Marvel's What If?

Headed to Disney + in 2021, featuring an anthology of For Want Of A Nail stories featuring Marvel's characters.

Samuel L. Jackson, Hayley Atwell, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chadwick Boseman, Natalie Portman, Jeremy Renner, Karen Gillan, Michael B. Jordan, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Josh Brolin, Taika Waititi, Stanley Tucci, Jeff Goldblum and more will all be reprising their roles from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Not sure if I'll be able to watch this or not (depends on if I can bum Disney+ from someone) but I'm excited nonetheless, here's hoping there's a healthy mix of interesting and well-thought-out episode concepts and batshit insane Golden Oldie-tier ones.

I hope they do "What if Peggy Carter got the Super Soldier serum".

I've heard that's literally the first episode.

I wonder if it will be as grim as the comic.

What If? comics have a tendency to go for grimdark or, at best, bittersweet endings. To emphasize that the universe we follow is the best one.

I prefer a mix of light and dark like the comics. It keeps things interesting.

The one I remember that did this most prominently was about Sue's miscarriage. Either the baby grew up to be a great leader of mutantkind or was an evil psychic vampire who kills her whole family, Dr. Doom, her whole class, and then was defeated by her powerless brother.

Edited by Dr.XXX on Jul 22nd 2019 at 2:26:35 PM

How long are these supposed to be? Are we talking a series of "Something Funny Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer-length" shorts?

Edited by Soble on Jul 23rd 2019 at 6:53:57 AM

Since they're stand-alone stories they can do The Bad Guy Wins and Kill Em All stories they can't get away with in the main continuity.

I'd say it'll be a third random hilarity, a third dark shit, and a third awesome shenangians.

Anybody got any scenarios they'd like to see? I've got a few ideas:

Project Insight goes off without a hitch, and specifically how HYDRA reacts to Thanos' invasion

Killmonger wasn't abandoned and the knock-on effects in the royal court

Wanda dies instead of Pietro, or he otherwise survives

A failed Infinity War/Endgame timeline - maybe where something disrupts the time heist

What if Coulson didn't die

Edited by Aleistar on Jul 22nd 2019 at 11:40:42 AM

Hmm, let's see if I can think of a few interesting ones:

• What if Tony Stark died before he became Iron Man?
• What if Steve saved Bucky during WWII?
• What if the Abomination joined the Avengers?
• What if Ultron was good?
• What if Hank was trapped in the Quantum Realm instead of Janet?
• What if Thor and Hulk were around for the Sokovia Accords?
• What if Doctor Strange never got in a car accident?
• What if Ego stayed with Meredith?
• What if the Avengers got the Infinity Gauntlet on Titan?

Those are some pretty good ones.

I guess we should add What if Star Lord was stopped before he flipped out?

Also, What if Zemo's plan failed?

What if The nuke had actually hit New York?

x2 Oh, those are good ones. Especially the Abomination and Infinity Gauntlet ones.

I will say though that it looks like both RDJ and Chris Evans don't seem to be returning for this, so there may not be many Iron Man or Cap-centric ones.

Edited by Aleistar on Jul 22nd 2019 at 12:31:54 PM

What if the mechanics of obtaining the Soul Stone were different and didn't require a sacrifice to obtain it?

• What if Bucky was frozen and Cap became the Winter Soldier?
• What if Howard the Duck joined the Guardians of the Galaxy?
• What if Captain Marvel came back while the events of Winter Soldier was going on?

Something that occurred me when I was watching Endgame and The Ancient One went "what if I chose wrong..." talking about Strange made me imagine a what if where she actually thought he was the wrong choice and instead selected someone else to be her prized pupil. Who that would be I don't know, but you could make a case for Mordo or Kaecillius.

Kind of an obvious one I just thought of, but "What if the Snap killed the other half of the universe?". Would the survivors bring everyone back quicker then in the main timeline, if at all?

Edited by chasemaddigan on Jul 22nd 2019 at 12:47:16 PM

What if Groot could only say "You're not Groot"?

They would do it much faster. They would just pick up Infinity Gauntlet from the ground, after Thanos turns to ash.

• What if Captain America wasn’t frozen?
• What if Loki was banished instead of Thor?
• What if Hope does the heist on the Yellowjacket instead of Scott?
• What if Black Panther killed Bucky?
• What if Captain Marvel stay loyal to the Kree Empire?
• What if Iron Man died in the New York Invasion?
• What if the Avengers found out that Coulson was alive?
• What if the New York Invasion killed Frank Castle’s family? (AKA Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe adaption)
• What if Killgrave turns good?
• What if Jessica Jones and Luke Cage stay together?
• What if Thanos becomes a hero?
• What if Mordo serves Dormammeau?
• What if Yondu deliver Quill to Ego?
• What if Thanos was a part of the New York Invasion?
• What if Spider-Man died in Civil War?

Ooh, what if Killmonger joined the Avengers? Just so we can get This moment◊

And of course, What if Jane Foster had lifted Mjolnir.

And Portman is listed for the show.

Don't expect any of the Netflix characters.

Edited by Cortez on Jul 23rd 2019 at 4:51:49 AM

A boy can dream, can’t he? A boy can dream.

Also:

What if the Spider-Man worked for Wilson Fisk?

Edited by BigK1337 on Jul 23rd 2019 at 4:55:32 AM

I'm dreaming it too, just not expecting it.

And another great one would be What if Black Widow lifted Mjolnir.

With Jeff Goldblum and Taika Waititi returning, maybe there'll be a few about Sakaar (What If Thor arrived before the Hulk? What If the Hulk never landed on Sakaar?)

What if Thor arrived before Loki? What if Thor still had Mjolnir?