What If? Episode 6 Cements Killmonger as the Best MCU Villain
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
What If? episode 6 dropped today on Disney Plus. I’ve been following the series religiously. This is the episode I was most excited for since watching the trailer, and I was more than satisfied with what we got. I have seen every episode the day that it’s come out and I’ve enjoyed all of them so far to varying degrees. It’s hard to crown a favorite episode in an anthology series like this one because each episode is so different. I like different ones for different reasons. Most of them aren’t perfect but most things in life aren’t. That being said, I can say with confidence that episode 6 is my favorite so far. It marks the return of Erik Killmonger for the first time since Black Panther and cements him as the MCU’s greatest villain.
The MCU fandom has long debated who the best villain is. It’s impossible to come to an agreement on any single one out of the dozens that we’ve seen so far but the top contenders are pretty consistently accepted as gospel not counting the Netflix series (some of which would easily make the top 10). Thanos, Loki, and Killmonger. Each of these villains has left their mark on the MCU and the fans that love them.
Thanos, of course, had the most substantial effect on the MCU managing to wipe out half all life in the universe and was responsible for the death of its first hero. He was large and in charge with multiple armies of different species under his command and over 10 human lifetimes of knowledge and experience. We’ve all debated his personal philosophies and while they work for role as “The Mad Titan,” he lacks a crucial level of humanity for anyone who isn’t going mad themselves.
Loki’s trademark mischief, smugness, and ego has made him an unforgettable villain. He was the first villain to tear our heroes apart and force them together. He has even captured the hearts of his adoring fans as he slowly drifted away from villain territory and snugly into the anti-hero category by swapping sides and sacrificing himself for the greater good. Because of his hero-adjacent status, I don’t think he qualifies for top villain anymore.
Erik makes a hell of a first impression. Consider everything that he’s done. The lasting impact he’s had on the MCU. Now remember that he’s a “minor” villain who appeared in one movie and one episode of an anthology series. Thanos was lurking in the background since the first Captain America movie. Loki’s been in nearly everything since the first Thor. Both of them have roots in phase one and a multitude of appearances moving forward. Loki even has his own TV series. Erik is literally more down to Earth than the other villains. He’s concerned with issues that we deal with every day as a society. He’s a radical black man from Oakland with a dream of making the world a better place for his people and overthrowing his oppressors. A human being with no special powers or inheritance. Scratch that, he had an inheritance. One that was taken from him when his uncle killed his father and alienated him from his own people. He only falls into villain territory because his views and methods mark him as an extremist. He’s a stark contrast (no pun intended) to a nigh-invincible, genocidal alien with magic stones and another nigh-invincible, genocidal alien with magic stones. It’s clear to me that a character who has achieved nearly just as much with far less to work with compared to his counterparts is, far more impressive. But if there was ever any doubt that Killmonger is the MCU’s best villain, they can all be laid to rest with the newest episode of What If?.
Episode 6 of What If? asks the question, “what if Erik Killmonger saved Tony Stark.” This episode was the most exciting for me prior to its release for two reasons; The return of Killmonger and an increased focus on storytelling and character. These same reasons made episode 2 my previous favorite. At first, I had no idea what Erik would want from Tony but then I realized that I was an idiot. The answer was obvious and literally in the trailer. Stark-tech weapons.
The primary implication of the premise is obviously that if Tony doesn’t get blown up, he doesn’t become Iron Man. And that’s exactly what happens. Instead of living out the events of the original Iron Man, Obidiah Stane is exposed as a member of the Ten Rings and arrested whereas Erik is promoted to his chief security officer. They become fast friends but its clear that this relationship won’t last because Erik has hidden agenda. The episode demonstrates that he has a greater range of talents than shooting guys real good. He’s playing 4d chess with the world’s military forces while they’re playing Tic-Tac-Toe. He’s plays The U.S. against Wakanda with Klaue caught squarely in the middle. He kills Tony, T’challa, Rhody, and Klaue before taking his place as Black Panther at the end of the episode.
In this universe, Tony has a similar epiphany to the one he had in Iron Man but instead of ceasing all weapons manufacturing, Erik, as his new security advisor, convinces Tony to realize his college thesis on the next generation of warfare. He convinces Tony to build an army of unmanned drones using vibranium as a power source rather than developing a mini arc reactor. Vibranium is incredibly rare and expensive though and the only person willing to sell it in the quantities that they’d need is Klaue. Pepper tells Tony that Klaue is a black market broker and dealing with him would be super shady and bad for business. Erik agrees with her while simultaneously figuring out a solution to both of their problems. Get the U.S. military involved and do the whole thing “above board.” With his quick thinking, he’s figured out how to get what he wants, prove his loyalty to Tony, move closer to his true objective, and still look like a good guy all at the same time. On top of that, by suggesting that he use vibranium rather than developing arc reactor technology, he forces the Wakandans to get involved. When T’challa shows up to put a stop to the deal, Erik kills him and Rhody and pins the whole thing on Black Panther.
As Rhody is dying, the two have a dialogue about changing oppressive systems of government. Erik asks Rhody why he would fight and die in the uniform of his own oppressors [line about oppressors]. It’s important to note that his outfit is more than just a fun anime reference. Erik is rarely seen wearing standard issue military attire and I if I understand correctly, he is actually a mercenary with ties to the CIA rather than an actual U.S. soldier. Rhody tells him that the system must be changed from the inside. Erik would rather burn it all down. He joined the military and rose through the ranks gaining the respect of his superiors, his oppressors, by putting on a straight face and telling everyone what they wanted to hear.
