On the cusp of Loki’s penultimate episode dropping yesterday, Disney+ finally announced the premiere date for Marvel Studio’s What If…? with a new trailer and series poster. According to the Disney+ presser, the animated series will bow on Wednesday, August 12, less than a month after Loki ends its season-one run on the streaming platform. Check out the brand new trailer below:
Marvel Studios’ first-ever animated series will explore titular comic heroes’ arcs, but with a multiverse twist. Based on the comic series of the same name, What If…? begs to question reality by altering one fact about the heroes we have come to know and love. Instead of Steve Rogers taking the super-soldier serum, the world is given Great Britain’s Captain Carter as original S.H.E.I.L.D. operative, Peggy Carter, carries the shield. And rather than an American kid from the Midwest becoming Star-Lord, the child raised by Yondu was none other than a Wakandan named T’Challa.
The animated series boasts the same stellar talent as Marvel Studios’ live-action features with a cast that includes Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr., Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth, Dr. Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch, and Captain America: The First Avenger’s Hayley Atwell. The series also carries the voice work of the late Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther, Marshall) who reprises his role as T’Challa. The series’ newest character, The Watcher, is voiced by Jeffery Wright (The Batman, Westworld) and acts as celestial narrator of the alternate timelines. Viewers can also expect to hear the likes of Mark Ruffalo (This Much I Know is True, Avengers: Endgame), Samuel L. Jackson (Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D., Captain Marvel), Natalie Portman (Thor, Graden State), Paul Rudd (Clueless, Ant-Man), and Michael B. Jordan (Creed 2, Just Mercy) to name a few of the actors returning to portray their iconic Marvel characters, according to Deadline. Preview the poster below via Marvel Studios’ Instagram.
According to Deadline, the series was written by AC Bradley (Arrow, Trollhunters) with Bryan Andrews (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack) directing. If fans get their way, What If…? will be the project lodged between Loki and the next Disney+ series, Hawkeye, starring Jeremy Renner (Tag, Wind River) and Hailee Steinfeld (Bumblebee, Dickinson).