Marvel Animation came to D23 2024 with behind-closed-doors looks at upcoming Disney+ shows like What If...? Season 3, Eyes of Wakanda, and X-Men ‘97 Season 2.
Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, showed up for a panel covering the company’s animated projects today, revealing some key details about how they will continue Marvel’s long history in the realm of animation. While fans have already grown to love shows like X-Men ‘97 for its visuals, he says that not all shows will carry the same art style.
“We get to create a style for each show,” Winderbaum explained. “We won't ever have a Marvel house style, but a vision of the filmmakers. Allows us to embrace all the styles of art Marvel has had and go to amazing places from all over the universe.”
Footage of Eyes of Wakanda reveals it will utilize 3D animation to tell its Wakandan story, for example. What If…? Season 3, meanwhile, will maintain the cell-shaded style fans have grown accustomed to while playing with visuals, too. It’s also set to introduce fresh spins on stories from characters like Moon Knight, Ironheart, Shang-Chi, and White Vision.
What If…?’s Brian Andrews showed off footage that included Transformer-like Avengers that work together in new and interesting ways, as well as old-timey versions of some of Marvel’s biggest heroes. The Marvel spinoff show's third and final season gives the team one more chance to lean into strange scenarios that can only be imagined in the world of comics.
“Going through Season 1 and 2, what you learn is how much the fans love these characters and stories. It gave us plenty of fuel,” Andrews said. “We learned that we can take big swings. The wilder and crazier the What If…? got, the better the response. We really play with footage. Some Western stuff, some stompy robot stuff.”
Eyes of Wakanda, which premieres later this year, will expand on the lore of Black Panther’s home in a four-part series that explores different generations of Wakanda. That means the show’s leads Ryan Coogler and Todd Harris can introduce new elements into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), such as the Wakandan protectors, the War Dogs.
It's a show that will give audiences more background into existing characters, but X-Men '97 has the chance to continue building on stories established with Season 1 earlier this year. Little about the upcoming season has been revealed, but Marvel says we can at least expect to see outfits based on Grant Morrison's suit designs.
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Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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