Credit: Marvel StudiosWith a brand-new trailer, Marvel Studios has confirmed the end of it all.
Following this year’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, Southern California, the Disney ultimate fan event took on South America with D23 Brazil–A Disney Experience. The event saw multiple pieces of news drop from theme park information to new trailers for the Marvel Studios behemoth, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
New footage for Captain America: Brave New World, which opens worldwide in February 2025 and acts as the penultimate movie to the MCU’s current Phase Five, was shown with Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America) and Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/Falcon) in attendance.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shared updates regarding The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) with the São Paulo crowds, while Thunderbolts*‘s David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian) teased new information about the MCU’s misfit team-up movie coming next year.
In addition to the live-action reveals, Brad Winderbaum (Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation) showcased the studio’s upcoming Disney+ offerings, focusing on What If…? Season 3 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, before Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio surprised crowds to give a special look at Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again.
When it comes to the likes of What If…?, the show was a quiet hit for Marvel Studios. In its first year on Disney+, Marvel released a lot of live-action miniseries. From WandaVision to Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to Hawkeye, the superhero studio aggressively started putting out supplementary content to its billion-dollar big-screen MCU.
Nestled amid the live-action events was What If…?, a series about the Multiverse that focused on variations of popular characters in new and unfamiliar storylines. Perhaps the most intriguing element of What If..? was its cast. With a broad cast of characters, many familiar voices returned to bring their animated counterparts to life despite there being different iterations of those found on the big screen.
The late Chadwick Boseman’s last performance as T’Challa was in What If…? Season 1, except in the show, T’Challa wasn’t the King of Wakanda but this universe’s Star-Lord. Likewise, the premiere episode found Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) becoming Captain Carter instead of Steve Rogers (played by Josh Keaton in What If…?) evolving into Captain America.
Like the recasting of Steve Rogers with Keaton, What If…? also introduced numerous new talents to classic roles. Instead of Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Hudson Thames took up the web-slinging mantle, and replacing Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel was Alexandra Daniels. Similarly, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) were also replaced with Mick Wingert, Fred Tatasciore, and Lake Bell, respectively.
What If…? returned for a second season in December 2023 and will release its third and final season on Disney+ on December 22. The season, Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) says, will end it all.
Witness the season that ends it all.
#WhatIf Season 3 arrives December 22 on @DisneyPlus. Unwrap a new episode daily for 8 days!
Witness the season that ends it all. #WhatIf Season 3 arrives December 22 on @DisneyPlus. Unwrap a new episode daily for 8 days! pic.twitter.com/TY2REooXmJ
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) November 11, 2024
Unlike the first season of What If…?, the sophomore outing was released daily across the Christmas holiday, and, as confirmed here, the third season will follow suit.
The trailer shared yesterday (Monday, November 11) revealed new characters entering the Multiversal arena, including weather goddess and famed X-Men mutant Storm. The classic Marvel character will be voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith, who brought Ororo Munroe to life in X-Men: The Animated Series and its sequel, X-Men ’97.
The third season of the Marvel Animation-produced TV show will also feature episodes surrounding Shang-Chi, Sam Wilson, Moon Knight, and Agatha Harkness. The latter was last seen in live-action in September’s Agatha All Along series, which acted as a sequel to the 2021 WandaVision show.
Related: MCU’s 20th Anniversary: Marvel Announces Three New Phase Seven Movies for 2028
“The audience was the first to see an exclusive trailer and poster celebrating the third and final season of the popular series What If…? The culmination of the adventure through time and space, Season 3 sees classic characters making unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU,” The Walt Disney Company wrote on the D23 Brazil — A Disney Experience showcase. “Traversing genres, bigger spectacles, and new characters, the series launches Sunday, December 22.”
What If…? Season 3 will round off a relatively slim year for content in the MCU. After being criticized by outsiders and by Disney’s own CEO, Bob Iger, for diluting the franchise with too much content, Marvel Studios pulled it back in 2024. With just Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) on the movie end and Echo and Agatha All Along in Disney+’s live-action catalog, 2024 was a far cry from any other year in MCU history, not including the pandemic.
Related: Ryan Reynolds Fired From Deadpool Role, Replacement Immediately Confirmed
And, in a way, the stripped-back nature of the MCU this year has been a win. Deadpool & Wolverine smashed box office records and ended up the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, while Agatha All Along captured social media’s attention to become one of the year’s buzziest shows.
Despite fan outcry that What If…? is coming to an end, fans will be hoping that the third season sees the MCU go out with a bang.
How do you feel about What If…? ending this year? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!