Marvel Studios held an early screening of What If...? season 2 on The Walt Disney Studios lot yesterday evening, and synopses for the first and third episodes have now been officially released.
We'd expected the show to return last year seeing as What If...? 's first season launched in 2021. However, post-pandemic delays in animation and Marvel Studios' increasingly expanding slate of projects are thought to have slowed things down somewhat. Now, though, the Multiversal show's return is right around the corner.
The episodes screened to press are described as follows:
Episode 1: "What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?"
In a world where Ronan deposes Thanos long before the events of “Infinity War,” Nebula is recruited to join the Nova Corps. Desperate to escape her father’s shadow, she sets out to prove her detective chops.
Episode 3: "What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?"
When Justin Hammer lays siege to Avengers Tower during the annual holiday party, there’s only one person left on site to stop him—Happy Hogan. But in setting out to prove his hero chops, Iron Man’s errand boy may end up transforming himself in more ways than one.
Hopefully, this means we'll soon get descriptions for all nine instalments before that December 22 launch. Yesterday also saw Marvel Studios rename Spider-Man: Freshman Year as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and announce plans for a surprise Black Panther spin-off dubbed Eyes of Wakanda.
The official synopsis for the animated series states, "Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts. This is their story."
This suggests we'll follow various Black Panthers from throughout the MCU's history; after all, it's not as if T'Challa and T'Chaka were the first heroes to hold the mantle!
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.
The series features fan-favourite characters this season like Nebula, Hela and Happy Hogan, with episodes directed by Bryan Andrews (episodes 2-9) and Stephan Franck (episode 1) and written by AC Bradley (episodes 3, 4, 5, 8), Matthew Chauncey (episodes 1-3, 7, 9) and Ryan Little (episodes 6, 8). The animated series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley.
What If...? season 2 returns with a new episode debuting nightly beginning December 22.