One of Marvel’s most time-honored comic books is getting a new spin. According to reports, the classic comic What If? is coming to the Disney+ as an animated series, showing fans alternate takes on classic MCU events.
The original What If? comic ran in two volumes—one that ran 47 issues, and another that lasted a whopping 114 issues. Between both of those series, there are plenty of stories to mine from for the animated show about alternate histories of Marvel’s heroes, and here are seven of them we’d like to see adapted first.
What If? Vol. 1 #1 – “What If The Avengers Had Never Been?”
In only the series’ third issue, the question “What if the Avengers Had Never Been?” was asked. In the comics, the Avengers formed under different circumstances than in the film, although Loki was involved in both cases. But taking this basic premise to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just what would have happened in Iron Man, Cap, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow chose not to become a team, and Loki took over the Earth with the Chitauri? A pretty bleak episode, sure, but it would certainly be interesting to watch!
What If? Vol.1 # 18 – “What If Doctor Strange Were A Disciple of Dormammu?”
One of the coolest endings in the MCU films is when Doctor Strange, now the Sorcerer Supreme, finds a nonviolent way to defeat the evil other-dimensional entity Dormammu by trapping him in an endless time loop. But what if Stephen Strange was actually a follower of Dormammu, and got turned to the dark side, as it were? Would a world conquered by Dormammu then have had to fight Thanos, with Strange as his best soldier?
What If? Vol. 2 #14 – “What If Captain Marvel Had Not Died?”
Whether it’s the comics or the MCU, the death of the Kree hero Mar-Vell was a turning point in the life of Carol Danvers. She simply wouldn’t be Captain Marvel now without Mar-Vell’s inspiration. But what if Mar-Vell had lived? Certainly, in the MCU history, everything having to do with the Tesseract would also have played out differently, as would the life of Carol Danvers. Would make for a very cool episode.
What If? Vol. 2 #28 – “What If Captain America Had Led An Army of Super Soldiers in World War II?”
In both the comics and in the MCU, Steve Rogers was the only successful experiment in the United State’s Super Soldier program, due to the death of Dr. Erskine. But if the army had managed to create several other Captain Americas, would Steve Rogers have defeated the Red Skull much faster? Would Bucky never have become the Winter Soldier, and would he have ever even gone into the ice as before? The whole history of the MCU might have been very different with more than one Cap.
What If? Vol. 1 #10 – “What If Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor?”
This is a storyline that actually went from hypothetical to actual Marvel Comics mainstream continuity in recent years, but we’d still love to see it played out in some form in the MCU, even if it’s as an animated episode. Even though Natalie Portman is out of the MCU after Thor: The Dark World, maybe she can be lured back to lend her voice to a version of Jane Foster who’s been chosen to be worthy of the power of Thor. We think the world is more than ready for the Goddess of Thunder now.
UPDATE: This is actually happening! It’s not a What If anymore.
What If? Vol. 2 #2 – “What If Daredevil Killed the Kingpin?”
Fans are still reeling from the loss of the Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil. Although rumors abound it may come back in some form, in the meantime, how about getting both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio to lend their voices to this alternate take on the events of Daredevil season three? Just how would have Matt Murdock’s life been different had he chosen to give in to his worst impulses and take out Wilson Fisk? Fans would go nuts for this Daredevil reunion, even if it were animated and not live-action.
What If? Vol. 1 #23 – “What If the Hulk Became a Barbarian?”
While I think rights issues might prevent Marvel from using the character of Conan the Barbarian, we would still love to see an alternate universe scenario where Bruce Banner is wearing fur pants and a horned helmet, and taking on armies of undead soldiers while yelling “Hulk Smash!” at the top of his lungs. We didn’t get to see Banner really Hulk out much in Infinity War, so give us this, please. This scenario was pretty much made for an animated show. Make it happen Marvel!
Images: Marvel Comics / Marvel Studios
