Recap / What If…? S1E6 "What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"

"What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"

"You, me. We'll be like Butch and Sundance."

Alternate take on: Iron Man and Black Panther

"Heroes are not born. They're forged in darkness. Shaped in battle. Defined by sacrifice. Without Tony Stark's fateful capture in Afghanistan, the Age of Iron Man would never come to pass. Though the man was saved, a hero was lost, and a villain was given a new chance."

— Uatu

Tony Stark is rescued by Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in the fateful attack by the Ten Rings that would have seen him captured and led to him becoming Iron Man. Currying favor with Tony, Killmonger acquires the resources of Stark Industries and turns them towards a certain East African nation…

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"What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" contains examples of:

• Aborted Arc: In this timeline N'Jobu's death is the result of "gang violence" rather than T'Chaka acting to save Zuri, any notion of Killmonger seeking retribution against T'Chaka is dropped from this story, instead treating T'Chaka as a Parental Substitute and T'Chaka being none the wiser that Killmonger killed T'Challa.
• Actor Allusion: After showing his drone design to Stark, Killmonger sheepishly admits that its Awesome, but Impractical design was inspired by anime, a reference to Michael B. Jordan's own well-publicized love of anime (to the point that Killmonger's costume was inspired by Vegeta) and possibly even a direct reference to Jordan's starring role in gen:LOCK, as the schematics bear some resemblance to the Holon mechs from that series.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Due to Killmonger altering so many events by rescuing Tony Stark from the Ten Rings, he's noticeably on very different terms with everyone. His cousin T'Challa is little more than a minor annoyance than his Arch-Enemy, he's on much better terms with all of Wakanda (sans Shuri), and Killmonger ends up getting to meet several of Tony's known associates, including Rhodey, Pepper and General Ross. A younger Shuri also ends up meeting and hitting it off with Pepper, which they never did in the Sacred Timeline.
• Adaptational Badass: While Ramonda was never shown in action in the Sacred Timeline, here, she leads the entire Wakandan army in the battle against the Liberators. T'Chaka also addressing her as General implies that she may have also been Dora Milaje before her rise to queen consort.^note In the comics, the Dora Milaje are the King's wives sworn to his protection, and thus their leader would also be his Queen, but T'Challa prefers to let the "wife" role be ceremonial and only uses them as his honor guard. If this tradition holds true in the MCU as well, then Ramonda would have naturally stepped down when her son became King, rather than becoming her son's wife (ceremonial or not).
• Adaptational Curves: Klaue looks much more buff here than he does in live-action form.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Killmonger, T'Challa, Klaue, General Ross and Wakanda at large show up much earlier than expected in this universe.
• Adaptational Friendship: Whereas Tony Stark and Erik Killmonger never met in the Sacred Timeline, in this timeline, Tony becomes good friends with Erik after the latter saves him from the Ten Rings. Unfortunately, Killmonger is just using Tony to get what he wants, and Tony is pissed when he finds out after Erik kills Rhodes. Despite his ruthlessness and treachery, Killmonger is still genuinely sorry about having to kill Tony when the latter becomes a threat.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Unlike his Sacred Timeline counterpart, Killmonger prioritizes his political agenda over his emotional need for revenge against Wakanda. The result is a smarter, more cunning Killmonger who engineers a war between the U.S. and Wakanda through Stark Industries' shady deal with Ulysses Klaue, and becomes Wakanda's next Black Panther through Engineered Heroics and emotionally manipulating the grieving T'Chaka into embracing N'Jobu's views.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Justified. Tony started as a boozy, irresponsible Manchild in Iron Man, but after his experience being kidnapped by the Ten Rings and seeing how his weapons were being used by terrorists, Tony underwent significant Character Development and chose to stop manufacturing weapons and take direct responsibility for making the world safer. Since that never happened in this timeline, Tony is much more unpleasant, opts to double-down on weapons manufacturing instead of stopping it, and even chooses to make a deal with Ulysses Klaue, something he never did in the Sacred Timeline, for the Vibranium needed to get his Stark Drones working.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Killmonger, who is at least nicer than he was in his appearance in Black Panther. He comes off as less bitter overall and expresses sorrow when killing T'Challa, rather than the rage he displayed at the waterfalls battle. Additionally he somewhat laments having to kill Tony, whereas in the film he was never openly regretful about anyone he'd killed.
