Background Image Credit: Marvel StudiosA new Marvel series and Spider-Man story are coming, and this time it brings Peter Parker and Wanda Maximoff together… as siblings?!
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Marvel storytelling has existed for decades. What started in the pages of comic books has spread into the world of television, animation, live-action movie franchises, tabletop and video games, and so much more.
Many fans will be aware of the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe orchestrated by Kevin Feige for the last 15 years. With over 30 movies and multiple TV shows to boot, the MCU has been a consistent part of pop culture for a long time. That said, its popularity has waned in recent years as the studio deals with increasing superhero fatigue and a slew of underperforming, clumsy projects.
The Marvel dynamic all changed in 2021 when the first Disney+ canon project was released. WandaVision, which was largely well-received, acted as the prequel to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and was followed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and most recently, Secret Invasion.
It was also in 2021 that Marvel officially introduced the Multiverse with the arrival of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), the Time-Keepers, and He Who Remains, AKA Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). And Marvel’s What If…? leaned into the Multiversal potential of the live-action Marvel Universe.
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Created by A.C. Bradley and directed by Bryan Andrews, What If…? asked what would happen if certain pivotal events in the MCU had happened a different way. The series, based on the Marvel Comics event of the same name, has been renewed for a season 2, but Marvel is still playing coy on its debut.
However, a new press release has proven that Marvel is releasing new What If…? material this year.
Just in a different format.
Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, announced today a collaboration with Marvel Entertainment for an adult novel series (World English) carrying on the classic Marvel tradition of “What If…?” storytelling,” the press release reads. “This officially licensed series reimagines the origins of iconic Marvel heroes and allows readers to discover what can happen when the fabric of reality is altered. Set in their own distinct universes in the Multiverse, each book focuses on a unique twist on an iconic Marvel origin story.”
The press release adds:
The series will launch in 2024 with three titles. The first book in the series is WHAT IF…LOKI WAS WORTHY? A LOKI AND VALKYRIE STORY by Madeleine Roux, publishing on March 12, 2024, followed by WHAT IF…WANDA MAXIMOFF AND PETER PARKER WERE SIBLINGS? A SCARLET WITCH AND SPIDER-MAN STORY by Seanan McGuire, publishing in July 2024, and WHAT IF…MARC SPECTOR WAS A HOST TO VENOM? A MOON KNIGHT AND VENOM STORY by Mike Chen, publishing in October 2024.
The Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man story will see the pair become brother and sister. In the MCU, fans have already seen the Maximoff twins — Wanda and Pietro, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, respectively. They made their official debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) after appearing in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). But now, it seems that Spider-Man will replace Pietro (AKA Quicksilver) in this new Marvel series and will mark the first time in history that Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch have been siblings.
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Just as the television show asked questions like “what if Captain Carter were the first Avenger?”, “what if T’Challa became Star-Lord?” and “what if Doctor Strange lost his heart instead of his hands?”, the new Random House Worlds trilogy will portray different elements of the untapped Multiverse.
Interestingly, all of these characters are popular in live-action (Venom in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe), and their names are likely to pull in wider audiences intrigued over these very specific what-if events.
The Marvel Multiverse
The MCU continues on in its Multiverse Saga era. What was once set to wrap up by 2025 with Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) will now come to a close in four years’ time, in 2027, with the climax of Phase 6. A string of delays has left fans scratching their heads over the direction Feige’s Marvel studio may take.
The Writers Guild of America strike has affected the output of Marvel programming, as has the arrest of Jonathan Majors. The Marvel and Creed III (2023) star was arrested in New York earlier this year on domestic abuse charges. At present, Disney nor Marvel have made a decision on whether Majors will remain in the MCU, but at this point, it is unlikely if history dictates proceedings.
Will you be picking up the new “What If…? novel series? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!