What If...? season 1 hasn't reached the halfway mark on Disney Plus yet, but Marvel Studios is already hard at work on the animated series' second instalment.
It sounds like they're settled on one entry centered around one particular female superhero already, too. Speaking to The Direct, What If...? production designer Paul Lasaine teased the prospect of Black Widow's solo movie being adapted for season 2.
Natasha Romanoff's standalone adventure would make for intriguing viewing. What if she ended up leading the Red Room's new generation of Widows and succeeded in bringing down the US government? Or what if she became Taskmaster and her sister – Yelena Belova – had to defeat her instead? The possibilities are endless.
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Regardless of how Marvel adapts Black Widow's story for What If...? season 2, Lasaine's tease got us thinking: what other MCU tales do we want to see in next season's batch of episodes?
Here are five Marvel productions that we want to be adapted. Major spoilers for What If...? season 1 follow, so leave this page if you're not caught up.
The Avengers Part 2
If you've been watching What If...? season 1, you'll know that most of The Avengers are dead in one particular universe.
Yep, Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk, Thor and Hawkeye have all been killed by Hank Pym. After his daughter Hope dies on a mission for SHIELD, he exacts revenge on Nick Fury by murdering the Avengers as Yellowjacket, the villain from the first Ant-Man movie.
Long story short, Loki ends up helping Fury defeat Pym before the trickster god installs himself as the King of Earth. The episode ends with Fury finding Captain America buried beneath the ice (like in Captain America: The First Avengers) and calling on Captain Marvel to help him overthrow Loki.
What If...? season 2, then, could have a follow-up episode where the two Caps lead a new Avengers line-up against Loki and his forces. Bring in the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and even Ant-Man himself, and that would be a solid alternative Avengers line-up in our view.
Thor: Ragnarok
There are two ways that this movie could be adapted in our opinion.
First, Thor could surprisingly kill The Hulk, who is the Grandmaster's champion, on Sakaar. The Grandmaster could install Thor as his new champion in the fighting pits, which could lead to the God of Thunder fighting other superheroes who wind up on Sakaar. Who wouldn't want to see a battle between, say, Thor and Captain America?
The second option is Hela defeats Thor's Revengers team during the final battle during Ragnarok. With no-one to stop her from expanding Asgard's empire, we could see Cate Blanchett's villain conquer the nine realms, including Earth.
Captain Marvel
For this entry, Carol Danvers might never find out that she's originally from Earth. As a result, she may help the Kree empire with their universal expansion, which could lead her to having a showdown with MCU characters on one of two planets.
The first is an obvious choice: Earth. Here, the Avengers could unite to try and stop Captain Marvel. It would certainly make for an interesting battle, given how powerful she is.
A less likely choice, though, would be Titan. As Thanos' homeworld, it would be intriguing to see the Kree empire attempt to conquer it – a decision that would pit Captain Marvel against Thanos in an Endgame rematch. Either one could come out on top and win, and it would be a strange but fun experience to root for Thanos (as the good guy trying to protect his planet) for once.
Loki
Given that Loki season 1 introduced the multiverse to the MCU, though, there are numerous ways that a What If...? episode could adapt the God of Mischief's TV series.
How about if every version of Loki (as seen in episode 5) teamed up to take down Alioth, escape He Who Remains' Castle at the End of Time and somehow return to the TVA?
They could overthrow those in charge but, in a humorous move, the Loki variants could fail to agree on which of them should lead the TVA. It would lead to a lot of quips and squabbling and, potentially, a big fight between them all during the episode's climax. Who wouldn't want to see that?
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follow. Proceed at your own risk!
Finally, we think Shang-Chi's standalone story would make for an interesting What If...? season 2 entry.
Marvel's first Asian superhero has only just arrived in the MCU so, unless you've seen the film already, we'd advise you to turn back now or we may end up ruining aspects of it for you below. You have been warned.
Still with us? Great, here's what we'd like to see if a potential What If...? episode.
What if Shang-Chi succeeded his father – Xu Wenwu – as the leader of the Ten Rings organization? It would be cool to see what would happen if Shang-Chi became a villain instead of a hero. He could even lock horns with his sister Xialing who, in an alternate reality, could become the hero of the piece.
What If...?'s recent Doctor Strange episode showed us that Marvel isn't shy about contemplating what would happen when heroes become villains instead. Shang-Chi is someone we could see being bad instead of good, based on his upbringing, so it isn't a stretch to think this could work.
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