Each episode of What If...? season 2 was released across 9 days on Disney+ last month, and while it featured plenty of memorable new spins on familiar characters, there weren't any major cameos to speak of. Spider-Man, for example, was M.I.A. after previously taking centre stage in season 1's standout "What If... Zombies?!"
Marvel Studios brought the X-Men back into the fold when the Disney/Fox merger went through and X-Men: The Animated Series follow-up X-Men '97 will premiere on Disney+ later this year. So, why didn't we see any mutants in What If...?'s second season?
"They were pretty much off the table," director Bryan Andrews tells ComicBook.com (via Toonado.com). "They're like, 'We got to do it first in live action and then you get to do it.' And we're like, 'Ah, man!' We would've loved to have played with all kinds of toys. But there's limitations."
We're not shocked to hear characters like Wolverine and Magneto weren't allowed to be folded into What If...?, especially as the show is set in the MCU's Multiverse and having them appear in animation first would indeed lessen the impact of a future live-action appearance (and potentially confuse casual fans).
The difference with X-Men '97 is that it's a direct sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series, explaining why Marvel Studios has been happy to move forward with that revival without it negatively impacting what we see on the live-action front.
Andrews was also asked about What If...? season 3's release schedule after the lengthy gap between season 1 and season 2, and seemed to confirm it won't premiere on the streaming platform until 2025.
"They move stuff around. Every time I thought it was like, 'Oh, it's going to be this!' It's like, 'It's going to move a little bit!'" he explains. "So, even I would hate to say something and have people's hopes come up and then have them be dashed because of the beast of production and when things move around."
"I thought that it could come out at the end of the year in 2024 possibly, but that would be tight."
"There's some other group of people that are masterminding when things [release] and they're moving things on the board, and I don't know where we exist on that at this moment, as well as [Marvel Zombies]," he continued. "Zombies, I'm still working on at the same time, and that's going to be crazy and that's coming out, but that keeps moving around too, right? So I wish I could help you but I can't!"
Marvel Studios might get What If...? season 3 on Disney+ in time for the holidays again, but based on Andrews' comments, it simply won't be ready in time.
As always, stay tuned for updates as we have them.