Marvel Exec Confirms One Disney+ MCU Series Is Definitely Not Getting Another Season

What If…? has finally concluded its third season, and while fans are stuffed full of new ideas and unfulfilled desires for the next iteration of the series, it seems that a lot of those ideas are destined to be stuck as just that for the foreseeable future.

What If…? was a bold idea for Marvel at the time it came up, being a loose adaptation of the comic book series format of the same name while also structuring the alternate tales around a story featuring the Watcher as the center of the overarching narrative. The show’s first season was a massive success and the second would follow suit before the series got renewed for a third season. By the time it was released for streaming on Disney+, fan expectations had climbed to astounding levels due to the innumerable stories potentially on the board.

While the show hasn’t even touched on some of the best what-if scenarios in Marvel Comics, it seems that What If…? could be closing the door on those possibilities for good. In a recent appearance on The Geekcentric Podcast, Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, offered comments about the nature of the series and came to a conclusion that fans might not be quite ready for. “We always looked at it as, it’s an anthology first and foremost, but that it would have an overarching narrative, especially when it comes to Uatu and his story as the Watcher and his struggle,” Winderbaum explained. “Even though all three seasons culminate by the finish line, it is a slow burn and kind of keeps that anthological element of the story throughout, but if you look at the final episodes of each season as kind of a Watcher Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, I think it does stand alone as a Watcher story.” While he doesn’t say so as explicitly as he could have, Winderbaum’s comment certainly seems to confirm that What If…? has reached the end of the line.

Winderbaum went further in the interview, discussing how the wider MCU affected the show’s run. “-In terms of tying to the MCU, we do follow very closely the mythology that’s being set up for the multiverse as the MCU unfolds. Whether it’s kind of the revelation that the multiverse exists or the idea that it’s all now harnessed by Loki sitting in the center of the multiversal tree of stories, or, you know, as will be revealed over time why this was the perfect moment to culminate ‘What If…?’ in its third season.” While What If…? could never fit into mainline MCU canon, there’s certainly a traceable method to the anthology series’ madness that falls in line with the glimmers that the franchise has shown in shows like Loki and films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While it’s still unknown why exactly that build-up required the show’s plot to wrap in the third season, Winderbaum has promised that fans will understand in due time.

The third season of What If…? failed to resonate with fans like previous seasons in part due to the focus on tying up the overarching story at the expense of some more frequently requested episodes and additions. Even the team behind the show must know they left a lot on the table, as made clear by What If …? season 3 director Bryan Andrews admitting to at least one missed opportunity with the X-Men and mutants specifically. There’s a lot to be said for taking a bow at the right time and not overdoing things, but the very nature of the show makes it the perfect sort for a transfer of creative control and a relaunch in another direction. Even a season with no overarching storyline would go down fine with fans, many of who are more interested in the absurd scenarios and occasional fight scenes between otherwise unrelated or unmotivated characters than in the narrative justification for the show. Even a more creatively diverse anthology similar to Star Wars: Visions could work just fine, as some fans have pointed out for years.

While there was a lot more pushback from fans for the third iteration of the show, it seems clear that a lot of people agree that What If…? season 3 shouldn’t be the end of the story due to the massive amount of potential the show still has. While the creators attached seem to have finished the story they wanted to tell, another team could pick up the anthology storytelling device and go in a whole new direction. Fans certainly won’t be opposed to getting some of the more highly-requested alternate scenarios that the show didn’t cover over its three-season run, and Disney+ would benefit immensely.

What If…? is available to stream on Disney+.

What If…?

Release Date

August 11, 2021

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Finale Year

December 22, 2024

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson
, Stanley Tucci
, Michael Douglas
, Sean Gunn
, Mark Ruffalo
, Karen Gillan
, Tom Hiddleston
, Jeffrey Wright
, Michael B. Jordan
, Toby Jones
, Sebastian Stan
, Paul Rudd
, David Dastmalchian
, Natalie Portman
, Josh Brolin
, Dominic Cooper
, Jeff Goldblum
, Hayley Atwell
, Djimon Hounsou
, Chadwick Boseman
, Taika Waititi
, Chris Hemsworth
, Neil McDonaugh
, Jeremy Renner
, Michael Rooker

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Seasons

3

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Writers

Ashley Bradley
, Matthew Chauncey

Streaming Service(s)

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Disney+

Directors

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Bryan Andrews

Showrunner

Ashley Bradley

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Source: The Direct