Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicNeil Gaiman is one of the most gifted creative minds in modern media, and his arrival into the Marvel universe is a bold move by Disney. Are we finally getting Marvel: 1602?
Season 2 of Marvel’s What If..? series premieres December 22, 2023 on Disney+, and the studio has pulled out all the stops based on what the trailer reveals. However, one of the season’s latter episodes doesn’t just open up a new scenario for Earth’s mightiest heroes; it changes the course of history.
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The episode titled “What If the Avengers Assembled in 1602” is a direct reference to Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 graphic novel, and hardcore fans are likely getting the most unexpected adaptation to come out of Marvel Studios since introducing Namor into the MCU. As impossible as it might be to condense all of Gaiman’s work into one episode, it does pave the way for something bigger.
Picture It, Marvel 1602
Golden Girls puns aside, Marvel 1602 is an alternate timeline in the grand scheme of the Marvel Multiverse, and it’s refreshing to see What If..? take something straight from the pages of the comics. Additionally, it’s even more incredible that they are incorporating a story from the mind behind Coraline, Stardust, Sandman, American Gods, and Good Omens, Neil Gaiman.
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While it’s unknown at this point just how much of Gaiman’s work will end up in the finished product, the fact that Marvel is adapting it at all (like Thanos) was inevitable. Inside the Magic predicted 1602’s adaptation when the new season was previously revealed, and it appears to be only a taste of what is destined to come.
Marvel 1602 casts Nick Fury, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four and other classic Marvel icons into period-fitting roles during the last years of Queen Elizabeth I and the exploration of the New World where mutants manifest as “Witchbreeds” and King James I hunts them down when he rises to power. Throw in a canonical appearance from Uatu the Watcher and it’s practically the perfect What If..? episode.
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Although not much further is known save for the appearance of a new Native American character with energy-based powers and what fans already know from the comics, the Marvel 1602 episode is bound to be one of the biggest in the series. Which is no small feat considering there’s what appears to be a Die-Hard-inspired episode wher Happy Hogan saves Christmas.
What If..? Season 2 debuts on Disney+ just in time for the Christmas holidays, and more than Elizabethan era Avengers await fans of all things Marvel. This writer certainly can’t wait to see what else the studio assembles for round two.
What do you think awaits our favorite superheroes in the new season? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!