• Adaptational Wimp: Tony, Rhodey and Obadiah Stane, all justified by the absence of Iron Man armours.
  • Due to Tony never becoming Iron Man in this timeline, his combat skills are significantly lacking here, with only a single drone he constructed giving him any sort of edge against Killmonger during their fight. Once Killmonger takes it down, Stark goes down remarkably fast.
  • Due to never becoming War Machine in this timeline, Rhodey is little more than a regular U.S. military soldier who is outmatched against the likes of Black Panther and Killmonger, getting killed by the latter for his troubles.
  • Due to never becoming Iron Monger in this timeline, Obadiah Stane is nothing more than a greedy businessman and goes down in a single punch from Happy Hogan, a skilled boxer.
• Allohistorical Allusion:
  • In his first press conference after returning from Afghanistan, Tony mourns that his weapons were used to kill American soldiers, but in this case rather than vowing to end arms production he instead commits to building even bigger munitions.
  • Tony ponders the prospect of miniaturising an Arc Reactor (i.e. the exact same thing he did in the Sacred Timeline as part of his path to becoming Iron Man)… and then dismisses the idea as ridiculous.
  • Killmonger gains entry into Wakanda by killing Klaue and is immediately brought to the Wakandan throne room.
  • Like in Avengers: Infinity War, Shuri expresses disbelief at a tactic that involves disabling the force field that surrounds Wakanda to let their enemy through.
  • Once again, Erik and a close relative watch the sun set from a Wakandan cliffside, and he offers commentary on the misfortunes of African descendants worldwide.
  • The recruitment poster for the upcoming World War III in the US asks people to "avenge Tony Stark", implying that if the Avengers Initiative gets off the ground in this timeline it will be for the purpose of attacking Wakanda.
  • Just like in Black Panther, Erik finally sees a sunset in Wakanda at the end of the episode. However, this event mirrors Thanos watching a sunrise in Infinity War, as both men watch the sun as a triumphant villain.
  • In Black Panther, it is mentioned offhandedly that Killmonger served in Afghanistan. Turns out that he was in said county at the exact same time as a certain other superhero, and a throwaway line is turned into a butterfly effect event.
• Ambiguous Situation: Killmonger looks T'Chaka in the eye and says, "If I had the opportunity to get vengeance for my father's death, I wouldn't hesitate." It's still a matter of fan debate whether this means T'Chaka actually isn't responsible for N'Jobu's death in this timeline, is responsible but successfuly covered his tracks, or if this just means Killmonger is playing the long game.
• Artistic License – Law: It's impossible to conceive of the American military taking over a major corporation and dictating their production, war or no.
• Artistic License – Military:
  • When in his dress whites, Lt. Stevens wears the insignia of an Admiral.
  • Lt. Col. Rhodes's insignia is a sunburst, which isn't a rank insignia in any of the US armed forces for any rank. While it vaguely resembles an oak leaf, which is used for awards and decorations, it should be silver, while his dress uniform has them gold.
  • Killmonger's scarification and hairstyle would not be allowed on an active duty officer, even when accounting for his special ops status.
• Ascended Meme: Killmonger being an Otaku was a common joke in the fandom after Black Panther due to his Vegeta-inspired outfit and Michael B. Jordan's real-life love of anime. Here, they make it canon and even include a Shout-Out to the Gundam franchise.
• The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of the episode, Killmonger has achieved nearly everything he wanted. He murdered T'Challa and then staged a False Flag Operation to make himself out as Wakanda's savior, earning T'Chaka's trust and blessing to become the new Black Panther and the heir to the Wakandan throne. He also provoked the US and Wakanda into a state of war, paving the road for Wakandan imperialism. However, Shuri comes to Pepper to team up to expose him.
• Bait-and-Switch: When discussing what to do about the Liberator Drones. T'Chaka asks aloud "What say you… General?" Most people would assume that he's talking to Okoye since, as far as we know, she's the only one in the room with the rank. The scene transitions and we see: turns out he's talking to RAMONDA.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Obadiah Stane after Killmonger not only foils his attempt to have Tony killed, but reveals the evidence that he hired the Ten Rings to assassinate him on live TV.
