If you're a comic book reader, you'll know that The Watcher has never shied away from interfering in events despite vowing not to do so. It's looking a lot like the same will soon be the case in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially after the powerful being confronted Doctor Strange in today's hard-hitting episode of What If...?
Breaking down his role in "What If...Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?", Jeffrey Wright shared his thoughts on what leads to The Watcher becoming more than just a narrator.
"The Watcher is compelled by the danger that Strange is conjuring, obviously not only for himself but for his whole reality," the actor tells EW. "For The Watcher there's only so much he can only watch. He's not a voyeur for voyeurism's sake, he is in some ways made up of these characters. Without them, what does he watch? [Laughs] He's profoundly compelled by them, and maybe there's only so much he can take. We'll see."
The site pushed for details, asking if this is a sign The Watcher is about to become more hands-on.
"It's a shift in attitude for him, and it's a shift in purpose and intent and all of that stuff for him. That's a fun gearshift to play. And he also becomes less disembodied," Wright says. "For audiences too, that's the moment in which he steps into these worlds a little bit closer and steps a little closer to the audience as well. That's his moment where he knocks on the door."
"I guess the question is, how reliable a narrator is The Watcher? How trustworthy can we be of his description of himself and the rules that he says he abides by? We'll see."
The actor is clearly pretty good at keeping the MCU's secrets, though trailers have confirmed that The Watcher interacts directly with Captain Carter, possibly assembling the Guardians of the Multiverse in the process (the team's existence was seemingly revealed on some promo art for What If...?).
It's hard to say where things are going for the character from here, but The Watcher has never been happy just to be a narrator, and it will be fun to see if any of this spills over into live-action.