Marvel's latest show is set to upend the MCU as we know it. Just like WandaVision did. And Loki. Yep, Marvel is shifting the goal posts again with Marvel What If... an animated series that sees the characters we know and love transformed into other characters we know and love.
While it is animated, much like Star Wars and its canon cartoons The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, what happens in the show is very much cemented in the MCU going forward... just in a strange, tucked away part of the Marvel Universe.
And if the series producer had their way, we may have seen one of the biggest crossovers in history - a Star Wars character heading to the MCU. And not just any character, but Luke Skywalker himself.
Given Disney owns both franchises, we can never rule out this happening but it wasn't meant to be for What If...
AC Bradley, head writer and exec producer of What If... spoke to The Direct about the proposed crossover, saying: "I was kind of notorious for trying to get a Star Wars character involved. We did try at one point, but it's kind of like play with the sandbox you were given. We gave you the entire MCU. Run with that. And, I was like 'Okay. But still, Luke Skywalker would be an amazing Avenger.'"
That was a hard 'no', then, which is great to see. I don't think any of us are quite ready for that sort of blockbuster clash. Although a show such as What If... which has a lot more leeway when it comes to shape-shifting characters and universes than others would (probably) be the place to try these things out.
There were other limits to the show, too. In an interview with GamesRadar, Bradley noted that they couldn't do anything "couldn’t do anything that the movies or TV shows were already doing. So that let us go to weirder and stranger places."
Interestingly that apparently meant one storyline was nixed as it ran close to The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Although, director James Gunn took to Twitter to question this.
I have no clue what this is and am a little curious as to how that could be the case.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 2, 2021
Marvel's What If... begins streaming on Disney Plus, 11 August.