• Bloodless Carnage: The episode features both Tony and Rhodey getting stabbed, and Klaue getting shot in the head, and has no blood to show for it. It also retains the serviceman from Iron Man getting blasted by the Ten Rings while also leaving no spatter.
• Bonding over Missing Parents: Tony and Killmonger further bond over losing their fathers at a young age.
• Boring, but Practical: Killmonger simply exposes Stane's connection to the attempted assassination of Tony Stark by showing proof of Stane's association with the Ten Rings at a live press conference, which is plenty of evidence to have Stane arrested.
• Breather Episode: Downplayed. This episode is still pretty dark on its own, but its plot revolving around Killmonger's intrigues is much lighter fare than the three previous episodes.
• Call-Back: Killmonger repeats Howard Stark's quote, "Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy." Tony quotes the same line to Christine Everhart at the beginning of Iron Man.
• The Cassandra: Pepper is the first to suspect Killmonger of having bad motives, but neither Tony or Rhodey believe her. Both end up dead by Killmonger’s hands.
• Category Traitor: Before killing him, Killmonger accuses Rhodey of being one by proudly serving the U.S. government despite their mistreatment of black people in the past and present. Rhodey retorts that the only way black people can fix the system is to become a part of it.
• Celebrity Paradox: When appointing Erik as Stark Industries' COO, Tony compares them as an unlikely duo like the eponymous characters of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Sundance's actor, Robert Redford, already has a role in the MCU as Alexander Pierce.
• Celestial Body: The Watcher returns to this form during his closing narration, after spending most of the episode in his more solid form.
• Chair Reveal: Shuri is waiting in Pepper's Stark Industries office to talk to her about exposing Killmonger, swiveling the chair to face Pepper.
• The Chessmaster:
  • Killmonger plays every party involved to his favor quite thoroughly. He uses his experience in special ops to expose the attempt on Tony's life and Obadiah Stane's involvement in it, earning him a place in the billionaire's inner circle, then takes advantage of Tony's Eccentric Millionaire tendencies to create a prototype attack drone. With Rhodey as Stark Industries' liaison to the military, Erik arranges for him to purchase arms dealer Ulysses Klaue's supply of vibranium, getting it in his hands while keeping Stark's clean. Knowing the Wakandans' reputation for xenophobia, he then kills Tony Stark with a Dora Milaje spear to frame it as an assassination and gets the green light to send the mass-produced drones to Wakanda, setting himself up for the opportunity to paint himself as a hero in their eyes.
  • Witnessing Erik immobilize and kill a defenseless Rhodes and T'Challa and frame it to look like a Mutual Kill, Klaue lampshades the strategic brilliance that Erik employs:
    "Oooh, my my my! I would not want to play chess with you, my friend!"
• Child Prodigy: Just as in her debut film, the 10 year old Shuri is incredibly adept at understanding the multi-level gambits being played, and is rightfully suspicious of Killmonger. In the closing moments of the episode, she is able to sneak out of Wakanda and make her way to Stark Industries to conspire with the new CEO Pepper Potts to take out Killmonger and end the war.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Killmonger worms his way in and out of allegiances with several major parties for his own benefit. First he saves Tony and outs Stane's dirty dealings to ingratiate himself to his new boss, then he plots with Klaue to kill T'Challa and Rhodes to orchestrate tensions between Wakanda and the United States. When Tony uncovers Killmonger's treachery he wastes no time in killing his 'boss', and sides with Ross when he nationalises Stark Industries and oversees the production of an army of Stark Drones for the US military's use. Finally, he kills Klaue to get himself into the Wakandan royal family's good graces and destroys his own drones to cement a place for himself in Wakanda as the heir to the throne and the mantle of the Black Panther.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Tony's comment on Maxim models is based on his experience going 12-for-12 with the models of 2007.
  • Killmonger uses the same sonic device on T’Challa and Rhodey and uses the same earplugs to protect himself that Obadiah Stane used against Raza and the Ten Rings and Tony himself in Iron Man.
• Cultural Translation: Tony calls the Liberator project "the world's most expensive Gundam model". In the French dub, "Gundam" was replaced by "Goldorak", which is the French Dub Name Change for the titular Humongous Mecha from UFO Robo Grendizer.
