The Marvel characters you’ve come to know on the large display and Disney Plus are about to get a little bit of a makeover in Marvel Studios’ first animated MCU sequence: What If…?
As Marvel retains transferring forward into Section 4 with sequence and movies like Loki and Black Widow, What If…? is taking the MCU into new instructions on just a few fronts.
Try all the pieces we learn about What If…?, coming to Disney Plus later this summer season, under.

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Warning: This submit accommodates main plot particulars from Avengers: Endgame, Loki, and extra MCU movies and sequence.
What’s it about?
The aptly titled What If…? asks a sequence of what-ifs, all associated to acquainted MCU tales, and lets them play out.
What if Peggy Carter had been chosen for the super-soldier initiative as an alternative of Steve Rogers, rewriting the historical past of Captain America?
What if Yondu hadn’t kidnapped Peter Quill in Missouri? Would lots change if he and his band of Ravagers had as an alternative kidnapped a younger T’Challa in Wakanda, rewriting each Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy?
These and different hypotheticals might be explored in What If…? exterior the principle continuity of different MCU titles.
When and the place are you able to watch it?
The primary season shall be made up of 10 episodes.
It premieres August 11 and can air weekly thereafter.
Anybody including a What If…? alert to their calendar will seemingly discover that August 11 is a Wednesday. That implies that What If…?, like Loki earlier than it, received’t be launched on Fridays like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Fairly, new episodes shall be accessible to stream each Wednesday at 12am PST on the streamer.
See additionally: The very best Marvel exhibits and flicks on Disney Plus
The important thing gamers
That includes many characters acquainted to MCU followers, What If…? consists of the voices of a number of actors reprising their roles, together with a number of latest characters and voice actors.
Maybe essentially the most noteworthy voice actor in What If…? is the late, nice Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman has been part of the MCU as the enduring T’Challa/Black Panther since 2016, first showing in Captain America: Civil Battle earlier than his personal standalone film Black Panther, together with two extra roles because the Wakandan king in Avengers: Infinity Battle and Avengers: Endgame.
Boseman sadly handed away on the younger age of 43 final 12 months, following years of dwelling with most cancers. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his closing live-action efficiency in Ma Wet’s Black Backside, and What If…? shall be his final recognized performing credit score.
Different MCU mainstays lending their voices to What If…? embrace Hayley Atwell, Michael B. Jordan, Sebastian Stan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Karen Gillen, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Neal McDonough, Dominic Cooper, Sean Gunn, Natalie Portman, David Dastmalchian, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Toby Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Rooker, Chris Sullivan, Frank Grillo, Seth Inexperienced, and Andy Serkis.
We don’t know whether or not all of those actors are offering new dialogue or are showing through archival footage, as in Loki, however it’s a fairly large returning forged.
The most important recognized new addition is Jeffrey Wright. The Basquiat, Westworld, and On line casino Royale actor is narrating and offering the voice of the Watcher.
Figuring out Marvel, it’s most likely smart to count on some shock visitor voices along with these presently confirmed.
Bryan Andrews directed all 10 episodes, with A.C. Bradley serving as head author.
The sequence is produced in-house at Marvel Studios, with Kevin Feige, Brad Winderbaum, Bryan Andrews, and A.C. Bradley serving as government producers.
How does What If…? match into the MCU?
Marvel has been producing animated movies and sequence for many years, however What If…? is the primary to be part of the corporate’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Which means the characters onscreen will look and sound acquainted to those that have appeared in movies like The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Black Panther.
They may very deliberately diverge from these movies although. You’ll be able to count on them to play with expectations already established in the remainder of the MCU as completely different variations of acquainted tales play out.
What If…? is the fourth MCU sequence to air on Disney Plus. It follows WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki.
Different upcoming MCU sequence embrace Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel heading to the streamer in late 2021. Sequence in earlier levels of pre-production embrace Armor Wars, Secret Invasion, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and a present set in Black Panther’s Wakanda.
It’s nonetheless unknown how straight What If…? will tie into these sequence, present MCU movies, or upcoming tasks.
The Multiverse of all of it
Within the trailer for What If…?, we hear the Watcher invite us to “enter the Multiverse.” Which means we’re not, strictly talking, simply seeing self-contained hypothetical eventualities. We’re seeing variations of occasions which have really occurred, simply not essentially within the universes we’ve seen to this point.
Should you’ve seen Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From House, or Loki, you most likely already know the place that is going.
Actuality as we (or MCU characters) know it’s protected by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). A Multiverse of various timelines exists, permitting for the potential for forks within the timeline (typically through time journey), however the TVA steps in when issues get too out of hand and trigger “nexus occasions” that may stray too removed from a “sacred timeline.”
With the sacred timeline free of the TVA, branching timelines can develop unchecked.
Loki’s season 1 lastly freed the sacred timeline. Which means branching timelines can develop unchecked now (or “unpruned” within the language of the TVA). In brief, some quantity of order may beforehand be maintained from one timeline to a different throughout the Multiverse, with the entire timelines transferring kind of in unison.
That has modified. A branching timeline may doubtlessly see Thanos get away with wiping out half of all life within the universe. Or may see Tony Stark die within the cave the place he was alleged to turn into Iron Man. These would presumably have been nexus occasions beforehand, essentially altering the timeline.
We don’t know the exact nature of the Multiverse but, and it feels like Marvel creatives are nonetheless sorting it out too.
After the Loki finale on July 14, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke on the podcast D23: Inside Disney. He had simply had a gathering along with his Marvel Studios staff to determine “the foundations of the Multiverse and precisely easy methods to actually ship on the joy surrounding the Multiverse.”
The place can we go from right here?
Marvel likes to maintain issues fairly interconnected, and it stands to cause that What If…?, at the same time as an animated sequence, may have some form of affect on the broader MCU.
To date, the MCU Disney Plus sequence have been leaping off factors for later movies. WandaVision and Loki are organising Physician Unusual and the Multiverse of Insanity. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will seemingly be half one among a brand new Captain America franchise — whereas additionally introducing Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who has already popped up in Black Widow.
What If…? has numerous room to stay contained. Nevertheless it additionally takes place within the Multiverse. As characters like Wanda, Loki, and Physician Unusual begin to bounce into completely different timelines throughout the Multiverse, we might effectively see characters in eventualities from What If…? bleeding into different MCU properties.
Might the horror parts of Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity be linked to zombies noticed within the What If…? trailer? Will Loki’s misadventures in What If…? have an effect on him in season 2 of Loki?
We received’t get solutions to those questions for a bit, however the premise of What If…? leaves loads of room to think about future crossovers.
What If…? theories, rumors and Easter eggs
Disney hasn’t shared too many plot particulars about What If…?, however we will piece collectively just a few broad narratives from bits and items revealed in trailers and official What If…? artwork.
These bits and items embrace:
- Tony Stark assembly Black Panther’s Erik Killmonger within the desert the place he grew to become Iron Man in 2008’s Iron Man
- The Guardians of the Galaxy taking the Avengers’ place within the Battle of New York
- T’Challa changing Peter Quill as Star-Lord among the many Guardians of the Galaxy
- Howard the Duck showing in some capability
- Peggy Carter taking over a British model of the Captain America mantle as Captain Carter (and probably as Marvel Comics’ Captain Britain)
- The presence of one of many Watchers, cosmic beings with almost limitless energy in Marvel comedian books
- Captain America, Iron Man, and Hawkeye showing as zombies
- Spider-Man buying Physician Unusual’s magical cape and doubtlessly changing Unusual because the Sorcerer Supreme
That’s what we learn about What If…? to date.
Past that, we’ll all must tune in August 11 to be taught extra.
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