Credit: Marvel Studios (both images)In recent weeks, talk about Marvel Studios’ next Disney+ streaming series, What If…?, has begun to heat up.
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The series, which will explore various scenarios that never actually happened within the MCU — think Peggy Carter as Captain America and Howard the Duck meeting Black Panther — was originally thought to occur outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, but now, it seems that the show could actually have more of an impact on the future of Phase 4 than we initially thought.
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The fact that certain major characters — including Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) — have been recast or remain unconfirmed for the project has caused confusion among Marvel fans, especially given that most MCU actors are returning to voice their characters for the animated series.
Robert Downey, Jr. has previously made it known that he is through playing Tony Stark/Iron Man in any capacity, so he also (unsurprisingly) won’t return for the series.
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The series will feature the voice talents of many live-action Marvel Universe Avengers franchise stars, including Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/the Hulk), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym), Michael B. Jordan (Erik “Killmonger” Stevens), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), and late actor Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther).
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Now, thanks to a LEGO set, it seems that we might have some clarification about why certain actors are conspicuously missing from the What If…? cast.
Twitter user Lunwi the Conqueror shared a leaked image of an upcoming Spider-Man LEGO set, noting:
So LEGO officially lists this version of Peter Parker as “zombie hunter Spider-Man” so I think that explains why Olsen isn’t listed in the voice cast
So LEGO officially lists this version of Peter Parker as “zombie hunter Spider-Man” so I think that explains why Olsen isn’t listed in the voice cast pic.twitter.com/PxAdgVzHWM
— Lunwi the Conqueror (@Lunwi88) July 26, 2021
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Clearly, this social media user believes that Scarlet Witch is set to be zombified in the upcoming Marvel series, due in large part to the latest What If…? trailer, which shows Spider-Man in a battle with Scarlet Witch. Prior to this new sneak peek, we had only seen Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes with a zombie version of Captain America.
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The introduction of Marvel Zombies from the Marvel comic universe in What If….? could potentially have implications in the Marvel Multiverse moving forward.
Now that the first season of Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has wrapped — it aired after WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — and the Sacred Timeline is kaput, absolutely anything can happen as we hurtle toward Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
After all, we’ve already met the likes of Lady Loki/Sylvie (Sophia di Martino), Kid Loki (Jack Veal)…and Alligator Loki.
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For now, we can’t know anything for sure, but it certainly seems likely that we’re about to see a very different version of Scarlet Witch than we’ve ever encountered in the MCU before.
Are you looking forward to What If…?’s Disney+ debut on August 11?