WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first three episodes of What If...? on Disney+.
What If...? hasn't just told episode-long stories about one thing changing in the MCU, the episodes have also all ended with additional teases for future stories. And according to the show's head writer, those tags may pay off down the line.
A.C. Bradley spoke to Discussing Film about bringing Nick Fury's big week to the animated world with the third episode of What If...?, which sees the S.H.I.E.L.D. director's plans go awry as each of his Avengers prospects is killed by a mysterious figure. But the episode ends on a hopeful note, as Fury finds Captain America's shield frozen in the ice and Captain Marvel returns to Earth. While the tags have been a fun way to carry on a Marvel tradition, Bradley also said they could set up new stories.
"The ending twists that many of the episodes have, not all of them, came from a place of loving the Marvel tags – the Marvel credits scenes," Bradley said. "So the idea was that we resolve the entire episode, like we resolve the T’Challa/Wakanda/Ravagers of it all. Then we give kind of what would be our mid-credits scene. So the hope is, if we do sequel episodes, if we do see the heroes later on, that we answer some of the questions raised in those twists. But they’re not meant to be ironclad promises of future episodes. It was just kind of 'What would be a fun twist at the end of this?' The What If...? comics were known for having very surprising endings. So we wanted to pay tribute to that."
So far, each episode has ended with not only a new status quo but has also provided a tag scene that promises another story to explore. Episode 1 ends with a new World War II history for the MCU, but it also sends Captain Carter to the future, where she meets Nick Fury and Hawkeye. The second episode changes the worlds of both Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther -- not to mention tames Thanos, thus potentially changing the entire MCU as fans know it -- but the tag sees Ego eventually find Peter Quill. Without the found family of the Guardians, could Peter be more susceptible to Ego's universe-conquering plan?
And with episode 3, there's a world with a completely different set of Avengers who have to face a Loki who has taken over the world with the might of Asgard behind him. Just like the previous two episodes, the tag certainly sets up what could be an entire shared universe of its own, one that's full of story possibilities. None of these potential tales are promised, but with What If...? already having secured a second season, it's not hard to imagine a return to these alternate worlds.
The first three episodes of What If...? are now streaming on Disney+.
Source: Discussing Film
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