Brace yourselves…the Marvel multiverse is coming. And each branching timeline and alternate universe is officially MCU canon, according to What If…? head writer AC Bradley.
The upcoming Disney+ Marvel series What If…? flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways. But “reimagined” doesn’t mean “unreal.” Despite diverging from the Sacred Timeline (as the TVA might say) these stories remain part of the central MCU canon.
“The events of What If…? are canon,” Bradley told IGN. It’s part of the MCU multiverse. The multiverse is here. It is real, and it is absolutely fantastic, people.”
Marvel has spent some time now aligning their TV and film properties to set up the MCU multiverse. It became an underlying theme in WandaVision, and Marvel’s most recent series, Loki, brought the multiverse to the forefront. (And of course, these shows will lead into Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, a film fans have known about for a while now.)
The upcoming Disney+ series draws on the original What If…? comics. They saw Uatu the Watcher introduce a series of alternate realities and events in the Marvel universe. With Jeffrey Wright cast as Uatu, it seems likely the show will follow a similar setup.
Although What If…? will be Marvel’s first animated series on Disney+, it will feature the voices of familiar MCU actors. You can expect to hear Hayley Atwell (Agent Peggy Carter), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), and even the late Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther). The series comes from head writer Bradley and director Bryan Andrews.
If Loki left you eager for more multiverse madness, you don’t have too long to wait for more. What If…? arrives on Disney+ August 11.
For more Marvel updates, check back to THS.
Source: IGN
