Marvel Just Undermined Iron Man's Endgame Death Twice In 4 Days

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for What If...? season 2 episode 4

4 years after Iron Man died during Avengers: Endgame's heartbreaking ending, What If...? season 2 episode 4's ending undermined his tragedy. Worse still, the same MCU TV release had done the same thing just four days earlier in episode 1. In both cases, the imaginative animated series challenged one of the fundamental story details of Robert Downey Jr's final appearance as Tony Stark.

While What If...? is very much an Elseworlds-style multiverse release offering a glimpse at some of the millions of universe branches created by the countless Nexus events of everyday MCU existence. Now that the TVA are no longer pruning branches created by these Nexus events, the multiverse can be as chaotic as it yearns to be. The result, as Sylvie indirectly predicted in Loki season 1, is that an infinite number of branches exist, creating universes where Nebula joined the Nova Corps, where Happy Hogan became the Purple Hulk, or where the Avengers formed early in 1988. Crucially, though, each of those branches still adhered to every rule of the Sacred Timeline established before they branched off.

What If...? Season 2 Episode 4 Ending Explained

In What If...? season 2 episode 4, Marvel answers the question of what would have happened if Iron Man's near-miss sacrifice at the Battle of New York hadn't been avoided. Instead of Stark falling back through the portal above New York after destroying the Chitauri mothership, in this branch, he was trapped on the other side of the portal and ended up being teleported to Sakaar instead of being killed. Don't ask why, the show doesn't actually answer it: it's more just a set-up to have Stark entwined in The Grandmaster's endless gladiatorial games.

While Thor: Ragnarok saw Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder and Hulk taking part in battles for their life with other gladiators, Iron Man arrives at a different point in Sakaar's confusing timeline. At this point, The Grandmaster presides over rigged Death Races, in which the likes of Valkyrie, Korg, and (inexplicably) Gamora all compete. Stark hatches a plan to escape, but also to overthrow The Grandmaster and end his reign of tyranny on Sakaar.

What If Confirms Valkyrie Was Always Destined To Be King

In an interesting twist, after Iron Man is successful and beats The Grandmaster in their Death Race, Valkyrie is crowned king of Sakaar. That suggests that Valkyrie's multiversal destiny is to be a king, effectively adopting the logic of Canon Events from Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. That raises the possibility that every character in the multiverse remains fated, despite the destruction of the Sacred Timeline, which also fits with The Grandmaster confirming Tony Stark's future defeat of Thanos, even in this branched universe.

After convincing Gamora to help him defeat The Grandmaster, Iron Man repays her allegiance by helping her kill Thanos. The returning Mad Titan sits on the same throne as was previously seen in Guardians Of The Galaxy, and offers no defense when his daughter double-crosses him. Up to that point, she had remained loyal, suggesting an unseen event on the main timeline prior to Guardians of the Galaxy's events led to her epiphany and betrayal of her father. That mystery will seemingly remain unanswered, but her arrival on Sakaar must have come before 2014 (when GOTG is set).

How What If...? Undermines Iron Man's Death (Again)

Without getting too deep in the multiversal soup, it's Gamora's murder of her father that compromises Iron Man's Endgame ending. In Endgame, Doctor Strange tells The Avengers that of the millions of possible futures he saw, only one led to their victory at the Battle of Earth. That single possibility is tied inherently to Tony Stark's sacrifice, with the suggestion that any other plan to take out Thanos (like Rhodey's suggestion to kill him as a baby) wouldn't have worked, somehow.

But in both What If...? season 2 episode 4 and episode 1, Thanos is killed quite easily by two of his former allies. The first episode sees Ronin The Accuser kill him off-screen, while Gamora kills him three episodes later to set up her part in the Guardians Of The Multiverse's battle with Ultron from What If...? season 1's ending. Just as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness confirmed Thanos was defeated without Iron Man dying, What If...? confirms Doctor Strange was wrong. Thanos could have been taken out elsewhere on the timeline, making Tony Stark's ultimate sacrifice significantly less special.

What If...? Season 2 Episode 4 Post-Credits Scene Explained

As What If...? season 2 episode 4's credits roll, the season's second credits scene (after Darcy's festive sing-along after episode 3's ending), The Grandmaster actually returns again. Despite being melted by his own Melt Stick from Thor: Ragnarok, Jeff Goldblum's charming bad guy survives, jovially asking his sidekick and bodyguard Topaz to fetch a sponge to mop him up. It's a funny tag, but it suggests that the Elders of the Universe (including The Grandmaster and his brother The Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro in the MCU) are actually immortal. No matter what they have to endure to survive.

That suggests that while The Collector was assumed to have been killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, it's unlikely he actually died. He might not be living well, as The Grandmaster wouldn't be after What If..? season 2 episode 4, but it seems he is one of the MCU's genuinely unkillable characters.