with both the episode and portrayal of her original self.

1 Nailed It: Jeffrey Wright’s Uatu Ties The Series Together

Of course, Disney+’s What If…? doesn’t work without it’s fantastic narrator, played by none other than Jeffrey Wright. While Wright’s Watcher – Uatu – typically chooses not to intervene in the events that unfold, he does star in an exhilarating showdown against Infinity Ultron in the season’s eighth episode.

After realizing the danger Ultron poses to the multiverse, Uatu finally chooses to forego his oath and recruit the services of Doctor Strange Supreme. Yet Wright also brings a sense of commanding authority to his role as the god-like being who finds himself questioning his own reality after his encounter with Stark’s genocidal A.I.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/what-if-best-voice-actors-worst/

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