Marvel Reveals Trailer And August Launch For 'What If..?"
It took a global pandemic to stop the mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe in its tracks. Black Widow finally arrives in cinemas this month just over two years since Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in July 2019. Despite that, 2021 has already been Marvel's year as the first MCU TV series Wandavison, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki arriving on Disney Plus in quick succession. Next week sees the sixth and final episode of the series featuring Tom Hiddleston's irrepressible God of Mischief- but fans won't have to wait long until their next dose of televisual Marvelly-goodness.
Marvel's What If..? is the first animated series in the MCU continuity. Based on a long-running comic series of the same name, the series speculates on how things might have unfolded differently for Marvel's legion of heroes and villains. One of the top selling points of the series is that the actors who play the characters on screen are reprising their roles in this alternate reality. Tragically, the series also turned out to feature the very last appearance of the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa.
A freshly unveiled trailer reveals that the series arrives on August 11. As is now standard for Disney Plus shows, new episodes will subsequently follow every Wednesday. The series is listed at 10 episodes- a longer run than any of the live-action MCU shows so far. A second season is also in the works.
The series is animated in a 3D CG style, but with a cel-shaded look, adding a more comic-book-ish look to it. Honestly, it would have been an interesting and appropriate move to have made it in a 2D look that is more directly drawn from the comics, but the style they have employed looks pretty good for the most part. The characters mostly resemble their on-screen live-action incarnation although there's something a bit off about Thor.
The series is narrated by Jeffery Wright as The Watcher, an otherworldly entity who watches over the happenings of the multiverse, but he "[does] not, cannot and will not Interfere".
What If..? is directed by Bryan Andrews, with AC Bradley credited as head writer. The voice cast includes, Michael B. Jordan, Hayley Atwell, Josh Bolin, Karen Gillen, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd and many more.
However, Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark, Bendict Cumberbatch's Steven Strange and Brie Larson's Carol Danvers are all being revoiced.
EDIT: A previously published version of this article eronously stated that Downey Jr and Cumberbatch were also reviocing their roles. Sorry for the confusion!
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