The Disney+ series What If...? first premiered in 2021. It allowed fans to explore the multiverse and imagine what might happen if key moments in the MCU unfolded differently. The idea was exciting—but from the beginning; the show has been receiving very mixed responses from viewers. Some fans loved it for its fresh takes on familiar characters and thrilling action sequences, which were among the best in the MCU. Others, however, felt it leaned too heavily into silliness and struggled to imagine these events fitting into the larger Marvel Universe.

Now, the show has returned for its third season, and the reactions are as divided as ever. This time, a new character has been introduced in the series, and a popular critic just called it Marvel’s version of Harley Quinn—and not in a flattering way.

Season 3 of What If...? featured a brand-new character named Byrdie. Naturally, this sparked curiosity among MCU buffs, many of whom wanted to know more about her origins and powers. Grace Randolph, the creator and host of Beyond The Trailer, shared her unfiltered thoughts on the character via X. “#Marvel has so many great characters,” she posted. “Why create a bad #HarleyQuinn ripoff?” Randolph, a Rotten Tomatoes-certified critic, specifically called out Byrdie’s origin story, reacting with a blunt “YIKES.”

In the series, Byrdie was portrayed as a hybrid and the daughter of an alternate-reality version of Dr. Darcy Lewis and Howard the Duck. In this reality, Darcy and Howard apparently got drunkenly married—an event shown in a first-season episode. Byrdie, still in her egg phase, was rumored to wield immense cosmic powers, making her a target. Nonetheless, Randolph was not the only one criticizing the third season.

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Creator of X-Men ‘97, Beau DeMayo, did not hold back when it came to Marvel Studios’ third installment of What If...? either.

Beau DeMayo recently took to X to deliver his biting three-word What If...? review- “yikes just yikes.” And he did not stop there. DeMayo hinted he could have done a better job himself, cheekily adding in a follow-up post, “I’d watch more to give notes on how it could’ve easily been done better but I have some water to watch boil". The show is not performing well among fans, either. 

On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a decent but not great 75% on the Tomatometer, which is a noticeable dip from the first two seasons’ cores of 89% and 90%. The audience score for Season 3 is even lower, sitting at a not-so-great 54%. While there are still plenty of positive reviews praising the creativity and fun of the multiverse, many viewers feel like this season just does not measure up to the first two.

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What do you think about Grace Randolph's review? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!