What If…? Season 3: Stories, Characters & Everything We Know

Marvel Studios has confirmed the development of What If…? season 3, though details about the next animated MCU installment have been scarce. Based on Marvel Comics’ popular and expansive What If…? series, Marvel Studios Animation’s anthology series explores how the MCU would be different if past storylines had occurred differently, with each episode taking place in a new alternate reality across the MCU’s multiverse – a concept first introduced in Phase 4’s Loki season 1. A. C. Bradley, who worked on Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia and Ms. Marvel, serves as the head writer for What If…?, while writer and storyboard artist Bryan Andrews has directed most of the series’ episodes.

What If…? season 1 premiered on August 11, 2021, on Disney+, marking the returns of more than 50 actors from the MCU, reprising their roles in the animated, nine-episode season. Season 1 debuted variant heroes including Captain Carter, T’Challa’s Star-Lord and a villainous Strange Supreme, while What If…? season 2 introduces even more, such as 1988’s Avengers team, a Sakaaran Iron Man and original MCU superhero Kahhori. What If…? season 2 premieres on December 22, 2023, and runs for nine consecutive days over the Holiday period, and all the series’ adventures narrated by Jeffrey Wright’s enigmatic Watcher, who’s also set to return in Marvel Studios’ upcoming What If…? season 3.

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What If…? Season 3 Latest News

Ahead of What If…? season 2’s release, news on What If…? season 3 has been scarce, though the project has been in development at Marvel Studios Animation since July 2022. Following 2022’s SDCC, A. C. Bradley confirmed on X that season 2 would be her final project, suggesting the third season will have a change of crew. Bradley’s successor will perhaps take on the showrunner role, as Marvel Studios has recently overhauled the development process of their TV shows for Disney+. As part of Marvel’s Animated Multiverse, What If…? has created the opportunity for its own spinoffs, including the upcoming Marvel Zombies and a canceled series focusing on T’Challa’s Star-Lord.

What If…? Season 3 Is Already Confirmed

As reported by Deadline following July 2022’s SDCC, Marvel Studios gave What If…? season 3 an early renewal, even before the second season premiered on Disney+. Both What If…? seasons 1 and 2 consist of nine episodes, though were initially supposed to comprise of ten, so it’s unclear how many will be included in season 3. Season 1’s tenth episode, featuring Tony Stark crashing on Sakaar, was moved to season 2 after production delays during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some story ideas that weren’t completed for seasons 1 and 2 will be carried over into What If…? season 3. A release date for What If…? season 3 hasn’t yet been confirmed.

What If…? Season 3 Stories

While What If…? season 1 focused on adapted storylines primarily from the MCU’s Infinity Saga, What If…? season 2 includes more characters and adventures from the Multiverse Saga. This suggests that many of What If…? season 3’s stories might not have been seen in live-action yet, though there’s no doubt that Marvel Studios will investigate some iconic historical MCU stories in the upcoming animated trilogy season. It’s likely that What If…? season 3 will include more stories involving Captain Carter and Strange Supreme, who have become series regulars, though no storylines for What If…? season 3 have actually been confirmed yet.

What If…? Season 3 Characters & Cast

More than 50 actors from the MCU’s past reprised their roles for What If…? season 1, though the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson didn’t return as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, respectively. The trio retired from their roles following 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, but the magic of the multiverse means new actors could assume these roles. Many of season 1’s voice cast are returning in What If…? season 2, including Hayley Atwell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mick Wingert, Lake Bell, Josh Keaton and Chris Hemsworth, among many others, so it’s likely that these actors will also reprise their roles in What If…?​​​​​​​ season 3.

The only character who will certainly be returning for What If…? season 3 is Jeffrey Wright, who has voiced the mysterious and otherworldly Watcher since What If…? season 1. The MCU’s Watchers have previously been glimpsed in live-action in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but What If…? gives Wright’s Watcher a much more hands-on role, as he narrates every story throughout the series, and sometimes breaks his own rules and intervenes. It’s unclear what other stories and characters will be included in What If…? season 3, but there’s no doubt that many Marvel Studios alumni will be returning in the upcoming animated series.