The madness of the multiverse, but make it animated: The Marvel series What If…? will return for Season 3. This is everything we know about the upcoming season, fellow watchers, from when What If Season 3 will drop on Disney+ to what characters will work it out in the remix next.
This is just one woman’s opinion, but the second season of What If was considerably better than the first. I’m excited to see what they get up to in the third season. It’s nice to have alternate universe/variant storytelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that doesn’t feel like it necessarily affects the other movies or television shows. (Looking at you, Deadpool & Wolverine and you adding “anchor beings” to the mix…)
What will What If Season 3 be about?
We know that there’s going to be a Red Guardian-centric episode featuring Bucky Barnes, but that’s about it. The above clip, which aired right after Season 2, dove right into that particular adventure. Is this an even sneakier preview into what Bucky and Alexei’s dynamic will be like in the Thunderbolts* movie? I can’t wait to find out.
When will What If Season 3 premiere?
The season will most likely return in 2025, but there’s a possibility that it drops at the end of 2024.
Who will be in What If Season 3?
From all of us at Marvel Studios, THANK YOU for watching season 2 of #WhatIf and joining us on this journey across time…space…reality. We’re excited to share this early look at some of the endless possibilities we’ll explore together in season 3 of What If…? pic.twitter.com/fM6Z17ZnNJ
Besides Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher and other returning heroes, there are some new-to-What-If Marvel heroes to look forward to in Season 3. Joining this season character-wise are Monica Rambeau and Sam Wilson a.k.a. Captain America, though it’s unclear if Teyonah Parris and Anthony Mackie will reprise them in the vocal booth. And speaking of “America,” the one and only America Ferrara will be in What If Season 3 as a new character called Ranger Morales.
Where can you watch What If Season 3?
Well that’s easy! Disney+ of course!
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In the trailers for Marvel’s What If…? season 2, Disney+ gave us a glimpse of a massive Easter egg: the World Tree, or Yggdrasil, from the series finale of Loki. But what does it mean? Why is the tree in there? Here’s what we know!
Major spoilers for What If…? and Loki ahead!
What is Yggdrasil in Loki?
Before we get to What If…?, let’s talk about Loki. At the end of Loki season 2, Loki breaks the temporal loom that’s holding the multiverse together. (At least, I think that’s what it’s doing. The show never really explains why Loki and company can’t just turn the loom off or something, now that He Who Remains isn’t confining time to a single timeline anymore.) After the loom is destroyed, the timelines start dying, and Loki revives them with his magic. He changes the timeline into a tree, as a nod to the World Tree from Norse mythology. (Here’s our full rundown of Yggdrasil.)
But Loki pays a heavy price for his actions. He ends up trapped inside Yggdrasil, doomed to keep the multiverse alive by himself for the rest of eternity.
Yggdrasil appears in the season 2 finale of What If…?
In the trailer for What If…? season 2, we get a quick shot of Yggdrasil decked out in Christmas lights. The actual shot in the series isn’t as festive, but it does have huge ramifications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
At the very end of the season, Uatu the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) shows Carter an image of the multiverse—and it’s in the form of Loki’s tree. Is Loki in there? He must be!
However, no one in the show comments on the trickster god sitting in the middle of the multiverse. Instead, the appearance of Yggdrasil in What If…? season 2 seems to just be an acknowledgment that Loki season 2 changed the nature of Marvel’s multiverse.
So are Loki and the Watcher buddies, or…?
With Loki holding the timelines together, and Uatu watching every timeline in the multiverse, it would make sense for the two to be aware of each other’s existence. So what’s going on here? Are they friends? Allies? Rivals? Can the Watcher see inside the Time Variance Authority, if it exists outside time? Can Loki at least get DoorDash from inside that tree? I have questions!
Unfortunately, What If…? season 2 doesn’t have any explicit answers. If we want some clarity, we may have to wait for Avengers: Secret Wars.