• Cut the Juice: With the drone army bearing down on Wakanda, Erik proposes they allow the drones inside the shield and raise it once they're all behind it, as the cloaking effect will block the satellite signal being used to coordinate the army, rendering the drones inert. Despite skepticism, it seems to work, but Erik covertly activates a secondary transmitter on the drones that allows them to operate independently, claiming that Tony must have had a failsafe. This serves the dual purpose of revealing Wakanda's true nature to the U.S. military while allowing Erik to earn the confidence of the Wakandans by fending off the drones alongside them.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Rhodes is stabbed by Killmonger during the time of what would be the first Iron Man, compared to him being alive and (relatively) well in the present day.
  • T’Challa is killed by Killmonger via sonic blast, compared to him being (as of Endgame) still alive in the Sacred Timeline.
• Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: After T'Challa kills the vibranium smugglers, Killmonger kills him. After Rhodey calls him out for this, Killmonger stabs him with T'Challa's claws and places the sonic taser in his hands, making it look like the two died in a Mutual Kill.
• Decoy Protagonist: Tony seems like he will be the protagonist until Killmonger murders him and spends the rest of the episode as the Villain Protagonist.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Despite seeing Killmonger's manipulative tactics and impressive combat capabilities, Klaue never considers that Erik would see him as just another pawn to use in his very long game.
  • While his status as The Alcoholic may have been clouding his judgement, one can't deny that Tony trying to kill Erik with a robot that they worked together to make without any backup plan or calling the authorities wasn't a very smart move.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the Sacred Timeline, Tony Stark used a reverse-engineered Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out Thanos's forces, killing him by the strain of the Infinity Stones' power. Here, he's murdered by Killmonger in private as part of a ploy to blame the murder on Wakanda.
• Disappointed in You: While T'Challa would rightly be severely pissed off at his cousin for everything he's done, the way he never once raises his voice coupled with the way his "The Reason You Suck" Speech is worded makes it seem like he's more disappointed in Erik than he is angry at him.
• Double Entendre: Tony's first line to Erik at the party celebrating his return:
  Tony: Terrorists, corporate raiders, Maxim cover models. What do they all have in common? They came for the king.
• Engineered Heroics: Erik arranges for the Liberator robots to attack Wakanda and make himself look better in the eyes of its people by helping destroy them.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Tony is very unhappy when Killmonger kills Rhodey.
• Everyone Has Standards: Tony is willing to work with Erik Killmonger and do substantially illegal things in order to profiteer off of weapon construction. However, he still genuinely cares about Rhodey, and is nothing short of devastated when he sees his best friend killed by the man who rescued him in Afghanistan.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Erik's entire plan is to make himself a hero to Wakanada to manipulate himself into power.
• False Flag Operation: Erik manipulates Tony into buying vibranium from Ulysses Klaue through Rhodey under a U.S. diplomatic mission. Then he has Klaue steal a Dora Milaje's vibranium spear, knowing it would bring T'Challa into the room. In the skirmish, Killmonger murders both Rhodey and T'Challa, framing their bodies to look like they died in a Mutual Kill. When he returns to Stark's home and realizes that Stark has surveillance footage of the murders, he kills Tony with the vibranium spear and erases J.A.R.V.I.S.'s memory banks to cover up his involvement, making it look as if the Dora killed him in retaliation, which helps drive the point home that the military needs to arm itself against Wakanda.
• False Friend: Erik only aligns himself with and befriends Tony Stark to gain access to his resources to create his Liberators. When Tony finds out about his treachery, Erik has no qualms about killing him.
• Flashback with the Other Darrin:
  • Similarly to Episode 3’s handling of Bruce Banner, Don Cheadle plays Rhodey in this episode, which takes place during the events of Iron Man, where he was originally portrayed by Terrence Howard.
  • An animated recreation of Tony’s Heroic Sacrifice from Avengers: Endgame is shown in the beginning, complete with Tony saying his last words… except it is not Robert Downey Jr. voicing him.
• Frame-Up: Killmonger disables and then kills T'Challa using a sonic taser. He then uses a Black Panther glove to murder Rhodey, so it appears as if the two died in a Mutual Kill. Later on, he does this to Wakanda itself by killing Tony Stark with a spear from the Dora Milaje.
