I’m pretty excited about what Marvel Studios is going to deliver with its upcoming animated series What If…?. It’s sure to be a fascinating show that shows us instances of where the MCU could have gone in a completely different direction.
The series features a character named Uatu the Watcher, who is an observer that watches these alternate MCU stories unfold. Uatu is sworn not to become involved in these stories, but he’s broken his vow on occasion and helps out. This character is voiced by Jeffery Wright and during a recent interview with D23 Magazine, Wright opened up about the character, his power, and the effort it takes to humanize him for audiences. Wright says:
“He’s a godlike, omnipotent figure who is larger than life. The challenge with a character like that is: How do you make him human? How do you make him relatable? He is mysterious, but he’s also kind of dangerous. You want to know more, and you’re hanging on his every word as he invites you into all these stories.”
Wright also goes on to tease that Uatu may get drawn into the MCU stories that he observes, saying:
“In the comics, he’s an observer—and then some. Here, in the first season, he starts off as an observer, but he gradually becomes more compelled by what he watches.”
As he becomes more compelled by what he’s seeing, chances are, like in the comics, he’ll most likely intervene. He then goes on to say that he’s ready for anything that Marvel wants to do with this show:
“There are infinite possibilities with this series within the MCU. I’m open to all of it. One thing I think we’re realizing with Marvel and Kevin Feige’s leadership is that these are broad, broad canvasses they’re painting on. I don’t even try to anticipate, so I’m just open to all of it – as The Watcher would be.”
The voice cast also includes Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Josh Brolin as Thanos, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Taika Waititi as Korg, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, and Michael Rooker as Yondu.
We’ve known that 23 episodes for the series are redevelopment, but those episodes won’t be released in a single season. They will be broken up into two seasons.
What If…? is set to hit Disney+ in Summer 2021.