The first trailer for Marvel’s What If series dropped last night. And it was full of suprises. Actually, it was rather expected from a show that rests on sheer possibility of literally anything happening. Oh, and the trailer also introduced a bunch of characters we know about but they might not be the same people in this world.
1. Tony Stark and Killmonger
The trailer sees Erik Killmonger saving Tony from ever getting kidnapped, which led to him becoming the Iron Man.
2. T’Challa becomes Star-Lord.
In this timeline, T’Challa of Wakanda is kidnapped by Yondu and is raised to be Star-Lord. This is one timeline I am excited to see.
3. Dr. Strange but evil.
While it’s practically impossible to judge his character arc from the little trailer, we know that it’s evil Dr Strange. But which evil Dr Strange, we’ll just have to wait like you.
4. Black Widow and The Hulk
In this version of events, Natalia Romanova never left the Red Room programme and is still their spy. The trailer shows her interfering with Colonel Ross’ super-soldier programme. So it’s natural to assume that she’ll somehow factor into the creation of the Hulk.
5. Frat Boy Thor and Ultron
Or as you might know him- Party Thor. This Odinson doesn’t give two craps about the nine realms. All he wants to do is have a good time. But the trailer also shows him fight some version of Ultron. So, androids are a pain in the arse, this timeline or that.
6. Captain Carter, and Howard Stark as Iron Man.
This timeline sees Agent Peggy Carter take the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers. She basically becomes Captain Britain but the American insignia on her uniform tells us that it’s still some kind of international cooperation. It also appears that she’ll have a sidekick in Howard Stark, who looks like he’s solved the Iron Man problem decades before Tony did.
7. Zombies
This concept was actually introduced in the comics when The Walking Dead creators Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips drew our favourite superheroes as flesh-eating zombies. The arc is not that popular but it works well within the horror genre.
8. Vision not waiting for Thanos to rip out the mind stone.
The trailer sees Vision telling everyone about the multiverse and somehow it leads to him tearing out the infinity gem from his head, something that had proven to be quite painful but he seems to be in a bit more in control of the situation here.
9. Guardians of The Multiverse
There’s a scene from the trailer where the Guardians pose like the Avengers did back in 2012 during the Battle of New York. Except, this team of Guardians features, Party Thor, T’Challa’s Star-Lord, Gamora wielding Thanos’ helicopter blade and while it’s not properly visible, it seems pretty much like Killmonger took on the mantle of the Black Panther.
10. An all-powerful Scarlett Witch
We also get a brief glimpse at the Scarlett Witch as she unleashes herself. Okoye is seen throwing a spear at her but it disintegrated before it can even reach her.
11. Scott Lang but inside a bottle.
There’s also a brief moment where we see Ant-Man’s head, in a bottle saying something before someone cuts him off. Poor sod.
12. Vision is wearing Ultron’s armour with all six infinity stones.
God damn! Vision just graduated from dying all the time to wielding the Infinity Stones, all of them. I guess, powerwise, that finally puts him in the same league as his dearly beloved.
13. Spider-Man has Dr. Strange’s cloak.
The cloak and Peter know each other from their battle against Thanos. But this doesn’t seem like that Peter. So how he got the cloak, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The first episode of this crazy series will air on Disney+Hotstar in August 2021.