A special screening for season 2 of “What If…?” treated audiences to two episodes ahead of its December 22nd premiere on Disney+. The episodes screened were:
- “What If… Nebula Joined The Nova Corp” (episode one)
Synopsis: In a world where Ronan deposes Thanos long before the events of “Infinity War,” Nebula is recruited to join the Nova Corps. Desperate to escape her father’s shadow, she sets out to prove her detective chops. - “What If… Happy Saved Christmas.” (episode three)
Synopsis: When Justin Hammer lays siege to Avengers Tower during the annual holiday party, there’s only one person left on site to stop him—Happy Hogan. But in setting out to prove his hero chops, Iron Man’s errand boy may end up transforming himself in more ways than one.
Following the screening, show creators Bryan Andrews (director/executive producer), AC Bradley (writer/executive producer), and Matthew Chauncey (writer/producer) held a Q&A to talk about season two. Here’s what we learned:
1. Season 2 was already in motion in 2019
The show creators were asked about when they found out when season 2 was happening, writer/executive producer AC Bradley said, “I think it was summer 2019 because it’s when we negotiated my contract,” she laughs.
AC Bradley: That’s how crazy animation is. We knew in the back half of 2018 that this was gonna happen. We wrote this episode, me and Matt, during the start of the pandemic, march 2020.
2. Season 2 will release 1 episode a day starting December 22
The new episodes will premiere on Disney+ on December 22, and rather than the former weekly release schedule we saw for season one, a new episode will be released every day for 9 days consecutively. On the new release format, Bryan Andrew says:
It seems like it could be a fantastic thing, and once the trailer was out and it was announced, some of the reactions been so positive on this. It’s right during the holidays. It’s like, every day you get a brand new gift. It’s pretty cool. I think it’s gonna do well. I’m excited for it.
3. There will be a “1602” episode
Bradley teases a “1602” episode, where she said they “had the most fun and just went a little nutty.”
AC Bradley: But that was the one where we kind of had the most, most fun and just went a little nutty and just like, what’s the weirdest we can get with these characters? What is the most different outfits and personas that we can put them through? I don’t want to talk anymore about it. But the people who have read the comics probably know what I mean.
screening event at Walt Disney Studios
4. Michael Douglas returns to voice Hank Pym
As we saw in season one, Hank Pym made an appearance in the episode “What If… the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes” not as Ant-Man, but as Yellow Jacket. In the new season, Michael Douglas returns to voice Hank Pym again for a brand new episode comprised of the original Avengers – Peggy Carter, T’Chaka/Black Panther, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Marv-Vell, Thor, General Ross, Bill Foster/Giant-Man. and Hank Pym/Ant-Man.
Writer/Executive producer Bryan Andrews talks about working with Michale Douglas:
He is like such a pro though. He just comes in. It’s just like, yeah, “what are we doing?” and like, here it is. And he just gives it such – he’s such a magician. It’s amazing. It’s like three takes – boom, boom, boom. Each one is, like, uniquely different all on point for what you need character wise, emotion story. Each one is great. He’s a joy to work with.
5. Season 2 introduces a brand new character
The trailer teased a brand new character named Kahhori, a Mohawk woman who will be featured in an episode written by Ryan Little. The episode surrounds the theme of what if colonization of America didn’t happen? AC Bradley recalls pitching the idea of the episode and character to Disney:
We got Disney Diversity on the phone, and we told them the episode. And they went “We’re gonna call the Smithsonian. They have the rolodex, they have the Museum of the Native American. Let’s get them involved.” And so from day one, we were talking to people, we brought them in for everything from design, story, costuming, music. It was really a collaborative effort. And we were so lucky to get all the help. It was really kind of amazing and beautiful. And I’m very, very proud that we’re able to pull that off.
Bryan Andrews elaborates on the topic and shares that the entire episode will be in the original language of the tribe, with English subtitles.
It was one of the early ideas that we had, because what bigger “What if” is there then like, what if colonialization didn’t happen. What if the Europeans didn’t come here? That’s kind of, at least for me, what I keyed into but we needed more and when talking with a consultants and getting into their belief system, and they were able to totally fly them in. That was solid work. And just as Ashley said, and Ryan [Little]was instrumental, he’s so fantastic. He was super point on this, where they were working with consultants a ton to bring this character to life. But it was incredible the work that the Vis Dev team did, and our team did with the locales, because when the consultants would see the artwork finally, after giving a few notes and things like that, they’re amazed. They wrote us like, a letter saying that they felt for the first time that their people were honestly being represented in media and that was huge for us to hear because I definitely like – and they were no bones about it like, “No, this is legit,” and we’re showing it to the First Nations, to the various tribes that are around like the area like Montreal, East Coast. They’re coming together and we’re showing it to them before this airs. Hundreds of members of the First Nations tribal community are like showing up, like kids, family, because it’s all in their language. We just had the whole episode subtitle and they’re like “That hasn’t been done for us before.” and so they’re beyond the moon for it.
6. Season 3 is already in the works
When asked about whether future episodes will pay homage to various genres of films, as we saw in season 1 and in the two episodes screening at the event, the creators kept the answer vague due to spoilers. The short answer is yes, there will be episodes that pay homage to genre films, and Bryan Andrews confirmed a third season, “We’re presently working on a third season as well, and we go even further genre there. But I can’t say any more than that.”
You can watch the full Q&A here:
There was one more surprise at the end of the Q&A. Disney head of streaming Brad Winderbaum gave the audience a sneak peek at what’s to come on Disney+ and Marvel Animation. A sizzle reel highlights three upcoming animated series:
- X-Men 97
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (previously titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year)
- Eyes of Wakanda
This is the first time Eyes of Wakanda was revealed. The series focuses on Wakandan history and the brave warriors who have been tasked to travel the world to retrieve dangerous vibranium artifacts. The official Marvel Animation logo was shown at the end of the sizzle reel.