What’s hot? Shakespeare. I don’t make the rules, I’m just a former performance theatre major. So when I watch things like Marvel’s What If…? and get to see my favorite characters living at the time of William Shakespeare and all functioning at different times in the 1600s, I can’t help but get excited. That’s what “What If…the Avengers Assembled in 1602?” gives us.
The episode, which is all centered around Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) getting stuck back in the 17th century, provides us another look into a new kind of team-up of Avengers. As has been the case with Marvel’s What If…?, what works with episodes like this (when we get to see an alternate version of the Avengers) is that we get to see different set-ups, team members, and more that just work for us as fans of these Marvel characters.
Marvel’s What If…? is wrapping up its second season on Disney+, and Marvel Animation has good news for fans of its animated anthology series: season 3 is already in the works.
According to Discussing Film, What If…? season 3 was announced in July 2022, during San Diego Comic Con. At a screening of two episodes of What If…? season 2 on December 11, 2023, the show’s creators confirmed that season 3 is currently in development.
So what do we know about What If…? season 3? Currently, almost nothing! But there are a few tidbits of information floating around—and plenty to speculate about.
What If…? season 3 release window
When will What If…? season 3 come out? It’s hard to say right now, especially since Marvel has begun spacing out its Disney+ content, leading to numerous delays. However, executive producer Brad Winderbaum said at Comic-Con 2022 that the studio’s “intention is to make [What If…?] an annual release.” That means that What If…? season 3 could potentially hit Disney+ around the holiday season in 2024.
What If…? season 3 cast
Who could potentially be in What If…? season 3?
Right now, without knowing which characters and storylines will be adapted for the episodes in season 3, we can only guess. It’s reasonable to suspect, though, that as Marvel moves further into phases 5 and 6, and the Infinity Saga recedes further into the past, that its newer characters will start to take center stage in What If…? That could mean less of Iron Man and Hawkeye, and more of newer characters like Shang-Chi and She-Hulk.
Or Marvel could use What If…? as a nostalgia factory. Who knows? I wouldn’t necessarily complain!
Either way, Marvel has a pretty good track record so far of getting its A-list stars to voice their characters in the anthology series. That means that whichever characters pop up, we may be treated to the talents of their live-action actors. Plus, Jeffrey Wright will almost certainly return as the show’s transdimensional guide, Uatu the Watcher.
What If…? season 3 plot
What will What If…? season 3 be about? Unless What If…? takes a radical departure in its next season, we can expect more of the freewheeling fun we experienced in seasons 1 and 2. What If…?‘s formula offers endless possibilities, as familiar characters are placed in new and interesting situations and Uatu guides us through all the possibilities of Marvel’s multiverse.
This season of Marvel’s What If…? has been airing this holiday season and has been absolutely incredible this time around. Starting with Nebula joining the Nova Corps and then going to an Avengers team in the 80s, this newest episode brought us an important question: What if Happy Hogan saved Christmas?
For me, it was a very important episode. Why? Because Happy Hogan is one of my favorite Marvel characters. No joke. Mainly because I love Jon Favreau very dearly. He is one of my favorite actors and creators on this planet and I just think he’s great. So whenever I get to see Happy Hogan having his time, I’m a very happy camper. The third episode of the second season, aptly titled “What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” takes us into Avengers Tower (a favorite era of the Marvel timeline among fans).
Set seemingly after Iron Man 2 and The Avengers but I’m not sure where it falls after that. What we get to see though is Happy and his intern, Darcy Lewis, dealing with an issue at Avengers Tower when the rest of the Avengers are busy with holiday cheer: Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) has come to ruin Tony Stark’s holiday when Tony isn’t even there to mess with.
Through a series of mishaps, Hulk blood, and JARVIS being down, there is only one choice: Happy has to save Avengers tower (and Christmas) to be the hero I always knew him to be. The episode is a perfect Christmas tale and one that just made me so incredibly happy to watch as not only a fan of Happy Hogan but this era of the Avengers stories too. But definitely as a Happy Hogan super stan.