When Tony finds out about Rhody’s murder, he sicks a drone on Erik. Erik defeats the drone with the Wakandan spear he picked up earlier before killing Tony with it and pinning his murder on the Dora Milaje. This forces the U.S. to declare war on Wakanda. Then he kills Klaue using his death as a key to Wakanda’s trust. He fools them into fighting the drones rather than leaving up the shield so that he can, once again, look like the hero. His heroism and loyalty is rewarded by being sworn in as the newest Black Panther. The defender of Wakanda.
The episode expands on a few things that we knew about Erik and reveals a couple more. It’s always been clear that he’s confident, badass, capable, and a smooth talker to boot and its great to see him back in action. He’s always been frightfully cunning but this episode gives us another look at his ruthless intellect. No one is spared in his crusade, and he’s always a step ahead of everyone around him. He’s a genuine genius able to match wits with Tony Stark. He’s designed his own Gundam robot with technology most of us couldn’t imagine. Also, we now know that he’s a massive weeb. The man is such an anime fan that he spends his free time making Gundam OCs. And that sleek combat outfit he’s always in is inspired by saiyan armor from Dragon ball Z. Now that we know that he’s a weeb, it has become clear to me that even in universe that’s no accident. At some point he must’ve reached out to his superior officer and asked for a custom job, and he went for it. Mad respect for pulling that one off.
Erik is relatable, well-written, and the most socially relevant villain that Disney will ever produce. He is the most multifaceted of the MCU’s villains to the point of being a walking paradox. Erik, like the rest of us, is the product of his environment. Raised in a stereotypical single parent household in Oakland, his father was a prince working undercover as a spy who pleaded to his brother, the king to aid their people and the king refused and killed him. Then he was all alone no older than 10 in the hard streets of the ghetto, his birthright denied to him. He grew up to be the man that his father would have wanted and exactly what society expected of him. Caught between expectations of excellence and mediocrity he grew up to be a hard-working, intelligent and upstanding black man, but he also grew up to be a stereotypical thug that wastes his talents on criminal endeavors. Somehow he managed to be everything everyone hoped that he would be. He becomes a prince undercover as spy pleading to a king that ends up killing him. Like father like son. This is what every influence in his life trained him to be — infiltrator, spy, assassin, and overthrower of government powers. All his life he has been rewarded for ability to take life. This is all that he’s ever known. Erik is a freaking prodigy and I hope his mentors are proud of the man they raised him to be. That goes for his family, the U.S. government, and the citizens of our fair nation because they all turned their back on him.
Erik is a fiercely independent, utilitarian. Growing up with no one to rely on but himself, he has no attachments to anyone. He’s stabbed everyone he’s ever worked with in the back. Everyone he encounters is either a tool or an obstacle. No one was there for him, so he has no loyalty to anyone but himself and his people. He betrays people on instinct, and he kills without remorse.
Everything that he does, in every dimension, creates a lasting change in the world at large whether he succeeds or fails. In the original universe, he failed, but in doing so, his actions persuaded T’challa to take note of the world outside the palace for the first time. Wakanda is forced to rethink their isolationist policies and create outreach programs to support people who have been discriminated against all around the world. A threat to justice anywhere am I right? T’challa abolishes the decrees of an outdated culture that allows anybody with a solid right hook to claim the throne. Although he didn’t fully succeed, he forced the hero to meet him halfway. In this new dimension, he may not have succeeded yet in full, but he’s made it halfway. He overcomes every obstacle with quick thinking and a silver tongue fooling the whole world. He outwits some of its greatest minds. He instigates wars between nations. He’s earned the respect of and became the protector for a nation that left him to die and it won’t be long before he’s sitting on the throne.
The fact that he has achieved so much with so few resources and so little screentime and that he was able to pull himself up out of the mud by his bootstraps really speaks to his nature as black character. Making the most of what little you have is practically the motto of disenfranchised people who have made history. I won’t compare him or his actions with anyone directly because his actions are villainous and I would never want to endorse them. I’m only saying that I understand them and respect the work that he had to put in to become the man he needed to be to achieve his goals. I’m talking more specifically about the fact that people like Erik, people with half as much have to work four times as hard to make such a name for themselves.
He makes us as an audience think twice about how we perceive him. He places a mirror up to us as individuals and as a society. Everything that he does is fully informed by his past. Every choice that he makes is a result of loss and tragedy. He has a burning passion to right the wrongs of those he sees as his brothers and sisters because of the wrongs that have been done unto him. Under any other circumstances, Erik’s origin isn’t that of a villain. It’s a hero’s. His loved ones were killed when he was a child, and he vowed to do everything in his power to make it right. Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and the list goes on. Erik is the exception to the rule that tragedy in youth makes you a good guy. Or maybe he rewrites the rules. Maybe he demonstrates that tragedy doesn’t make you the good guy. Maybe it just makes you an unhinged obsessive.
It’s easy to think of Killmonger as a terrorist but his heart’s in the right place. He’s a broken man. The perfect product of a broken system, and he’s everything they wanted him to be. This episode finally gave us another chance to see him in action and in the span of a 30-minute episode, he has become my favorite marvel villain.
