What If...? Season 2: Rumored Titles Signal Marvel's Wildest Storylines Yet
"What if..." a Marvel Studios Twitter leak turned out to be true? Surely, we'd have to be wading through a real "Multiverse of Madness" for this to come to pass, and yet a recent post claiming to know the title list for "What If...?" Season 2 appears more credible than most (at least on a contextual level).
Originally leaked by the Nerd Rage Podcast on their X account, the alleged "What If...?" Season 2 titles paint a vibrant — and varyingly plausible — picture of what the upcoming sophomore outing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe animated series might look like. At least four of the nine episodes listed have essentially been confirmed in one way or another over the past year. Meanwhile, for the rest, we suggest taking this with a grain of salt.
In any case, we're going to take you through these rumored titles and lay out what exactly they imply as far as potential stories, as well as how likely they are to actually be true. And while this is ultimately speculation, those wanting to avoid any spoilers for "What If...?" Season 2 may want to click away now.
Two episodes will be Season 1 holdovers
hTwo episodes listed by the Nerd Rage Podcast are extremely likely to wind up in "What If...?" Season 2. The first, titled "What If... Gamora Killed Thanos?," was a premise confirmed for the second season soon after the first season aired on Disney+. It was originally meant to be a part of the first season, but COVID-19 constraints ultimately forced the creative team to cut the episode. The decision was made so late into production that the titular iteration of Gamora appeared somewhat out of context in the Season 1 finale. Additionally, a LEGO set was released that revealed Tony Stark would build a Sakaaran Hulkbuster in the episode.
The second, titled "What if...Captain Carter finds Hydra Stomper?," is essentially validated by the tease seen at the end of the series premiere, "What if... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?" Seemingly the only "sequel" episode of Season 2, this episode would presumably follow Captain Carter's modern-day encounter with a Winter Soldier-like Steve Rogers, brainwashed while in Hydra's captivity. Previous rumors alleged an episode like this would exist (not a huge leap, considering the groundwork laid in Season 1), though the title was slightly more coherent: "What If... Captain Carter FOUGHT the Hydra Stomper?" Suffice it to say, it's likely we'll get some version of this episode in "What If...?" Season 2.
Toy and concept art reveals make these episodes likely
The next two most likely "What If...?" Season 2 episodes were somewhat spoiled by official toy and concept art reveals from Disney and Marvel. "What if... Hank Pym & Janet Van Dyne fought the Red Guardian during 1980s?" is an intriguing premise that squares with the established MCU timeline. It isn't even too much of a stretch to imagine that SHIELD's Ant-Heroes would have encountered the USSR's super soldier at some point during the mainline universe's 1980s. Again, LEGO has given some credence to this idea by including a variant of Goliath — Laurence Fishburne's "Ant-Man" antagonist — that reveals the character in costume. Given the information audiences learned in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," Goliath would have only suited up during the 1980s.
Even more likely is "What if... the Tesseract landed in [the] Haudenosaunee Confederacy before the colonization of America?" Sure, it's a bit of a mouthful as far as titles go, but Disney and Marvel revealed long ago that "What If...?" Season 2 would introduce a new character — an Indigenous superhero named Kahhori, who was created specifically for the animated TV show.
Marvel.com's own press release contains the following synopsis: "'What If...?' asks what would happen if the Tesseract fell to Earth and landed in the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy before the colonization of America."The alleged title of this episode appears to be a slight (and we do mean slight) rephrasing of this wordy log-line, and will probably be different upon landing on Disney+.
Some are plausible, but far from foregone inclusions
"What if... Yondu delivered Star-Lord to Ego?" seems likely enough for a "What If...?" Season 2 episode. After all, the lauded T'Challa Star-Lord episode ended with a cliffhanger that saw Ego reuniting with Peter Quill at a Dairy Queen on Earth. However, this episode's alleged title implies an earlier intervention in the timeline, one that sees Quill taken to space as a child and given to his biological god-father (not to be confused with his godfather, who we assume to be Kevin Bacon). It's hard to see why "What if...?" would discard such an ominous cliffhanger only to go back to the same characters involved, which may make this episode less likely than others. That said, perhaps the change can be explained by Chadwick Boseman's sudden passing, forcing the writers to retool the Ego-Star Lord episode they seemingly had planned before his death.
Similarly, there's no reason why "What if... Happy Hogan saved Christmas?" couldn't be a solid "What If?" episode, but there's simply no evidence to verify its existence as of yet. Based on the tweet from the Nerd Rage Podcast, it would take place during the time of "Iron Man 3," with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) single-handedly taking down A.I.M. as he had attempted to do in the 2013 film. We do know that the last season of "What If...?" had a seasonal episode ("What If... Zombies?!"), so it would stand to reason that this episode would debut around Christmas Time. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Hollywood shutdown, the series' release has been delayed significantly and is now only tentatively aiming for a Christmas 2023 release.
The rest of these episodes are real head-scratchers
Finally, a few of these titles tease fun adventures that may be too crazy to be true. "What if... Wanda had grown up watching musicals instead of sitcoms?" is the most likely of the final three episodes, as it represents the most feasible change. Still, it would be a peculiar choice for the series to try and capture the tactile entertainment and showmanship of musical theater through animation — especially with its relatively rigid (and usually serviceable) style. If "What If...?" aims to write a love letter to musicals on the same level as "WandaVision's" love letter to sitcoms, it would certainly be the most ambitious episode of the season.
Next, there's "What if... Odin & Hela had faced Wenwu?," which — as many on X have already pointed out — promises a showdown that doesn't make a ton of sense. Wenwu is absolutely one of the most powerful humans in the MCU — but powerful enough to take on two of the most powerful intergalactic beings in the universe? Seems canonically iffy. If this episode turns out to be real, hopefully, the battle between the Asgardians and the Ten Rings is visually dazzling enough to compensate for the shaky logic at play.
Lastly, we have "What if... Avengers had fought Surtur?" While every other episode has a scenario that's at least contextually conceivable, it's very difficult to picture the circumstances of this encounter. That isn't to say the premise is inherently false or flawed, but rather that we can't draw from the existing MCU to justify it yet. If this — or any other episode listed — turns out to be real, we're excited to see how "What If...?" will explore these bizarre branches of the Marvel multiverse.