Last year, Marvel’s What If…? gave us a fantastical glimpse into the true multiverse of madness. The show, released as an anthology series, later turned out to be an initial entry to the in-development Multiverse Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Through the eyes of Jeffery Wright’s The Watcher, What If…? showed us what to expect from the alternate realities in Marvel’s multiverse, with the finale giving us a showcase of them coming together.
The show further gave us iconic shifts in character portrayals, such as that of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa/Star-Lord and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter. The latter eventually made her live-action debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, officially making the show canon to the franchise. The film also introduced Strange Supreme in his live-action form.
Now, What If…? is returning for a new multiversal adventure, hopefully with new versions of MCU stories, as well as new variants of our favorite characters. At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Marvel Studios announced the release date for the second season of the animated anthology. The show will release with new multiversal ventures next year. The announcement didn’t reveal an exact date but gave a general release window. What If…? Season 2 will release in the early months of 2023, exclusively on Disney+. An episode shown at SDCC also revealed that Elizabeth Olsen will reprise her role as Scarlet Witch by voicing the character for the animated series.
What If…? May Feature Alternate Versions of Newly Introduced Characters
The show’s first season introduced us to versions of our favorite characters such as Captain Carter, Stever Rogers’ Hydra Stomper, a good-guy Thanos, Party Thor, Zombie Avengers, and Vision Ultron. For the forthcoming season, fans would hope for the show to dive into the Phase Four stories of the MCU, including that of Shang-Chi, Red Guardian, Eternals, etc. To watch No Way Home’s take on Spider-Verse become a part of Marvel’s Multiverse would be an enthralling experience.
Earlier, head writer A.C. Bradley had told Entertainment Weekly about Season 2,
Going into the second season, we’re sticking with anthology form, and it’s going to be all-new stories, lots of fun, new heroes, and pulling more from Phase Four than we were obviously able to this season. Hopefully, we’ll see hints of Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Black Widow characters. The fun of What If…? is that we get to explore the entire infinite multiverse, so we try and bounce around as much as we can. I want to play with all these characters, and as much as I love Captain Carter, we’ve got to share the love. I’m very excited to show new worlds, new heroes.
The show’s first season notably featured lead actors from the films to voice their variants, including Chris Hemsworth, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Season 1 is currently in talks for its Emmy Nomination received by Chadwick Boseman for Best Voice Acting Performance, and fans are hoping for him to win this posthumous honor. Marvel Studios has snared nineteen nominations in total for all of its television productions this year.
What If…? Season 2 will premiere in early 2023 on Disney+. The show has also been renewed for Season 3.