What If? = Ratings


what if jane foster found the hammer of thorLast month, Marvel Studios announced plans for an upcoming animated adaptation of the classic comic series “What If?” for the new Disney+ streaming service.

“What If?” will present alternate reality stories that take place outside the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity, with each story exploring how things would have unfolded differently had key moments in MCU history not occurred the way they did on the big screen.

During the Disney+ debut announcement at last week’s Investor Day, details were revealed for the first episode, which should give you an idea of how this anthology series will play out.

The first episode answers the question, “What If Peggy Carter Became Captain America Instead of Steve Rogers?”

In addition to Peggy Carter being the character to take the Super Soldier Serum, the episode will also feature Steve Rogers donning the first ever Iron Man suit, which Howard Stark builds for him for some reason.

The big draw in this, according to the announcement, is that Hayley Atwell, Chris Evans, and what’s-his-name will reprise their roles as Peggy, Steve, and Howard, respectively.

I don’t much care about who the voice actors are, but when I first heard about this new series over the weekend, the words were barely out of my brother’s mouth before I pulled a Jim Cramer, slamming my fist down on a big red button and shouting, “BUY BUY BUY!”

The other day, when I found myself on here defending the Snyder Cut, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about when I said I wish we could see more weird crap from comicbook adaptations.

The possibilities are nearly limitless – it can be as big and zany and ridiculous as it wants to be.

As far as I’m concerned, the only downside is that it’s not big enough. This should be a live action program, featuring actors and actresses from the movies, with the production costs of “Game of Thrones,” and each episode should be an hour or two long.

Think “Black Mirror” mixed with “Sliders” and set in the MCU.

But, sure, I get it. That’s not economically viable for the world’s largest media conglomerate.

Still, though, no matter how you parse it, this has so much potential to be a great series for Disney+ and Marvel. If it proves successful, perhaps this will pave the way for DC’s Elseworlds popping up over on their streaming network, too.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. This is good enough for now.

What do you think? What are some cool What If? scenarios that you’d like to see in this new series? Sound off in the comments!