What if…? Season 3 shouldn't be the end of the story

After just three short seasons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe What if…? comes to an end. The animated anthology debuted in 2021 and delved into the madness of the Marvel multiverse, but how the MCU is preparing for it What if…? Season 3 in 2024, it seems like things come to a screeching halt.

Away from the live-action adventures of the MCU, What if…? came as part of the franchise's ever-expanding Disney+ lineup. There are other animated excursions in the form of X Men '97, Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Manand the delayed one Marvel Zombies serves as What if…? Spin off. However, when it comes to exploring alternate timelines in this series, there are only eight episodes left.

What if…? Season 3 is the end of the road

While What if…?The multiversal nature of the film told its own stories outside of the main MCU canon; Fan favorites like Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Elizabeth Olsen and the late Chadwick Boseman have all reprized their roles from live-action. What if…? Season 3 tells another series of multiverse stories, overseen by Jeffrey Wright's Uatu, also known as the Watcher.

Highlights of What if…? Season 3 features the return of White Vision WandaVisionMoon Knight's long-awaited reintroduction, and X-Men: The Animated Series' Alison Sealy-Smith reprises her role X Men '97 as a storm. The storm-wielding Mjölnir was a highlight in the season three trailer. And with Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, the arrival of the X-Men in the MCU marks a new era for the franchise.

As well What if…? In Season 2, Kahhori was introduced as a brand new hero who is expected to enter live-action. Natasha Lyonne makes her MCU debut in Season 3 as a new creation named Byrdie. There are also rumors that Wright's Uatu will play an important role in the future of the franchise, while the loyal Captain Carter seems like a good choice Avengers: Secret Wars' presumed replica of Battleworld. This comes after Hayley Atwell played a version of the character Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

What if…? has largely told its own stories, unfolding over a season and culminating in a massive multiversal team. So far, I haven't had to worry about the main canon of the MCU's Earth-616. Still, many expect the series to come to an end What if…? to start off with a bang and set up a future live-action project for the MCU. With two avenger With films on the horizon, it is logical to start sowing these seeds now.

The MCU misses the potential of “What If…?” Season 4

While it's unlikely that Sealy-Smith will stick around as Storm in the upcoming X-Men reboot, her role is in What if…? reminds fans of the potential of future seasons What if…? could have held. Similar to Deadpool and Wolverine These included Channing Tatum's “Gambit” and Wesley Snipes' “Blade”, What if…? In Season 4, any number of familiar faces could have lent their voices to classic roles. Imagine a Ghost Rider episode with Nicolas Cage and Ben Affleck voicing an animated Daredevil, or a Spider-Man episode that makes up for Drew Goddard's Sinister Six movie that never happened.

More importantly, the upcoming debuts of The Fantastic Four and X-Men feature a whole host of characters that would be perfect in their own right What if…? stories. After all, live-action versions of Charles Xavier becoming the Juggernaut (What if…? #13) and Dazzler is the herald of Galactus (What if…? #33) will probably never appear in the mainline MCU. Additionally, the potential of Wolverine's fight against Conan the Barbarian (What if…? #16), Punisher becomes Venom (What if…? #44) and the thing becomes a mutant Hulk-like (What if…? #37) are just some of the stories that are missed by the audience.

It's unclear why exactly What if…? is coming to an end, but it sounds like it was always intended to be a three-part story that could serve as a starting point for other projects. This has already been shown by Marvel Zombies Spin-off of the first season of “What If… Zombies?!” Speaking to the official Marvel podcast in July 2024, executive producer Brad Winderbaum said Season 3 “feels like the end of a trilogy”:

Although the Watchers were briefly teased Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2the live-action MCU has yet to fulfill its potential. As the franchise introduces more cosmic entities, e.g Thor: Love and Thunder did with eternity and Agatha all the time With Death, the Guardians (and Uatu in particular) seem primed to play a role.

What if…? Season 3 will see an alternate Avengers cast assembled with Sam Wilson, Shang-Chi, and Monica Rambeau, which is handy since they're all potential recruits for the supposed New Avengers in the MCU. Even if What if…? comes to an end in the traditional sense, it is possible to further explore some of its ideas in spin-offs Marvel Zombies. By entertaining ideas that are too “wild” for live action, What if…? has at least served as a testing ground for unusual concepts. There's already been a Christmas episode, so perhaps it would be an idea to revisit it What if…? for the occasional special.

As disappointing as What if…?While the series may be coming to an end, it's important to remember that it's the only Disney+ series to receive a three-season order. Most Marvel shows were limited to a single season, and even the critically acclaimed series were celebrated Loki It doesn't look like there will be a third season. Also with Secret wars The tip to destroy the multiverse and end the current multiverse saga before embarking on the rumored “mutant saga” makes sense What if…? comes to an end. While it's a shame fans never got to see Wolverine become Lord of the Vampries (What if…? #24), not even the Guardian knows what the future will look like What if…? contains.