What If…? is one of several MCU shows to premiere on Disney+ in 2021. Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, this animated anthology looks at alternate timelines in the multiverse that would happen if specific moments in the MCU occurred differently.
In addition to introducing Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, this series sees many actors from the MCU reprise their respective roles including Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Natalie Portman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hayley Atwell, Chris Hemsworth, Michael B. Jordan, Jeremy Renner, Michael Douglas, Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillan, Sebastian Stan, and Paul Rudd among others. More tragically, it also marks the last appearance of Chadwick Boseman in the MCU.
Considering how expansive the multiverse is, it only makes sense Disney+ and Marvel Studios would renew the show for another season. While not many details have been revealed about this new season, that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it. Here’s everything we know so far about What If…? Season 2.
Editor’s Note: This piece was last updated on July 24 to add information on the trailer and release date.
When Will What If…? Season 2 Be Released?
When What If…? Season 2 was first announced on Disney+ Day on November 12, 2021, nothing definitive was revealed about its release date other that the season is coming “soon.” We now know that the season will arrive in early 2023, as announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Executive producer Brad Winderbaum told Collider’s Steve Weintraub back in August 2021 that they hope to release a new season annually:
“As you know with animation, it takes a long time to produce. We were fortunate enough to get the green light on a second season early enough to have a chance to release it next year. We’ll see what happens. Obviously, I don’t want to predict the future with this new world we live in, but our intention is to make it an annual release.”
Fans of the show have more reason to rejoice as well. The series has already been renewed for Season 3.
While no trailer has been released to the public yet, Marvel did reveal a trailer for What If…? Season 2 during their animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Collider’s Therese Lacson reported that the trailer featured a number of familiar characters, including Captain Carter and an older Bucky Barnes who is now the head of SHIELD. Other characters who were featured include Hela, T’challa, the Red Guardian, and Thanos. Two sequences in the trailer are set on Sakaar, one featuring Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster suit alongside Valkyrie and Korg and another that shows Valkyrie and Korg racing a speeder with the Grandmaster. A shot from the opening episode of Season 2 was also featured, showing a town inhabited by robots that are concealing something larger. And a special treat for comic readers, the trailer also featured shots from Marvel 1602, the limited series comic run by author Neil Gaiman that reimagined Marvel’s superheroes and villains in the year 1602.
Who’s In the Cast of What If…? Season 2?
As of this moment, no one has been confirmed for the cast of What If…? Season 2, but it’s likely all the same actors who appeared in Season 1 will return. If this season will tackle plot points from Phase 4, then many actors from Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals could also make appearances in the show.
How Many Episodes Will What If…? Season 2 Have?
Just like the first season, What If…? Season 2 will have nine episodes, each around thirty minutes.
When asked about the length of each episode, this is what Winderbaum had to say:
“We targeted ‘a half-hour’ for each episode. Some of them come in a little longer, some of them come in a little shorter. And really it was all about producible time. We wanted to tell as many stories as we could. And we had a certain budget we had to work with, so it felt like that ten episode (now nine episode) run was the right quantity.”
Winderbaum later explained that both seasons were originally supposed to be ten episodes each, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the team to alter those plans.
What About the Marvel Zombies Spinoff?
At the Disney+ Day celebration from November 2021, Marvel announced that a Marvel Zombies spinoff series is in development. Based on the comic book metaseries by writer Robert Kirkman and illustrator Sean Phillips, Marvel Zombies is set in an alternate universe where many superheroes have been turned into zombies. These comics were later adapted into an episode from Season 1 of What If…?, “What If…Zombies?!” Not much is known about the spinoff at this time aside from the fact that it is set in the same universe as “What If…Zombies?!”, Bryan Andrews will direct the show, and Robot Chicken writer Zeb Wells will serve as the head writer on it. However, fans of What If…? are sure to be in for a treat with this spinoff.
What Is What If…? Season 2 About?
While not much is known about the plot of What If…? Season 2 at this time, the show’s head writer, A.C. Bradley, did give some clues to EW about what to expect:
“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.”
Whereas this season ended with a team-up involving different characters from different universes, Bradley also explained to EW that Season will focus less on “end of the world” stories and instead “focus a lot more on the character stories and these heroes and showing a different side of them that people don’t expect and hopefully they can relate to.”
Speaking of Captain Carter, Andrews told Variety in October 2021 that it would be a “relatively safe bet” for her to return, which is not surprising since the mid-credits scene in the Season 1 finale teased that we would see more of her.
One of the episodes will likely revolve around the Gamora we saw in the Season 1 finale. Bradley explained why we didn’t see more of her during Season 1:
“Basically what happened was we originally had an episode planned for earlier in the season that was a fun, light-hearted, living, breathing Tony Stark-centric episode with Gamora. However, due to the COVID pandemic, one of our animation houses was hit incredibly hard, and the episode needed to be pushed into Season 2, because it would not be finished in time. Given everything that we’ve all went through over the past two years, pushing an episode of television is absolutely nothing in comparison. And we understood. We hope fans enjoy the ride next year.”
On the other hand, anyone who is hoping to see alternate versions of the live-action Disney+ shows may be severely disappointed. In that same interview with Variety, Bradley explained:
“In Season 2, a lot of the stuff that we’re doing, we’re doing concurrently with the Disney Plus live-action shows. We were already writing. So we may not get a chance to explore some of the stuff that showed up in those shows, because we’re doing them almost at the exact same time. [Marvel Studios chief] Kevin [Feige] was like, “No no no! No touching! Don’t touch that! Not yet!” Maybe one day, maybe, if these things continue, we can play with some of that stuff. But we definitely get to play with some other parts of the MCU, for sure. There’s fertile ground.”
