Inside Marvel's What If...?, the Disney Plus animated show that reshapes the MCU

Date:
Sat, 07 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Description:
Interview: TechRadar talks to the cast and crew of Marvels What If? about reinventing the MCU, and the prospect of the show running for multiple seasons.

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Rebooting a TV show or movie series can be a sore subject for some fans. As the reaction to Netflixs He-Man revival or recent Star Wars films can attest to, significant changes to a series source material can cause fans to revolt against the properties they revere.

As relative newcomers to the movie franchise business, Marvel Studios doesnt need to concern itself with such problems, even if the studios latest TV offering a byproduct of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverses (MCM) recent
arrival can be viewed as a semi-revitalization of sorts.

What If?, the first canonical MCU animated anthology series, recreates infamous events from the franchises 13-year history in unusual, funny and at-times shocking ways.

Revising iconic moments particularly in a movie series thats still in its infancy might be seen as something of a gamble. However, with an
established, supportive fanbase behind it, Marvel can afford to take such risks and likely succeed with them.

Ahead of What If?s Disney Plus premiere on August 11, TechRadar sat down with star Jeffrey Wright, head writer A.C. Bradley, director Bryan Andrews and executive producer Brad Winderbaum to find out how the show builds new
futures from the MCUs past. We also discuss the late Chadwick Bosemans final appearance as TChalla, and the prospects of the show running for multiple seasons. How to watch the Marvel movies in order Now Loki has ended, let's rank the Marvel Disney Plus shows so far Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings : what you need to know There was an idea... (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney)

Based on the 1977 comic series of the same name, What If? takes key events from Marvel movies, such as Steve Rogers becoming Captain America or the Avengers formation, and reimagines them in unpredictable ways. These moments, though, dont occur on the MCUs timeline they play out in alternate
realities, which were introduced alongside the multiverse in Lokis season 1 finale .

Announced in April 2019, What If? is a project that Marvel has wanted to
bring to life for a while but, until recently, the necessary pieces hadnt fallen into place. Sure, the MCU was firmly established as a leading 21st century movie franchise long before What If? was officially revealed, but the idea of making a TV show based on this particular comic series, and the multiverses introduction, had been a pipedream for some time.

Over the years, weve tried to figure out what to do, Winderbaum explains.
Weve been excited to explore animation at Marvel Studios, and now weve got such a rich cinematic history of over 10 years to draw from. People know
these stories, so we have lots of opportunities to spin What If? concepts out of projects that fans know very well.

What If? wont just tell tales that fans are accustomed to. As its official trailers and TV spots showcase, the series will also bring fan-favorite comic stories such as Marvel Zombies to life, as well as create brand-new narratives that MCU or comic fans havent seen before.

Marvels existing and wholly original content, then, presents the studio with unlimited storytelling possibilities for its latest show although as Bradley reveals, there was one directive that its creative team had to stick to
during its development.

The only rule was it had to start with the MCU, Bradley says. So we had to pull from those characters. Its easy to think what would happen if this occurred?, but the real challenge was how do we tell something different? or who are these characters without the suits? or wheres the heart behind the hero?. Once we answered those questions, we had so many different avenues to explore.

What If? represents Marvel Studios first foray into animation, so finding the right aesthetic to depict its well-known characters and locations (albeit existing in different dimensions to the MCU) was vital.

Choosing a specific art style was even more pertinent when Marvel outsourced the shows animation to three other studios, with Canadian company Squeeze, Australian outfit Flying Bark Productions and French studio Blue Spirit working on five, three and one of What If?s episodes respectively.

After much deliberation, including over whether to pursue 2D animation or a style inspired by legendary Marvel artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Marvel settled on a design influenced by classic US illustrators including J.C. Leyendecker and Tom Lovell.

As were riffing on the MCU, we didnt want to go with something super out there, Andrews explains. We looked back at art from the 20s and 30s because
it has an idealised, almost heroic human form thats chiselled, and lends itself as a subtle sidestep from our live-action projects. Ryan Meinerding [Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development] really sunk his teeth into that style and helped us achieve this signature look. Cosmic observations and bittersweet reunions (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney)

Leading viewers through What If...?s various tales is Uatu the Watcher, an omnipotent celestial being who oversees the Marvel multiverse. However, while Uatu is an individual of immense power, hes a passive observer who cant intervene in events as they occur much like the shows audience.

For Wright (Westworld, James Bond), who voices Uatu in What If?, the all-powerful character acts as a stand-in for Marvel fans who, like him, are fascinated by this fictional universe and the superheroes (and supervillains) that inhabit it.

Hes the biggest fan out there, Wright says. He wants to get involved and
maybe manipulate things in a different way, but there are limitations [to
what he can do]. I think hes drawn to these characters, their stories and the mythology in the same way that were drawn to water [to survive]; it defines him and gives him life. Theres a certain part of our humanness that we
connect to through these characters and, while he isnt human, I think Uatu does, too.

Wright isnt the only big name attached to the series. Many of the MCUs stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Tom
Hiddleston, Hayley Atwell, Karen Gillan and Sebastien Stan have reprised
their roles for What If?, although some Marvel actors Drax star Dave
Bautista included werent asked to voice their characters.

Of all those who did return, Chadwick Bosemans performances will prove to be the most emotional. The actor, who passed away in August 2020 after a four-year battle with colon cancer, reprises his iconic role as Wakandas TChalla in four episodes.

What If?, then, represents Bosemans final acting role and in Bradleys view, its fitting that one of the shows earlier episodes, which explores what would have happened if Guardians of the Galaxys Ravagers had accidentally kidnapped TChalla, is befitting of Boseman as much as the character that he embodied.

In the MCU and the comics, TChalla doesnt go through changes; he changes the world, Bradley says. When it came to creating this particular episode, the question wasnt how do we do Black Panther in space?, it was how does TChalla, and Boseman by extension, change the galaxy and fix it for the better? Chadwick was a god among men who changed the people around him, so we wanted to play off that and honor him through it. A Marvel-ous future? (Image
credit: Marvel Studios/Disney)

What If?s nine-episode run feels like its just the beginning for Marvel Studios inaugural animated show.

Audiences may be pleased to hear, then, that production is already underway
on a second season that also comprises nine episodes but what about seasons after that? With the MCMs arrival providing the opportunity to tell an infinite number of stories, there are bound to be multiple entries in Marvels latest TV series, right?

Winderbaum declined to comment on such a possibility, but did tease the prospect that future instalments were something that the shows chief creative team were keen to pursue.

We will never run out of ideas because theres so many ways to spin out the universe and the stories that we love, he says. This season allows us to dig into each story and make them as rich as possible. Hopefully, we can go even wider [in the future] and tell as many as possible.

Much will depend on fans reactions to the series first season. What If? represents a bold, new step for Marvel Studios, but it can afford to take
this risk now that its established as one of the biggest entertainment companies around and we suspect fans wont need a second invitation to check it out. Marvel's Eternals : everything we know about the MCU movie so far



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/inside-marvels-what-if-the-disney-plus-animated -show-that-reshapes-the-mcu/


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