On Monday, December 11th, Filmmakers, press, and special guests gathered on The Walt Disney Studios lot to screen two all-new episodes of season two of Marvel Studios’ What If…? which streams on Disney+ beginning Dec. 22. The special screening, introduced by executive producer Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming, television and animation for Marvel Studios, was followed by a Q&A with filmmakers including director/EP Bryan Andrews, writer/EP AC Bradley and writer/producer Matthew Chauncey.
The panel opened by discussing the creative spirit behind What If…? which wr iter/producer Matthew Chauncey best summed up by saying, “The greatest thing about this show is that it is creatively as close as you can get to creative play. It’s the equivalent of getting out your action figures and mixing and matching. It is the blending of different tones and genres.”
CONNECTING WITH CHARACTERS
Chauncey teased that this unmatched level of creative freedom brings endless possibilities to writing the series, “Part of the fun is that we have all the toys the MCU has to offer but none of the responsibility of fitting into the larger narrative”. He expanded on this topic further in addressing the multiverse, explaining that What If…? allows audiences to live in different universes for an episode. In building out these stories, Chauncey hopes that the show makes the audience invest in all the different worlds and all their characters, stating “Everyone in these universes does matter”.
Writer AC Bradley then went into detail about her relationship with the source material, describing how the show was written during the pandemic and a time of uncertainty and the long road to getting these stories released. In describing her writing experience, she explained how writing these episodes became an escape from the world during darker times. Bradley acknowledged that to herself and many others, the MCU and Marvel comics are a retreat from their everyday lives, a reassurance that even in the darkest of times, heroes and good will triumph.
DEVELOPING SOMETHING NEW
A major highlight of the panel was the behind-the-scenes insight that director Bryan Andrews brought to the development of the series’ own original character: Kahhori. The team detailed how from the first day of the character’s development, every aspect of Kahhori’s character design, story, and development was informed by historical consultants from the Smithsonian.
Representation was very important to the creative team when developing Kahhori, as they also worked alongside consultants from First Nations to develop the character and her story. This sentiment is best evidenced by the fact that Kahhori’s future episode will be subtitled in English and spoken in her native language. Andrews noted that this concept was non-negotiable when developing the episode, of which Marvel was very supportive.
DRAWING INSPIRATION
Diving into the creative process of the second season, writers Matthew Chauncey and AC Bradley detailed how part of the fun of developing the second season is that a lot of the “low-hanging fruit” of What If scenarios from the movies have already been explored. With the obvious ideas out of the way, the writers instead drew inspiration from the movies and genres they enjoyed, an idea that is evident from the opening of the very first episode of the second season.
The pair then went on to detail how their writing for the second season also drew inspiration from the captivating performances of the cast. They explained how the brilliance of Karen Gillian’s performance in the first season inspired them to place the character front and center for the first episode of Season 2. Chauncey and Bradley also praised many other fun recurring cast members of the MCU who appear in the first episode.
LOOKING FORWARD
In teasing future episodes, Chauncey remarked that “fan-casting different Avengers lineups is something that we all do as fans”. He noted that one of their biggest aspirations as writers was to explore what an Avengers movie look like if it took place in a different era. Although this scenario is teased in the trailer, he explained that fans will have to wait until Season 2 drops to get a full idea of what that may look like.
In concluding the discussion, Director Bryan Andrews summarized the vision of the show by comparing the show to going to the comic book shop. He described how similar to each episode of What If…?, each comic will have its own distinct different look and feel. In connection to that concept, he teased that the upcoming third season that is currently in development will go even further into exploring different genres.
A LOOK AHEAD FOR MARVEL ANIMATION
As a surprise for those in the room, Winderbaum shared a sizzle reel highlighting three of the studio’s upcoming animated series. Giving the audience their first look at “Eyes of Wakanda” as well as the previously announced “X-Men ’97” and “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” (previously titled “Spider-Man: Freshman Year”).
ABOUT “WHAT IF…?”
With a new episode debuting nightly beginning Dec. 22, season two of “What If…?” continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits, and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles. Featuring fan-favorite characters this season like Nebula, Hela, and Happy Hogan, episodes are directed by Bryan Andrews (eps 2-9) and Stephan Franck (ep 1) and written by AC Bradley (eps 3, 4, 5, 8), Matthew Chauncey (eps 1-3, 7, 9) and Ryan Little (eps 6, 8). The animated series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley
Season two of What If…? will debut on Disney+ on December 22, 2023.
I’m Andrew! I love discussing movies and tv shows. My favorite genres include animation, musicals, and especially Superheroes.