Work on Marvel Studios’ animated What If…? streaming series for Disney+ continues on despite the coronavirus pandemic. The show’s head of animation Stephan Franck tells Newsarama that while on-site work at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California has been suspended, he and others continue to work on the series from home.
“I normally split my day between my home studio and the Disney lot for dailies and reviews, but now we’re just doing it all remotely,” Franck shared with Newsarama. “From what I hear across town, animation has been able to keep the shows in production with everyone safely working from home. Kudos to the studios for pivoting so fast to remote work.
Since California governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order on March 19, Disney – and all other animation studios working in California – changed their operations. Some, like What If…? continue on, but Franck says that others have been put on hiatus.
“It all happened literally within days,” Franck continued. “Unfortunately I’m also hearing about some projects in development or with more distant release dates being put on hiatus, but a fair number of people in animation are still at work from the safety of their home, which we are all grateful for.”
Newsarama asked Franck what he can say about the show himself, but he had to keep mum.
“I really can’t tell you much about the show, or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are going to come and take me away,” he said. “What I can tell you is that the level of talent and passion on the team is off the charts and that I am having a blast.”
Kevin Feige previously revealed Jeffrey Wright will voice the Watcher as the series narrator and every episode with provide a spin on one MCU film, with actors from the films reprising their roles to voice the animated versions of their characters.
The first episode asks “What if Peggy Carter got the powers from the Super Soldier Serum and Steve Rogers remained his scrawny self, but was given a superpowered suit of armor designed by Howard Stark?”
Previews images from additional episodes (check out this gallery) suggest a Marvel Zombie story that pits an undead Captain America versus the Winter Soldier and a take on Guardians of the Galaxy that seemingly features a black man taking the place of Peter Quill as Star-Lord … perhaps T’Challa?
Franck said he had the opportunity to re-read “a lot” of the the classic What If..? Marvel comic books to prepare for the animated series, but balked at specifying which ones “because I know people will try to read clues into whatever I say!”
What If…? was scheduled to debut in summer 2021 before the coronavirus pandemic, but Disney has not announced any changes to the Disney+ MCU schedule.
While Franck works on What If…? for Marvel Studios, he is writing and drawing an OGN titled Palomino for which he’s now raising funds on Kickstarter. Look for an interview with him on that later this month on Newsarama.