Seeing him as a hero just made me so happy.
(Disney+)
We have seen Happy step up when he has to. Not only has Tony’s head of security and friend but with Peter Parker in movies like Far From Home and No Way Home as well. Happy Hogan can, and will, step up and be a hero if it is asked of him. The problem I have run into, as a Happy Hogan super fan, is that I have had to always take little moments with my boy.
What I got out of “What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” was the chance to see Happy shine as the main character for one brief moment and it was glorious. Being a side character has its perks. Obviously, you don’t have the burden of the world on your shoulder all the time. But as a fan of the side characters, sometimes you just want them to have their moments too. That’s why I love shows like Marvel’s What If…? because we can see those characters in the hero position just for one fleeting moment.
Happy Hogan will always try to do the right thing. That’s why I love him so much. He isn’t just Tony Stark’s security. Happy’s not just his friend and he’s never been just one thing. And now? Happy Hogan is part Hulk and the guy who saved Christmas from Justin Hammer.
TheMarvel’s What If? Season 2 Episode 5 release date and time have been revealed. The episode will air on Disney Plus. In this season of What If…?, The Watcher guides us through the multiverse, presenting MCU characters in distinctive situations. In the episode titled What If… Captain Carter Battled the Hydra Stomper?, the long-lost Hydra Stomper is rediscovered, and Captain Carter’s mission to save her former love, Steve Rogers, results in a confrontation with new foes.
Here’s when the episode is coming out.
When is the Marvel’s What If? Season 2 Episode 5 release date and time?
The Marvel’s What If? Season 2 Episode 5 release date is December 26, 2023.
The official release time for Marvel’s What If? Season 2 Episode 5 has not been announced. However, Disney Plus typically releases new episodes of its series at 12:01 A.M. PT. Therefore, the estimated release time for episode 1 is expected to follow this schedule:
12:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time (PST)
3:01 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
9:01 P.M. British Summer Time (BST)
10:01 P.M. Central European Summer Time (CEST)
Where to watch Marvel’s What If? Season 2 Episode 5
Viewers can watch the upcoming episode on Disney Plus.
To access episode 5, simply subscribe to Disney Plus, offering two subscription plans catering to your preferences. The standard plan costs $7.99 per month and grants access to content with advertisements. Alternatively, the premium plan, priced at $13.99 per month, allows ad-free content streaming.
In Season 2 of What If…?, The Watcher continues guiding viewers through the multiverse, introducing both new and familiar MCU characters. Notable scenarios include Nebula’s involvement with the Nova Corps, Peter Quill’s confrontation with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Happy Hogan’s mission to save Christmas. The season runs from December 22nd to December 30th, 2023, concluding with the season finale on December 30th.
The official synopsis for Marvel’s What If? reads:
“Season two continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU.”
Here is the HBO Max January 2024 schedule. These new TV shows and movies are coming to the streaming service…
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The Paramount Plus January 2024 schedule has been revealed. This confirms all of the new TV shows and movies coming…
The Disney Plus January 2024 schedule has been revealed. This details all of the new TV shows and movies coming…
What If…? season 1 was a mixed bag, with some raucously funny moments amidst a largely monotonous jumble of storylines. If you’re craving more Marvel stories but you’re feeling hesitant about season 2, you’ll be glad to hear that this time around, What If…? slows down, moves away from shuffling characters like playing cards, and focuses on telling some great stories.
The basic concept of What If…? is the same as last season. It’s an anthology series about familiar characters in alternate realities, exploring all the different paths each hero’s story could have taken if their reality had been altered. What if, for example, Peter Quill had been taken to his father Ego as a child, instead of growing up with the Ravagers? What if Tony Stark hadn’t made it back through the wormhole in The Avengers? The series is bursting with actors from the live action Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with Jeffrey Wright as Uatu the Watcher, who introduces each episode. However, the series also diverges from season 1 by introducing a completely new character, Kahhori (Devery Jacobs).
