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” And if… ? From Marvel Studios – which debuts Wednesday on Disney Plus – marks a critical creative milestone for the MCU. As the title suggests, the series takes full advantage of the multiverse storytelling possibilities that “Loki” has officially established. Each standalone episode explores a different alternate storyline, as if “Captain America” ’s Peggy Carter took the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers, or if “Black Panther”‘ s T’Challa had been taken from there. Earth when he was a child in the place of Peter Quill of the “Guardians of the Galaxy”?
The show also marks the MCU’s very first foray into animation – and far from the last. As executive producer Brad Winderbaum (“Black Widow”) explains to VarietyMarvel Studios already has “several” animated series “in various stages of development” for Disney Plus, in addition to a second season for “What if …?” and a series of “photo-real” animated shorts focused on Baby Groot both of which are already in production. (There are no current plans for animated features.)
Winderbaum says the company was motivated by the recognition that creative freedom demanded by “What if…? – including staging new versions of major action sequences from nearly every MCU movie – is only possible thanks to animation.
“We realized that there are a lot of interesting avenues that you can explore with animation,” he says. “Any project we create will be something that needs to be animated for the story to be told. There’s very little desire to take a piece of IP that’s popular because we put out a movie and just make it an animated show. We’re not going to do this.
When Winderbaum started working on “What if…? He says he was in “animation kindergarten,” but he studied quickly and was a faster devotee. “You can adapt the director’s vision to the screen in a very pure way,” he says.
To develop a “unique aesthetic” for the show, director Bryan Andrews collaborated with independent animation studios Flying Bark Prods. (in Australia), Squeeze Animation Studios (in Canada) and Blue Spirit (in France). Winderbaum expects this type of production model to continue, although it leaves the door open to work with corporate cousins Pixar or Disney Animation down the line.
“It’s something we would be open to under the right circumstances,” he says. “It all depends on the project.
For decades, animation was the only reliable venue for Marvel comic book adaptations; many credit the popularity of the “X-Men” animated series in the 1990s to proving that there was an audience for a live-action adaptation. In a way, Marvel Studios is catching up a bit with its rival DC Comics, which has had a steady pipeline of popular animated series and feature films for years.
Marvel’s advantage has always been its interconnected universe, but at first it wasn’t clear if “What if …?” could take full advantage of that, given the dozens of in-demand movie stars who play major roles in the MCU. Winderbaum says the team even debated the possibility of having a cast of similar voice actors to play them instead.
“It’s not a giant budgeted series,” he says. “We thought, we’ll get some talent, and we’ll see who we can get. If we get a few, that’s great. And I was, of course, afraid that we had no one.
Instead, Winderbaum estimates that 85% of the MCU cast agreed to reprise their roles for “What if …?”, Including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Paul. Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Michael B. Jordan, Josh Brolin, Paul Bettany, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Danai Gurira, Tom Hiddleston, Djimon Hounsou and, in his final performance as T ‘Challa, the late Chadwick Boseman.
Winderbaum hesitates, however, when asked which actors did not return for “What if …?”, Including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Zoe Saldana and Elizabeth Olsen. .
“One part, I think, was literally the timing – maybe. I mean, I don’t know, ”he said with a shrug. “We did not push this hard.”
Winderbaum is more direct when asked about Dave Bautista, who said on Twitter that he was “never asked” to return as Drax the hilarious and unemotional destroyer from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies.
Let’s start with I was never asked. https://t.co/HwrnMrEajh
– Vaxxed AF! #TeamPfizer Poor kid chasing dreams. (@DaveBautista) August 2, 2021
“I saw that too,” Winderbaum says. “I understand everyone has been questioned in one way or another, either through their agents or directly. I don’t really know what went on behind the scenes there, but certainly, we would have liked him to be on the show. So there is probably a communication problem somewhere.
The general interest of top talent in continuing their roles certainly bodes well for Marvel Studios’ animated future. Animation’s lengthy production process means new shows likely won’t start hitting the crowded MCU slate until 2023 at the earliest. But Winderbaum has confirmed that they will involve “original ideas” that draw on titles and characters already explored live as well as previously untapped sources from the Marvel comic book library.
“All of our animation ambitions will still be under Marvel Studios, which means they’re going to be produced by Kevin Feige and they’re going to be born out of the same elements that make up the rest of our content,” he said. .
And yes, like the rest of the MCU, they’ll all be connected.
“How will they be connected? Winderbaum said with a smile. “Time will tell as the story of the multiverse unfolds.”
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