I Can"t Believe Marvel Is Ending Its Most Ambitious MCU Show In Its Best Moment*

Marvel Studios will release What If...?"s final season in 2024 even though the MCU anthology series has enough potential for many more standalone episodes. The MCU"s launch of the Multiverse Saga in Phase 4 opened the door for an adaptation of Marvel Comics" What If...? issues, which told self-contained stories set in alternate timelines where events happened differently to Earth-616. First released in 1977, Marvel"s What If...? comics introduced scenarios that the MCU"s main universe couldn"t explore.
After season 1 released in 2021 and season 2 released in 2023, What If...? season 3 is set to release in December 2024. What If...?"s third and final season will mark the end of the anthology series, bringing together characters like Captain Carter, Kahhori, Strange Supreme, and Uatu the Watcher for one last showdown. What If...? season 3 will also introduce new characters in their animated form, including Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Agatha Harkness, the Eternals, and none other than Storm wielding Mjolnir as the Goddess of Thunder. Unfortunately, What If...? will end before reaching its full potential.
What If…? Will End Before Taking Full Advantage Of The X-Men’s Introduction The MCU's X-Men Won't Have Their Own What If...? Stories Storm"s introduction in What If...? season 3 marks the first time an X-Men hero appears in the anthology series. "What If... Storm Wielded Mjolnir?" might be the most anticipated episode in What If...? season 3, and it could easily set the stage for future similar episodes starring mutants. What If...? episodes featuring timelines where mutants existed in the MCU all along could have shown how different the franchise would have looked like. However, What If...? won"t have a season 4, meaning that famous mutant characters like Wolverine, Cyclops, and Magneto won"t star in their own alternate timelines.
What If...?"s mutant-focused episodes would offer a glimpse at all the universes in the Sacred Timeline where the X-Men already exist
Marvel Comics" What If...? issues include alternate timelines with plenty of interesting material for short-form animated adaptations. Examples include "What If... Magneto Had Formed The Original X-Men?", "What if... Professor X Had Become the Juggernaut?", and "What If... Wolverine Was An Agent Of SHIELD?" Of course, the MCU could have added more exciting original scenarios like "What If... the X-Men Fought Thanos?" and "What If... The X-Men Replaced The Avengers?" What If...?"s mutant-focused episodes would offer a glimpse at all the universes in the Sacred Timeline where the X-Men already exist.
What If…? May Not Fulfill Its Promise After Three Seasons What If...? Missed Its Chance To Introduce Unique Hypothetical Scenarios Close By definition, Marvel"s What If...? stories center around hypothetical scenarios that differ from the main continuity due to one significant change. What If...? episodes like "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" and "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" largely followed this concept with the idea that a single difference turned Peggy Carter into a Super Soldier and Stephen Strange into an evil sorcerer who destroyed his whole universe. Most What If...? episodes, however, simply introduce alternate timelines where many elements are inherently different without any correlation.
The MCU"s live-action projects already form an extensive overarching storyline, and What If...?"s standalone nature should offer a breath of fresh air
What If...? also puts a lot of focus on its overarching storylines. What If...? season 1 saw the Uatu assemble the Guardians of the Multiverse, What If...? season 2 saw Strange Supreme fight multiversal characters while trying to restore his timeline, and What If...? season 3 will have Captain Carter and Kahhori assembling a new multiversal team. While these storylines are impressive, they take attention away from the main appeal of the original What if...? concept. The MCU"s live-action projects already form an extensive overarching storyline, and What If...?"s standalone nature should offer a breath of fresh air, at least in theory.
Why What If...? Is Ending After Three Seasons The Multiverse Saga Will Focus On Other Projects Before Its Conclusion Custom image by Simon Gallagher With The Fantastic Four: First Steps signaling the end of the Multiverse Saga as Phase 6 begins in mid-2025, What If...? season 4 would only have a couple of years to be completed. What If...?"s core concept limits the series to the MCU multiverse, and the MCU"s potential soft-reboot following Avengers: Secret Wars could make it impossible for the series to carry on without ignoring the rearrangement of the Sacred Timeline that the Avengers" battle against Doctor Doom may entail. Marvel"s decision to give What If...? an overarching storyline with multiversal stakes cements the animated show"s place in the Multiverse Saga.
Related The MCU’s 2025 Releases Promise To Finally Solve A Marvel Animation Problem After 4 Years Marvel Studios" teaser for its 2025 Disney+ shows reveals that a big What If...? animation problem will finally be addressed in Phase 5.
If Phases 5 and 6 don"t meet any delays, the Multiverse Saga will end in 2027. Marvel"s slate for the next three years is pretty crowded, with projects that include several animated projects set to release in 2025. In 2025 alone, Marvel will release Marvel Zombies, Eyes of Wakanda, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, plus What If...? season 3. Hence, What If...? season 4 would need to start production in 2026, and it would release in late 2026 or early 2027 at the earliest. By that point, Marvel will be putting all its efforts into big events like Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man 4, and Avengers: Secret Wars.
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*Availability in US Showrunner Ashley Bradley Directors Bryan Andrews Writers Ashley Bradley , Matthew Chauncey Release Date August 11, 2021 Streaming Service(s) Disney Plus Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Expand Upcoming MCU Movies Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025 Thunderbolts*
Release Date May 2, 2025 The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date July 25, 2025 Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Release Date May 1, 2026 Spider-Man Homecoming 4
Release Date July 24, 2026 Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027

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