What If…? once featured Uatu teaming up with the TVA and a team of multiversal variants to take on one of the MCU’s newest bad guys.
The conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe What If...?’s first season saw Uatu the Watcher unite with a band of multiversal variants to fight back against a threat posed to all worlds: an Ultron with the full power of the Infinity Stones. But this isn’t the first time a version of Uatu has appeared to break his oath and work with variants for such a cause.
In the “Time-Quake” storyline from What If…?’s second volume, Uatu the Watcher worked with the TVA and a host of Marvel variants to fight back against Immortus — and prevent him from effectively wiping out the entire Marvel multiverse.
“Time-Quake” was a five-part storyline from 1992 that ran through the events of What If…? #35 through #39. The plot was set in motion by two forces: Immortus, the eventual final version of Kang the Conqueror, and the mysterious Time-Twisters, who sought to parse down the multiverse and steal the subsequent energies for their own purposes. Targeting Nexus Beings across the multiverse, the Time-Twisters — posing as the Time-Keepers — were able to interfere in these worlds, in hopes of causing their destruction. The core-Marvel incarnation of Uatu watched the conflict, keenly aware of Immortus’ own attempts to manipulate the situation to his own advantage. Taking up the secret role of “the Whispher,” Immortus was able to quietly change events and steal the Nexus Energies from these worlds.
In What If…? #35 by (Roy Thomas, R.J,M Lofficier, and Joe Phillops), Annihulus tried to prevent the birth of Franklin Richards in a reality where Spider-Man officially joined the Fantastic Four. After being informed of the dark future his world would suffer if Sue died before the birth of Franklin, Doom ensured the Fantastic Four of this reality succeeded in their mission to claim the Cosmic Control Rod, saving Sue and Franklin. In What If…? #36 by (Thomas, Lofficier, and Dave Hoover), the Time-Twisters used Korvac to try and wipe out Ultra-Vision, a futuristic cybernetic variant of the heroic android. The Cosmic Avengers of that reality did their best to protect their teammate from the Korvac controlled Guardians of the Galaxy, but Ultra-Vision was ultimately destroyed.
What If…? #37 by (Thomas and Mark Pacella) introduced a world where Wolverine had become Lord of the Vampires — but the early death of the Punisher prevented Logan’s vampiric rule from being upended. The Nexus Being of this world was the undead Phoenix, who found herself targeted by the events of this world’s Inferno. Due to the machinations of Mister Sinister, Jean Grey technically “survived” the Time-Twister’s plot to have the original variant of Phoenix lost to the Dark Dimension. In What If…? #38 by (by Thomas and Marshall Rogers), Seth was victorious in his mission to defeat Odin and conquer Asgard. Immortus recruited the Doctor Doom, Irondroid, and Vampiric Wolverine of the past three realities, and used them to liberate Thor from Seth’s grasp.
With their help, they prevented the Time-Twisters from completing their plan and effectively defeated them — but left Immortus with enough stolen Nexus Energy to remake himself into a living quantum wave that could alter the multiverse in his image. The only hope for the multiverse ultimately rested with Uatu — who contacted the TVA for assistance in his mission in What If…? #39 (by Thomas and Gavin Curtis). The four multiversal variants were sent into the limbo that had previously been used to contain Immortus while Uatu convinced the TVA to target the 31st century scientist Nathainel Richards before he can achieve his destiny first as Kang and then Immortus. This way, the could interfere with his past and effectively inject him with a creation of Saturnynne’s scientists, preventing his eventual ascension.
The TVA initially elects to send a variant of the Fantastic Four with different powers, but they are quickly killed by Richards’ inventions. Instead, Uatu sends a variant of the team who never gained powers, and instead relied more on Reed’s technology — including a device that could stop all of Nathainel’s machines, allowing them to inject him with a substance to prevent any version of Kang from absorbing too much Nexus Energy. This stops the variant of Immortus in the future, and saves the multiverse — with Uatu commenting that it’s quietly poetic that a group of powerless humans were the key to saving all of creation, as he returns everyone to their proper place in the multiverse.
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