Marvel’s What If…? Could Have Live-Action Spinoffs
In an interview with Inverse, Marvel Studios’ What If…? series producer Brad Winderbaum revealed there’s a possibility that we could return to some of the parallel timelines we’ll see in the upcoming episodes of What If…? Further still, while What If…? is an animated series, Winderbaum said that some of those future narratives could take the form of live-action stories, meaning characters introduced in animation, like Captain Carter, could eventually appear in one of the live-action movies or shows.
The Name is Captain Carter poster by Freya Betts. Photo: Marvel
What If…? The Blueprint Is Comics
The Inverse article goes on to speculate that the “blueprint” for expanding the What If…? episodes into the live-action universe is the Star Wars animated shows (and to be fair, there are some slight parallels at play). But applying Occam’s Razor leads to a much more obvious source of inspiration for the animated series: Marvel Comics!
Although the article states that characters invented for Star Wars animation are equivalent to Captain Carter, this isn’t quite accurate. Captain Carter wasn’t invented for animation, just like Captain America or Iron Man, she’s an adaptation of a comic storyline (not to mention her appearance in a video game storyline)!
Peggy Carter Captain America from Puzzle Quest, art by Amanda Clarke. Photo: Puzzle Quest
Or, here’s another example: the Marvel Zombies storyline already exists in the comics. Marvel Blog True Believers will already be well aware of this ongoing series – see our coverage of Bruce Campbell’s probable cameo role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness here.
But suffice to say that the Marvel Zombies storyline followed a similar trajectory as this proposed path for What If…?. At first, it existed only as a subplot within a few issues of Ultimate Fantastic Four – that’s right, it wasn’t even a subplot in the main Marvel Universe, it was over in the now-defunct ULTIMATE universe!
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 by Mark Millar, Greg Land, Matt Ryan, Justin Ponsor, and Randy Gentile. Photo: Marvel
After appearing in the six issues of Ultimate Fantastic Four that laid the foundations, Marvel Zombies, a spinoff title, was introduced. Since then, the Marvel Zombies storyline has continued across many different Marvel Zombies titles, with the constant threat that these malicious undead marauders may one day find the 616 and eat all of our favorite characters once and for all!
Zombie Captain America. Photo: Marvel
The storylines in the What If…? animated series could follow this blueprint, expanding into their own narratives after their foundations are introduced in the animated episodes.
Live Action Marvel Zombies?
Does this mean we could see live action Marvel Zombies? Don’t look so surprised, Marvel Blog True Believers – since we already have seen a live action Marvel Zombie (re-watch Spider-Man: Far From Home if you don’t recall).
Photo: Marvel
Which one of the animated episodes do you hope to see expanded into live action, Marvel Blog True Believers? We’re waiting to hear from you! Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section.
