Warning: While the below story contains no explicit spoilers, it does mention certain characters that will be in What If...? Season 2, for those who are trying to go into the season without any details.
Jude Law, Kurt Russell, Sam Rockwell, Cate Blanchett, and Michael Douglas; these are just a few of the heavy-hitters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that were confirmed Monday night by the creatives of What If…? as voicing the animated versions of their live-action characters in Season 2.
On December 11, Marvel Studios hosted the world premiere screening of two episodes of the second season of What If…? (which debuts December 22 on Disney+ with nine new episodes, one premiering each night). The first episode was the Xandar-set episode, “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” followed by the Avengers riff on a Die Hard Christmas episode, “What If Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
Executive producer Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming, television, and animation for Marvel Studios, also surprised the audience with first look footage from Marvel Animation’s 2024 releases: the illustration-styled Eyes of Wakanda, and the traditionally animated throwback series X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (formerly titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year).
On the panel to discuss the second season of What If…? was director/EP Bryan Andrews, writer/EP AC Bradley, and writer/producer Matthew Chauncey, who provided some intel on what we’ll see in this collection of episodes. Here are five things we learned:
What If…? Seasons 1 and 2 have both been long in the making
The trio confirmed that all of the scripts for Seasons 1 and 2 were written during the height of the pandemic. Due to the long-lead production cycle of animation, there was no opportunity to have audience reactions impact their story ideas. The arcs just came from their brainstorming sessions going back to 2019.
“We had so many great ideas in the first round for the first season, but there's only so many episodes you can make,” Andrews explains. “But there were all these extra ones that Kevin [Feige] and Brad were like, ‘These are all amazing!’ So some of those carried right on over.” He confirmed that the rollover approach remains intact for Season 3 which they are currently working on.
Chauncey says the other new episodes were often born of ideas like, what would a film noir/Blade Runner homage look like in the MCU? Or, from their love of actress Karen Gillan’s work as Nebula in Season 1. “She just came in so game and so alive and so collaborative that from that moment, we decided in Season 2, we really have to do something for her where she is center stage,” he explains.
There will be storyline carryover from Season 1 to Season 2 and beyond
While What If…? Is technically an anthology series with standalone episodes, Bradley says there are elements from the establishing season that will carry through, like the “trifecta” of characters: Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), the Sorcerer Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch), and The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright).
Chauncey continues, “Fate has kind of made Carter and The Watcher lone warriors. Part of the fun of watching their journey throughout the show is that they are mirrors for one another. The Watcher is going to reckon with some of the choices that he made in Season 1, through how he engages and watches Captain Carter navigate her life in these episodes, which is cool.”
Andrews confirms that the Season 1 episode, "What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?,” which left audiences with a mid-credit cliffhanger regarding the Hydra Stomper, will get resolved in a new episode that features another appearance by Black Widow (Lake Bell).
The “Lost” Episode 10 that got cut from Season 1 is part of Season 2
And that the 10th episode that had to be cut from the first season, which features Tony Stark (Mick Wingert), The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), Valkyrie, and Gamora, has shifted to this season. “It was one of the casualties of the pandemic,” Andrews explains. “With the vendors, it was a little difficult for them to really get cooking on it. And so, it was better to save it because it's insane and firing on all cylinders.”
New Avengers lineups will be revealed, and familiar villains will be back in the mix
The panel also confirmed what some eagle-eyed trailer observers have surmised, that there will be alternative Avengers lineups explored. Chauncey says, “One of our ideas was what would an Avengers movie look like if it took place in a different era? So the idea of setting an episode in the '80s was something that really excited us.The fun of it was getting to craft a story narratively, and then aesthetically, that mirrored '80s action movies.” That lineup will feature Hank Pym (Douglas) and Ego the Living Planet (Russell). There will also be a peek at an alt Avengers 2012 lineup featuring Captain Carter.
Andrews says Shang-Chi’s father, Wenwu, will be the primary character in a Ten Rings-centric episode. And that Blanchett’s Hela from Thor Ragnarok returns. “We had Cate Blanchett come back and reprise her role. She ate it up,” he laughs. “She was so amazing and so much fun. She was 1,000% into it.”
Kahhori the Mohawk warrior superhero will finally take the stage
Last but not least, the long-teased, original Mohawk superhero character, Kahhori, written by Ryan Little, will finally have her origin story revealed in a Season 2 episode. Essentially an exploration of what would have happened if colonization had never happened in America, it’s the purest personification of the premise.
Bradley says when they initially pitched the idea, Disney Diversity immediately offered to call consultants from the Smithsonian to help them make the most authentic representation of Indigenous Americans. “We brought them in for everything from design, story, music,” she details. “It was really a collaborative effort, and we were so lucky to get all the help. It was really amazing and beautiful.”
The consultants were also integral in helping develop the authentic locales of the story. Andrews says, “When they would see the artwork, after doing a few notes and things like that, they were amazed,” he remembers. “They wrote us a letter saying that they felt for the first time that their people were honestly being represented in the media. And that was huge for us to hear.”
What If…? Season 2 will premiere on Disney+ on December 22.
