10 Ways What If... Could Change The MCU
6. What If Howard Invented His Arc Reactor?
One of the most touching scenes in Iron Man 2 comes when Tony is watching old footage of his dad and realises Howard has recorded a secret message for ‘his greatest creation’: Tony himself.
With this message and the model Howard had built, Tony is able to create a new arc reactor with Howard’s blueprint, no longer ‘limited by the technology of his time’. In this case, the What If is simply What If he wasn’t limited by the technology of his time?
We know Dominic Cooper is joining What If, and while many have him pegged for a Peggy story, this could work too. It would fling SHIELD forward by decades and could even see Howard himself suiting up.
The reel Tony watches contains another truth too, one demonstrated at various points across the MCU as well; Howard was not a great father. Tony may forgive him and find closure when he travels to the 1970s in Endgame, but the fact is he often fell short.
An alternative What If could see Howard maintaining a better relationship with his son, but at a cost to his work and reshaping Tony’s future, for better or for worse.