WHAT IF...? Producer Explains Why The X-MEN And FANTASTIC FOUR Were Off Limits

WHAT IF...? Producer Explains Why The X-MEN And FANTASTIC FOUR Were Off Limits

Marvel's What If...? series might seem like the perfect place to introduce characters from the X-Men and Fantastic Four, but producer Brad Winderbaum has now explained why they were off limits.

By MarkCassidy - Aug 19, 2021 04:08 AM EST
Filed Under: What If

Marvel Studios' first animated series, What If...?, explores the concept of the Multiverse by presenting alternate versions of well-known MCU stories and characters. The premise certainly allows for a lot of room to get creative and introduce some unexpected elements, but it sounds like the team still had to work under certain restrictions - particularly when it came to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four!

We've already heard that Kevin Feige rejected an idea that involved The Rocketeer, and producer Brad Winderbaum has now revealed that mutants and members of Marvel's First Family were similarly off limits.

"We had very few parameters… but [no X-Men or Fantastic Four] was certainly one of them," he told Collider. "We wanted to make sure the characters were firmly rooted in the MCU. It had nothing to do with rights, nothing to do with the future stories we wanted to tell. It had everything to do with what What If…? is, which is a spin on an established storyline."

"We looked primarily at the Infinity Saga," Winderbaum continued. "Once it’s there [in the MCU], we get to make it."

As cool as it would have been to see the likes of Wolverine or The Thing interacting with these Multiversal heroes, it's hardly surprising that Feige and co. didn't want our first exposure to these characters in the MCU to come in animated form.

We still haven't had any official word on the Children of the Atom, but we know that Jon Watts is set to take the helm of a Fantastic Four reboot, so we should start getting some updates on that project within the next few months.

What If...? returns for its third episode next Wednesday. Have you bene enjoying the show so far? Drop us a comment down below.

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ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 8/19/2021, 4:41 AM
Literally have no concern for the X Men right now we’ll get them when Marvel Studios has an idea and is ready to produce it
SpideyQuad
SpideyQuad - 8/19/2021, 5:37 AM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - The real X-Men!
YonnyLayna
YonnyLayna - 8/19/2021, 1:45 PM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - X-persons 😬
Cap1
Cap1 - 8/19/2021, 4:41 AM
I also doubt Feige wanted the X-Men or F4’s first appearance in the MCU to be a cartoon
Gizmoduck
Gizmoduck - 8/19/2021, 12:30 PM
@Waddles - it would be an awful way to introduce them. The animation resembles the actors used, so unless you were willing to let some cats out of the bag by making a wolverine look like tarron Edgerton or whoever they cast it would be an extremely poor idea.

The entire idea was what if..? The MCU was different, not just new stories.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 8/19/2021, 5:10 AM
Furthers my belief that we won’t see any of the Fox X-men show up in any multiverse situations. They can have Tobey and Andrews Spider-Men because they have established their own. Not gonna have an old Cyclops or Wolverine show up before they show us this universes version
Origame
Origame - 8/19/2021, 5:40 AM
@Twenty23Three - it's possible they may want to wait for some inclusion in the movies. For example, they might try a raimi Spiderman what if story but they gotta wait until "maybe" no way home actually addresses him.
PantherKing
PantherKing - 8/19/2021, 5:10 AM
They should have done a what if Fant4stic. That would have been great
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