• General Ripper: General Ross is easily manipulated by Erik into going to war with Wakanda, by the end of the episode declaring his intention to utterly destroy the country. Before that, he uses the Patriot Act to seize control of Stark Industries and seems to expect that Pepper Potts will just shut up and do whatever he tells her.
• Genius Bruiser: Killmonger is both an elite soldier and has a Ph.D. from MIT.
• Have You Told Anyone Else?: Tony privately confronts Erik with evidence that he killed Rhodes and T'Challa, but instead of having already sent this information to the proper authorities, he attempts to kill Erik with a prototype drone to get his own justice. Unfortunately, this just leads to Killmonger defeating the drone and killing Tony with a Dora spear, which allows him to further his plans by framing it as Wakandan retaliation while also giving him the opportunity to wipe the incriminating evidence from Jarvis.
• Hero Killer: Killmonger adds Rhodey, T'Challa, and Tony to his kill list.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Invoked by Tony when he turns the first production-model Liberator on Killmonger, noting that it knows his moves because it was trained based on them. Killmonger is quick to improvise and regain the upper hand, destroying one of his creations and killing Stark.
• Hypocrite: Killmonger calls Rhodey a Category Traitor for serving the U.S. government, while he himself did the same in an even more morally dubious fashion as a black-ops agent. Killmonger may be drawing a distinction between genuine loyalty and opportunistic exploitation, but either way he didn't mind serving his oppressors to further his own goals. Also, nothing Rhodey ever did directly contributed to the oppression of black people, whereas Killmonger's plan is to make himself the dictator of an African country full of black people that he plans to use as cannon fodder for his own ends.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Spoken verbatim as Erik's rationale for his actions when confronted by T'Challa at the end of the episode.
• I Owe You My Life: After Erik saves Tony's life and exposes Stane, Tony makes Erik his COO and agrees to build his design for an automated combat drone.
• In Spite of a Nail: Just like in the Sacred Timeline, Klaue is exploited and killed by Erik to gain entry into the Wakandan capital.
• Internal Reformist: When Erik calls Rhodey out for serving a government that oppresses black people, Rhodey responds that you can't change the system without being a part of it.
• Ironic Echo: Klaue tells Killmonger that Wakandans are full of surprises. Killmonger soon repeats these words back to Klaue, right before killing him.
• Irony: Erik rescuing Tony Stark from the Ten Rings leads to a series of events that actually ends up killing Tony sooner than if he got captured.
• Karma Houdini: By the end of the episode, Killmonger remains free, unpunished for his several betrayals and manipulations, and on good terms with King T'Chaka. However, T'Challa warns him that it won't last forever, and Shuri spirits herself to the United States to join forces with Pepper against him.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: A Discussed Trope. When Killmonger meets T'Challa in the Ancestral Realm he's warned that his actions will end in ruin for himself, either in life (something the ending supports) or in the afterlife he's due for. T'Challa's words imply that when Killmonger does one day die the Panthers of the past will be waiting for him and not in a kindly way.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Killmonger gets Stane arrested after revealing that he instigated the Ten Rings attack on Tony.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Killmonger seems genuinely surprised that Stark figured out that he murdered Rhodey, but still manages to turn the situation to his favor by making it look as if Stark was assassinated by the Dora as a reprisal for the death of T'Challa.
• Manipulative Bastard: Erik manipulates a lot of people to engineer his war. He saves Tony's life from the Ten Rings and exposes Obadiah Stane's treachery to quickly win the eccentric billionaire's trust, then uses that trust to quietly persuade Tony into making deals with enemies of the Black Panther, starting a chain of events that lead to America declaring war on Wakanda. Then when he goes to Wakanda as a "U.S. defector", he seizes on T'Chaka's grief regarding T'Challa to guilt-trip the elder king into embracing his nephew and his brother's radical ideas for Wakandan politics. He then secures his hold by taking control of the Stark Drones and helping the Wakandans destroy them to be seen as a hero, allowing him to become the new Black Panther. Only Pepper and Shuri are not affected by his charisma.
• Musical Nod:
  • Naturally, Erik's theme from Black Panther shows up at several points throughout this episode. T'Challa's talking drums also make an appearance, as does the Dora Milaje theme during the battle with the drones.
  • The Avengers theme crops up during the brief overview of Tony Stark's history from the Sacred Timeline.
