The Watcher Is More Than Just The Narrator Of Marvel’s What If

Jeffrey Wright’s The Watcher is more than just What If…?‘s narrator. Announced in 2019, the MCU’s first animated series follows Loki and the breaking of the multiverse at the end of that series. It will be Disney+’s fourth original streaming series following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the aforementioned Loki. The premise is based on the comics series of the same name that imagines wild and wacky events in the Marvel universe involving various characters.

What If…? will apply that same concept to the MCU, reimagining major events from the film franchise in animated form. Overseeing it all is The Watcher, an omniscient, Rod Serling-like narrator who observes all the events of the multiverse. Each story told in What If…? will be canon to the MCU, taking place in various branched timelines and The Watcher will serve as commentator of these events. Some that have been previewed include Peggy Carter taking the Super Soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, a zombie hunting Spider-Man, and T’Challa becoming Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill.

While The Watcher remains a mysterious character, in an interview with Wright and executive producer Brad Winderbaum, they revealed that there may be more to The Watcher than meets the eye. Winderbaum says the story will explore the human side of The Watcher, although he didn’t allude as to what that could mean lest he get too far into spoiler territory. Wright had more to say, though, indicating that The Watcher is not just a detached observer, but someone who is truly interested in the events that he sees. Check out Wright and Winderbaum’s full statements below:

Brad Winderbaum: Something that Jeffrey talked about a lot when he first came on board was the heart of the character. He’s larger than life: his scale is unfathomably huge, his power is unfathomably huge. But, in there, there’s a human heart.

Even in those first few episodes, where he really is the Rod Serling type narrator, there’s just something in Jeffrey’s voice and his performance where you know that there’s more than. This is a guy who’s lived. You cannot get, in terms of scope, a grander character – but he’s a human. There’s a little life there. Without going into great detail and spoiling things, it is something that we explore.

Jeffrey Wright: He watches; he’s dispassionate until he’s passionate.

But the thing about The Watcher is, he’s concerned. He’s not just an uninteresting voyeur; he’s concerned about the state of things in these various realms. And he has a sense of justice, or just-ness and balance, that he’s aware of. So, certain things excite him more than others. We’ll see what happens when he gets more excited than other times.

If Wright and Winderbaum’s comments are any indication, it seems like The Watcher could get more involved in the events of What If…? than originally thought. How that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but the implications could be huge and they are reminiscent of another character recently introduced into the MCU. Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains oversaw the Time Variance Authority and the Sacred Timeline, which is the main continuity timeline of the MCU.

It was confirmed that He Who Remains AKA Kang actually wrote the Infinity Saga. Whether or not The Watcher gets directly involved in certain events and what that could mean is a huge question going into the series. With comments indicating that What If…?‘s story is vital to the MCU, it seems The Watcher’s influence may be far reaching and could even come to encompass the main timeline more than audiences could ever imagine.