What if…? Season 3 shouldn't be the end of the story

After just three short seasons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, What if…? it's about to end. The animated anthology made its debut in 2021 and dived into the madness of the Marvel Multiverse, but as the MCU gears up What if…? season 3 in 2024, it looks like things are coming to a screeching halt.

Away from the live-action adventures of the MCU, What if…? arrived as part of the franchise's ever-expanding Disney+ slate. There are other animated releases in the form of X-Men '97, Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Manand the delay Marvel Zombies serving as a What if…? spin off. However, when it comes to exploring alternate timelines, there are only eight episodes left.

What if…? Season three is the end of the road

While What if…?The multiversal nature of told their own stories away from the MCU's main canon, fan favorites like Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Elizabeth Olsen, and the late Chadwick Boseman have all reprized their roles from live-action. What if…? season 3 tells another collection of Multiverse stories, overseen by Jeffrey Wright's Uatu, aka the Watcher.

Highlights of What if…? season 3 includes the return of White Vision from WandaVisionthe long-awaited reintroduction of Moon Knight, and X-Men: The Animated Series' Alison Sealy-Smith reprises her role from X-Men '97 like Tempest. Mjölnir wielding Storm was one of the highlights of the Season 3 trailer. And with Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019, the arrival of the X-Men in the MCU marks a new era for the franchise.

Just like What if…? Season 2 introduced Kahhori as a brand new hero expected to transition to live-action, Natasha Lyonne makes her MCU debut in season 3 as a new creation called Byrdie. There are also rumors that Wright's Uatu will play an important role in the future of the franchise, while the faithful Captain Carter seems like an easy choice for Avengers: Secret Wars' supposed recreation of Battleworld. This comes after Hayley Atwell played a version of the character Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

What if…? largely told its own stories that unfolded over the course of a season and culminated in a massive multiversal team-up. So far he hasn't had to worry about the MCU's main Earth-616 canon. However, with the series coming to an end, many are expecting What if…? go out with a bang and set up a future live-action project for the MCU. With two Avengers movies on the horizon, it makes sense to start sowing these seeds now.

Is the MCU missing out on the potential of What If…? Season 4

While Sealy-Smith is unlikely to fill the role of Storm for the upcoming X-Men reboot, her role is an important one What if…? reminds fans of the potential of future seasons What if…? could have kept. Similar to how Deadpool and Wolverine included Channing Tatum's Gambit and Wesley Snipes' Blade, What if…? season 4 could have allowed any number of familiar faces to lend their voices to classic roles. Imagine a Ghost Rider episode starring Nicolas Cage, Ben Affleck voicing an animated Daredevil, or a Spider-Man-centric episode adapting to Drew Goddard's Sinister Six movie that never happened.

More importantly, the upcoming debuts of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will include a whole host of characters that would be perfect for them. What if…? stories. After all, the live-action versions of Charles Xavier becoming Juggernaut (What if…? #13) and Dazzler is the herald of Galactus (What if…? #33) is unlikely to ever be played in the main MCU. Beyond that, Wolverine's potential in fighting Conan the Barbarian (What if…? #16), Punisher becomes Venom (What if…? #44), and the Thing becomes a Hulk-like mutant (What if…? #37) are just some of the stories the public is missing out on.

It's unclear exactly why What if…? is ending, but it seems like it was always planned as a three-part story that could serve as a springboard for other projects. This has already been shown by Marvel Zombies taken from the first season of “What If… Zombies?!” Speaking on the official Marvel podcast in July 2024, executive producer Brad Winderbaum said that season 3 “it feels like the completion of a trilogy”:

Although the Watchers were briefly mocked Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2the live-action MCU has yet to live up to its potential. As the franchise introduces more cosmic entities, such as Thor: Love and Thunder he did with Eternity and Agata always done with Death, the Watchers (and particularly Uatu) seem poised to play a role.

What if…? season 3 is putting together an alternate lineup of Avengers with Sam Wilson, Shang-Chi, and Monica Rambeau, which is convenient as all of these are potential recruits for the supposed New Avengers in the MCU. Although What if…? is ending in the traditional sense, you can continue to explore some of its ideas in spin-offs like Marvel Zombies. Entertaining ideas too “wild” for live-action, What if…? it served at least as a testing ground for unusual concepts. There's already been a Christmas episode, so it might even be an idea to revisit it What if…? for the occasional special.

Disappointing how What if…?Ultimately, it's important to remember that it's the only Disney+ series to receive a three-season order. Most Marvel shows have been limited to just one season and even critically acclaimed ones Loki It doesn't look like he'll be returning for a third season. Furthermore, with Secret Wars aimed at destroying the Multiverse and ending the current Multiverse Saga before heading into the much-rumored “Mutant Saga,” it stands to reason that What if…? it's ending. Although it's a shame that fans never saw Wolverine become the Vampire Lord (What if…? #24), not even the Watcher knows what the future of the What if…? contains.