• Odd Friendship: The episode ends with Pepper and a ten-year-old Shuri teaming up to take down Killmonger.
• Penny Among Diamonds: Killmonger is the only person shown to come from a poorer strata of society. Pepper immediately suspects him of "wanting something" from billionaire Tony Stark, and he's treated with suspicion by the Wakandan royal family. To be fair, they're correct— just not in the way they were expecting.
• Playing Both Sides: Killmonger spends the episode doing this, to great success. First he kills T'Challa and Rhodey, making it look like a Mutual Kill, provoking a war between the US and Wakanda. Killmonger then convinces the US to let him lead his drones against Wakanda, then uses the US threat to convince T’Chaka to use his strategy against said drones. And by controlling the drones, Killmonger is able to control the flow of battle to his advantage, making himself look like a hero in the process, and prompting T'Chaka to make him the new Black Panther and likely the next king.
• Point of Divergence: Killmonger's timely rescue ensures that the age of Iron Man (and all the heroics that come with it) never came to pass, as Tony developed neither the technology nor the moral heart to become the man of the Sacred Timeline. It's heavily implied that the exact nail isn't Erik saving Stark but rather N'Jobu dying unexpectedly in a gang war instead of at T'Chaka's claws, resulting in a more mature but still evil Killmonger who immediately saw Stark's war profiteering greed as the best way to take over Wakanda.
• Present-Day Past: Killmonger describes his exposing Obadiah Stane’s betrayal as "bringing the receipts", despite the term not being popularized until the late 2010s, with this episode taking place in 2008. Granted, he uses the phrase when showing off the actual financial records of Stane's dealings with the Ten Rings.
• Properly Paranoid:
  • Tony Stark may be friends with Killmonger, but he still has J.A.R.V.I.S. monitor the man constantly, and thus knows that he murdered Black Panther and Rhodey.
  • Shuri is constantly suspicious of Killmonger's sudden appearance in Wakanda and questions his every action. Suspecting there's more to the man than he says, she investigates the episode's events and finds proof that he arranged its impending war with the United States.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: Even with Stark Industries subsumed by the U.S. military and Killmonger taking on the mantle of Black Panther, Shuri and Pepper are still motivated to bring him to justice.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: While in the ancestral plane, Erik is called out for his actions by T'Challa, who never once raises his voice at him.
  T'Challa: You believe the cure for human suffering is more suffering.
  Erik: The cure is power, and now I have it.
  T'Challa: Because you stole it. Power unearned can be a very volatile force, cousin. It will get the best of you eventually, on your plane, or on ours.
• Revealing Cover-Up: Killmonger is forced to murder Tony to hide his involvement in the deaths of Rhodey and T'Challa, but doing so plants the seeds for his entire plot to be exposed. He uses a Dora Milaje spear to make it look like a Wakandan reprisal, but also wipes the surveillance footage to hide his part in all three deaths, which Pepper immediately finds suspicious. If the Wakandans wanted it known they murdered Tony, they wouldn't need to cover their tracks. She doesn't get to act on this until Shuri, having pulled the same thread and reconstructed the erased data, comes to Pepper with proof.
• Revenge Before Reason: Rather than contacting any authorities after he found Killmonger killed Rhodey, Tony decides to use his drone to fight him to avenge Rhodey. This ends up killing Tony and Killmonger wipes out the evidence.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: King T'Chaka, Queen Ramonda, and Princess Shuri all take part in planning the defense of Wakanda. Queen Ramonda even fights the drones in a Dora Milaje uniform. The episode ends with Shuri meeting with Pepper, hoping to work with her to bring down Erik and prevent war.
• Sequel Hook: After ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb, Erik is approached by T'Challa's spirit rather than his father, who warns him that his constant grabs for power and backstabbing his allies are eventually going to catch up with him. Fittingly enough, the episode ends with Shuri approaching Pepper Potts, providing her proof of Erik being behind the murder of both Tony and T'Challa and instigating the war for his own ends.
• Series Continuity Error: There are a couple of notable ones, which may or may not be wholly justified by The Multiverse deviation:
  • Ross is depicted as a 4-star USAF general, when The Incredible Hulk which is set a little later showed him as an army Lt. General (3-stars).