Although the episodes in the first half of the season are mostly self-contained, a longer storyline starts to come together in the second half—and that storyline is a continuation of the final episodes of season 1. Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) is as close to a main character as What If…? gets, and she’s just as fun and compelling as last season. It’s a treat to see her get the luxury of a longer story arc, especially after what happened to her variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Could live action Peggy come back again in Avengers: Secret Wars? A critic can dream.
Kahhori is also a fantastic addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her episode, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” is by far the standout of the season, and Jacobs (whom you’ll recognize as Elora Danan from Reservation Dogs) delivers a beautiful performance in both Mohawk and English.
Overall, most of the episodes are solid. Some of them tell intriguing self-contained stories. Others are just wild, goofy fun. Even the show’s pastiche comes from a place of love: there’s a Bladerunner episode and a Die Hard episode, plus nods to works as far flung as Hamlet and Robin Hood, but Marvel still makes each story its own. Even the show’s gags feel more grounded in character. (Well, most of them, anyway. Some of the comedy strains credulity, even in a multiverse.) The plots don’t always make a lot of sense—I mean, come on, it’s still a superhero show—but most of the episodes are coherent stories instead of just parades of variant characters. (Okay, we do get some parades of variants. Get ready to pause your screen a lot so you can squint at all of them.)
And that points to What If…?‘s true strength. Putting a familiar character in a slightly new role feels like a minor “what if.” The bigger and more interesting “what ifs” are the creation of whole new realities. What if an event 400 years ago changed the entire world? What if, in the multiverse, literally anything is possible?
The show still has its shortcomings, of course. The animation remains pretty lackluster. Despite Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, which is supposedly the whole point of What If…?, the show still doesn’t feel truly connected to all the reality-bending shenanigans happening elsewhere in the MCU. And the jokes don’t always land.
But What If…? has found its footing in season 2. It’s almost a shame that there’s only one season to go after this one. With Captain Carter, Strange Supreme, Kahhori, and other variants coming into their stride, I don’t want to say goodbye.
Marvel’s What If…? season 2 is dropping one episode a day on Disney+ from December 22 to December 30.
Last week, Disney held a screening of two episodes from What If…? season 2. At the Q&A that followed, the series’ writers and director shared what could be the biggest “what if?” in the MCU.
Writer and executive producer A.C. Bradley, writer and producer Matthew Chauncey, and director and executive producer Bryan Andrews were asked about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest superhero, Kahhori. Kahhori is a Kanienʼkehá:ka (Mohawk) woman living in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the 1600s. Episode 6, “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?” will explore the question of what might happen if Kahhori found the Tesseract before Europeans colonized North America.
“Kahhori is amazing, and a special shout out to Ryan Little who wrote that episode, and also the Mohawk community, who really backed us up,” Bradley said, describing how Disney connected the writers to Native consultants through the Smithsonian Institution. “From day one, we were talking with people. We brought them in for everything from design, story, costuming, music. It was really a collaborative effort, and we were so lucky to get all the help. It was really kind of amazing and beautiful. I’m very, very proud that we were able to pull that episode off.”
“It was pretty incredible,” Andrews added. “It was one of the early ideas we had, because what bigger ‘what if’ is there than ‘What if colonization didn’t happen? What if the Europeans didn’t come here?’ And that’s kind of what I keyed into, but we needed more, and when talking with the consultants, getting into their belief system and the rest, we were able to find an in that was solid, and worked.
“When the consultants finally saw the artwork, after giving us some notes, they were amazed,” Andrews continued. “They wrote us a letter saying that they felt for the first time that their people were being honestly represented in media. And that was huge for us to hear.”
What if Europeans never colonized North America? Audiences will get What If…?‘s answer to that question soon. Marvel Studios is holding special screenings of “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?” for Mohawk communities, and the episode will hit Disney+ on December 27.
