As What If…? premieres on Disney+, fans are getting their first real glimpse at how the multiverse can differ from the MCU they love. While the trailers have given clues of what’s to come, with a second season in the making, fans have started to speculate even more than the title implies.
There are several popular ideas bouncing around the internet, and some really out-there suggestions are being bandied around. The questions comics fans have been asking for decades have now taken over the MCU fandom.
10 What if the Maximoffs had watched something other than sitcoms?
Wanda Maximoff’s trauma and grief took the form of a sitcom reality when she had a breakdown and trapped a town full of people in her new world during WandaVision. From Dick Van Dyke to Arrested Development, she projected the comfort she got from that formula onto Westview, but what if Wanda had been exposed to a different kind of media in her childhood?
Whatever Wanda had connected to would have influenced the Hex. It could have been a true-crime series, film noir, or even superhero cartoons instead of sitcoms, shaping the pocket universe Wanda created.
9 What if Darcy Lewis was worthy of Mjolnir?
Fans have seen Captain America lift Thor’s hammer. In the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, Jane Foster will lift the hammer and become Thor, but what if it wasn’t Jane, but Darcy Lewis, who was worthy of the power of Thor?
Darcy’s more flippant and fun-loving way of dealing with things and her ability to improvise, as shown in her WandaVision appearances, means that with Thor’s powers, she would be a force to be reckoned with and entertaining to watch.
8 What if Tony Stark had died of palladium poisoning?
It’s impossible to deny Tony Stark’s influence and role in the MCU makes him irreplaceable, but his story almost ended far earlier when, during Iron Man 2, he was dying from palladium poisoning due to the arc reactor in his chest.
He was able to create a non-toxic element to replace the palladium with SHIELD intel and his father’s research, but what if he hadn’t? The fallout from his early death would have arguably led to a very dark future.
7 What if someone other than Stephen Strange became Sorcerer Supreme?
Stephen Strange was destined to become the Sorcerer Supreme. The Ancient One confirmed that in Avengers: Endgame when she said that he was supposed to be “the best of us.” But what if someone else had to take the job. Whether because Stephen died in the car crash that broke his hands or any other reason?
Spider-Man has been spotted in promotional images for What If…?, wearing the Cloak of Levitation, and in the comics, Tony Stark has picked up the mantel in other universes. Wanda Maximoff’s magic makes her a candidate as well.
6 What if Project Insight had succeeded?
Hydra’s infiltration of SHIELD has been a pivotal moment in MCU history. The void left by SHIELD as the Insight helicarriers crashed into the Potomac River left room for the Avengers to operate on their own until the Sokovia Accords. Taking down Insight was the death blow to Hydra as well. But what if they’d won?
This would also be an incredibly dark timeline, with Hydra ruling over the world, using Insight’s helicarriers to take out any threats to its power. Fans got a glimpse of this world in Agents of SHIELD during the Framework arc.
5 What if Quicksilver had lived?
The death of Pietro Maximoff came as a shock to fans, who had been looking forward to the dynamics between him and the rest of the Avengers, specifically Hawkeye, but what if Pietro had survived?
The most affected by this change would be Wanda, and her arc centered on grief and loneliness. If her brother had been there to support her, it’s possible that the events of WandaVision would not have happened at all. The speedster could have given the team an advantage against Thanos as well.
4 What if Nebula had gone after the infinity stone?
In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora goes after the Power Stone and, in the process, gets tangled into the rag-tag bunch that would become her team. She worked with them to take down Ronan and eventually died by Thanos’ hands. But originally, her sister, Nebula, offered to do the job. What if she had?
It’s hard to say whether Nebula would have been as willing to work with Starlord, Drax, Rocket, and Groot, or not. Given her eventual growth and turn toward the light, it could have sped up her redemption, or she might have nipped this eventual problem in the bud.
3 What if Spider-Man hadn’t met Tony Stark?
The MCU version of Peter Parker has been heavily influenced by Tony Stark and his tech. Tony’s death has shaped Peter’s story since Avengers: Endgame and Tony’s legacy and his enemies have gone after Peter and the people closest to him. But what if Peter had just kept fighting crime in Queens?
It’s possible he would have gone along a path closer to his comic book self, trying to balance work, family and being a hero without Stark funding, until much later. It’s also possible he could have been arrested as Spider-Man for violating the Sokovia Accords and been put in the hands of Thaddeus Ross.
2 What if Coulson had come back?
While Agents of SHIELD is no longer MCU canon, Coulson’s influence on the early days of the Avengers initiative and his death at the hands of Loki shaping the team, is undeniable. Fans got seven seasons of Coulson’s post-Avengers life, but how would the Avengers and SHIELD have changed if he had been there to influence the heroes?
As even Nick Fury said, Coulson was the heart of SHIELD, seeing how he could have functioned with the Avengers as things changed is a fan favorite topic of conversation and fan works.
1 What if Nakia had taken the heart-shaped herb & become the Black Panther?
When Killmonger took power in Wakanda and the royal family ran from the capital, Nakia took the last of the heart-shaped herb with them. She offered it to M’Baku, but it was ultimately used to save T’Challa and bring him back to his power as the Black Panther. But Queen Ramonda offered it to Nakia first. What if she had taken it?
The MCU hasn’t shown us a lot of what Nakia’s training was prior to her becoming a War Dog, so it’s hard to tell if she, even with the boost in power, could have defeated Killmonger. She could have come up with a different way to deal with him, as she is a spy, rather than walking into a face-to-face fight.
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