Fans of Tony Stark are getting a little upset over the character’s treatment in the Disney Plus series What If…? as the frequency with which he dies in the show has been compared to that of Kenny from South Park.
The animated show remixes familiar characters and situations in an imagined alternative dimension from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we’re used to, creating some unforgettable combinations such as T’Challa Star Lord, Strange Supreme, Captain Carter, and Infinity Ultron. However, the show often takes a dark and tragic direction.
Iron Man doesn’t die in every episode, but nearly every episode, which is ruffling the feathers fans still reeling from his epic and heroic self-sacrifice at the end of Avengers: Endgame. It’s been so heavily debated that some fans are wondering if his death is an absolute point in time.
For instance, Stark is killed off by an evil Hank Pim in episode 3, followed by his zombification in episode 5, is taken down by the savage Killmonger in episode 6 and episode 8 sees his untimely end at the hands of Ultron.
What’s more, though Stark makes an appearance in episode 9 sporting Sakaarian armor alongside the Thanos-killing Gamora, it is from an episode that was apparently cut from the first season due to pandemic restrictions for scheduling. The creators of the show have since said the episode will be forthcoming with season 2, but for many fans, his brief appearance and subsequent dismissal by The Watcher seemed like the addition of insult to injury.
Just take a look at some of the Twitter world’s hot takes below:
Stark was killed in 5 episodes total, this Twitter user points out.
And the worse tease of all? We didn’t even see Stark’s Sakaarian Hulkbuster armor in action.
We’ll just have to wait and see if we get to see more Tony Stark in Season 2 of What If…? where hopefully, he won’t get killed off right away. Twitter is watching you, Marvel, just as The Watcher tends to the multiverse.