Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Director Discusses the Show’s Future

When Marvel announced that Season 3 of What If…? would conclude the series, fans were initially dismayed and confused.

The first animated release by Marvel Studios, What If…?, has been a massive success, delivering strong ratings and critical reviews alike. With the entire Marvel multiverse waiting to be explored, Marvel’s decision to end the series was mystifying.

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Why ‘What If…?’ Is Ending

However, as the release of Season 3 of the series neared, Marvel’s reasoning became clear. While he was loathed to give away any details, the studio’s head of animation and streaming, Brad Winderbaum, explained that upcoming events in the broader MCU necessitated the end of What If…?.

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“What If…? has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective,” Winderbaum told The Hollywood Reporter.

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With the Marvel Multiverse Saga set to culminate with the events of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, Winderbaum seemed to hint that a radical change was coming. Thus, What If…?’s time had come. Or has it?

Director Bryan Andrew Teases a Possible Future

In a recent interview with ComicBook, What If…? director Bryan Andrews hinted that the series’ end may be temporary.

“What makes it the right time to end it? I think that’s a question for the people way above my pay grade,” Andrews said.

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“They’ve got all types of plans that are brewing and all sorts of things. But I think there might be an invisible asterisk by it, because you could do these types of stories forever. You can just keep coming up with fun riffs. I think people are starting to get the hang of it. And they like the idea of telling a tale. They can sit down and open it up and just watching something fun and interesting.

Interestingly, Andrews also hinted that the story of the broader MCU forced Marvel to pull the plug on the show.

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“So yeah, there’s things going on in the MCU, maybe that’s why it’s a good time [to end it],” he continued.

Could the Show Be Revived Without the Multiverse?

While it sounds like going forward, What If…? cannot rely on the multiverse to tell its stories, there are other devices that Marvel could use to tell alternate narratives. According to Andrews, there are more stories to tell.

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“None of this is official, but something in my gut tells me it might just be more of a pause for the time being, because it just feels like there’s other things we can tell,” he explained.

“And when it comes to ending a thing that’s like this, it’s throughout the couple of seasons we’ve had this growing relationship or this side story. We’ve had these little one-off adventures and there’s a little bit of tie-ins along the way with The Watcher and what he’s dealing with. So that overarching aspect we finally culminate that aspect of the story that you can trace across all three seasons. So in that sense, there’s an ending for that idea. But that doesn’t mean the entire premise is now over.”

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While this iteration of Marvel’s What If…? has run its course, other plans could be brewing. Hopefully, we learn more soon.