  • Tony is shown using a standard flip-up phone in the beginning of this episode to try to call for backup. While it might be accurate to the time period that it's in, Iron Man showcased Stark using a futuristic phone (at least by 2008 standards) instead. The missile that lands next to him is also significantly larger than the one seen in the film, presumably to make it easier for Killmonger to pick up and throw.
  • The Dora Milaje are guarding the Wakandan border, a job historically held by the Border tribe.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Killmonger mentions being a fan of anime, Tony makes a joke about the Liberator project just being the world's most expensive Gundam model.
  • In case it wasn't apparent in Black Panther that Killmonger's armor is patterned after Vegeta's Saiyan armor, the animated and saturated art style makes the blue undershirt and silver chest armor more obvious, along with Killmonger outright stating that he's a fan of anime.
  • At the party after the press conference, Tony and Killmonger toast each other with "They came for the king, and they missed!", a reference to Omar Little's "You come at the king, you best not miss" boast, which also acts as a double shoutout considering that Michael B. Jordan played Wallace in that show.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Obadiah Stane died at the end of the first Iron Man by being electrocuted inside his Iron Monger mechsuit and falling into an arc reactor. In this episode, he's knocked out by Happy and arrested instead. Of course, given what happens to Tony, he got off easy.
  • Zig-Zagged with Killmonger and T'Chaka, who both died in Civil War and Black Panther; they live at the end of the episode, but this also takes place long before the year they died originally.
• Spikes of Villainy: Erik's drones, due to his love of Gundam.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Liberator robots are these for Whiplash's Hammer-developed drones from Iron Man 2. Just like them, however, Killmonger uses them for ill intent.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: This episode shows exactly how Tony would have turned out to be had he not been captured by the Ten Rings and humbled by the ordeal. He becomes an even more arrogant weapons manufacturer, has no qualms about making illegal arms deals under the guise of diplomacy, and cares far less for Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy simply because they don't agree with his decisions.
• Traitor Shot: Multiple times, Killmonger gives a smirk or knowing glance to the camera when other characters can't see him, and at one point mutters to his breath, "I want a little more than that" when T'Chaka tells him he'll "always have a home in Wakanda" before reactivating the Liberator drones so he can claim the title of Black Panther.
• Trespassing to Talk: Shuri is waiting in Pepper's office to tell her the truth about Killmonger.
• Villain Episode: Killmonger is the main focus of the episode.
• Villain Respect: With nothing to gain from it, Erik reassures Tony that he wished it would have never come to killing him, which is the most remorse he's expressed for killing someone in any continuity.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Killmonger is celebrated as the war hero who saved Tony Stark’s life, and when he defects, he is celebrated by Wakanda and becomes the new Black Panther.
• Was It Really Worth It?: T'Challa's spirit asks Killmonger this near the end of the episode, with Killmonger saying that it was.
• Wham Shot:
  • The episode starts with the attack on Tony at the beginning of Iron Man. Who turns up to save him, diverging from the canon? Erik "Killmonger" Stevens.
  • Before the Stark Drones arrive in Wakanda, Erik tells his family that letting them in and closing the shields will cut off the U.S. command center's control over them. It works, but Erik is then seen discretely reactivating them with a remote.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Most of Black Panther’s supporting cast show up here, however not all of them, most notably Zuri, who in the Sacred Timeline was undercover with Killmonger’s father when he died and knew Killmonger himself as a child. We are left to imagine how he and Killmonger would have interacted in this timeline.
• What If?: As the title suggests, the episode shows what happens is Erik saves Tony in an alternate gambit to claim Wakanda.
• Whole-Plot Reference: Killmonger's successive plots to gain favor and power for himself (while subsequently disposing of those around him afterward) is a beat-for-beat recreation of Richard III— albeit ending the story at the height of his unjust successes (Pepper and Shuri notwithstanding). There's also a dash of Edmund and Iago with how Killmonger presents his Villain with Good Publicity façade.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Killmonger kills T'Challa and Rhodey and frames it as a Mutual Kill to Tony, hoping to spark a war with Wakanda so he can claim it later, but Tony had surveillance that reveals the incident. Erik still manages to kill Tony and erase the evidence, allowing him to proceed with his plan. It is only a little after his victory that Shuri gathers her own evidence to take to Pepper.

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"Heroes are never really gone. They live forever, as do the ones they inspire to carry on the fight."