Will Marvel's 'What If...?' release earlier than expected on Disney+?
The coronavirus may have brought life to a standstill across the world but it hasn't stopped the team of Marvel's 'What If…?' as they continue to work remotely.
Stephan Franck, the head of animation of the Disney+ series, in an interview with Newsarama said the show was still in production. "I normally split my day between my home studio and the Disney lot for dailies and reviews, but now we’re just doing it all remotely. From what I hear across town, animation has been able to keep the shows in production with everyone safely working from home. Kudos to the studios for pivoting so fast to remote work," he said.
"What If…?" was originally scheduled to release on Disney+ in summer 2021 and with the production going on, it seems like the episodes might hit us sooner than we expect.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has already said the second season is in the works and will have the same number of episodes as the pilot season. Other Marvel shows, 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier', 'Loki' and 'WandaVision' have stopped production due to the outbreak of the virus.
Marvel's 'What If...?' was always about parallel timelines and alternate realities. The D23 Expo last year gave fans a glimpse of what to expect by showing some footage from the upcoming animated series. For starters, Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter receives the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers becoming Captain Carter and dons a Union Jack-themed costume and a shield. 'What If...' footage also showed a rather skinny version of Rogers using a robot to fight his enemies — one that looked like a hybrid version of the Iron Monger and Hulkbuster armor.
Some of the MCU stars are confirmed to lend their voice in the series: Michael B Jordan as Killmonger, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Josh Brolin as Thanos, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther.
Other stars include Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Taika Waititi as Korg, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster and Michael Rooker as Yondu.
