- This episode of Nerdist News Edition
is sponsored by Borderlands 3.
Here are the six What If...? comics
that have to be in the MCU/Disney+ TV show!
While we already knew that it was coming,
one of the most exciting pieces of news
to come out of this year's Comic-Con
was the casting announcement
for the upcoming animated show for Disney+, What If...?
Based on the comic book of the same name,
almost everyone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
with the possible exception of Chris Evans
will be returning to voice their respective characters.
Seriously, can't you just join in on the fun, Chris Evans?
- No.
No, I don't think I will.
- All right.
The anthology series will explore how certain moments
of the MCU could've turned out,
just a little bit differently.
Like what if Peggy Carter had been the one
to take the Super Soldier Serum?
What if Black Panther led the Guardians of the Galaxy,
or what if Jane Foster wielded Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor?
Though that last one will actually just be the plot
of the upcoming Thor 4: Love and Thunder,
we do know that Marvel's rounded up 23 ideas
from the movies, as well as the comic book series
that will round out the show's first season.
So we thought we'd dig out our long boxes
to figure out six What If issues
that could possibly be adapted for the upcoming series.
Let's kick things off with a big one.
What if Thanos joined the Avengers?
That's right, we're talkin'
about the CrossFit California Raisin himself.
Published in 2015 as part
of the What If? Infinity one shots,
this issue explores how the big purple meanie
joins Earth's Mightiest Heroes
to stop a race of aliens called The Builders,
who are hellbent on destroying the universe,
which is ironic considering their name.
While the Avengers succeed in stopping them,
Captain America uncovers that Thanos
has other machinations in play,
which result in Rogers' death at his big purple hands.
After which, Thanos takes Cap's shield,
as well as command of the Avengers,
as they prepare for the next big threat.
Hint-hint, it's the 2015 event, Secret Wars.
So how could this play out in the MCU?
While the Builders stuff might be a bit of a stretch
to work in, we could see a possibility
that they or some other baddie like the Skrulls
or Kree or Dormammu could come knocking
and threaten to undo all of his hard work,
i.e. the destruction of all of existence.
Being the master tactician that he is,
Thanos agrees to an alliance or team-up
with the Avengers where he slowly makes himself
an ally with the team.
Whether or not he truly becomes a hero
would remain to be seen, but that journey
would be a snap!
- No!
- And speaking of villains, what if Loki
had been the one to find Thor's hammer?
It was the final issue of the first volume
of What If comics back in the late '70s and early '80s.
This story has Loki finding Mjolnir before Thor,
which results in Thor getting killed
and almost sparking Ragnarok.
While Thor is in the afterlife,
Odin leads a rescue mission to save the Thunder God
from the clutches of Hela.
With this issue tied heavily to his comic run origins,
we could see something similar,
like what happened in the MCU where in the first Thor film,
Loki tried to lift the hammer but was unsuccessful.
However, in this episode, Loki could find a way
around the enchantment and would be able
to lift Mjolnir.
It would be fun to see what the trickster god
would get up to with the hammer,
just like playin' pranks on other gods,
or I don't know, hiding it from Thor,
or maybe giving it to NoobMaster69, who knows?
All in all, this would be a fun Asgardian adventure,
and one that we hope to see on Disney+.
I mean, who wouldn't wanna see Loki,
the God of Thunder and Mischief, but we can hammer out
all the details later, nailed it.
Now this next issue will throw some fans for a loop,
but hang with us for just a moment.
What if the Hulk killed Wolverine?
As part of the special covers craze of the 1990's,
it was a dark and simpler time.
The 50th issue was a rather chilling tale
that saw the Hulk snap Wolverine's neck,
then go on a mutant killing spree
as he's hunted down by the X-Men
and the government's mutant team, Freedom Force.
Now wait, you might be saying to yourself,
there are no mutants in the MCU, Dan!
Yeah, I know, you're right, it's been around
for so long, still no mutants, but imagine
if instead of mutants, you just replace them
with the Avengers and instead of Wolverine
and his unbreakable Adamantium skeleton,
you swapped in Captain America and his shield
or Thor and his hammer, or you get the picture.
During one of his rampages,
Hulk could break the unbreakable,
like Cap's shield or Thor's hammer or Tony's ego,
and end up killing that hero in the process.
This, of course, would force the government
to round up its other heroes to put a stop
to his big, green frenzy.
Dark, I mean, yeah, sure, but honestly,
there are generally two types of What If outcomes.
Happiness for our heroes,
or just the straight up worst ending possible.
That's why it's a hypothetical.
This, of course, feeds into our next pick,
issue 19 volume two, what if Vision conquered the world?
In this story, those two exact outcomes are explored.
After Vision links his consciousness
to the space internet, he envisions, ah,
a golden age for mankind.
In the utopian side of the story,
heroes wipe out hunger and disease
across the globe, then use their powers
to spread goodness throughout the galaxy.
So noble of them.
But then, there's the dystopian half.
Another country freaks out over Vision's plan
and blows up New York, along with most of its heroes,
because everyone knows all of the MCU
and all of the Marvel Universe
lives in one (laughs), they live in a one bedroom apartment
in Bushwick, apparently.
Anyway, they try to kill him.
Thanks to the intergalactic version of the Cloud,
Vision survives and teams up with the world's villains
to regain control and as you might imagine,
it goes terribly!
As for adapting it to the MCU, well,
pretty much just follow the same concept.
Vision has his consciousness uploaded to the internet,
and we see both scenarios play out, enough said.
You know what's missing on this list though?
Time travel, well, guess what?
We've got a remedy for that with what if Iron Man
had been trapped in King Arthur's time?
As part of a two-fer in What If #33 from 1982,
this story finds Iron Man abandoned in medieval times,
the era, not the restaurant, after Doctor Doom betrays him.
Stuck in Camelot and unable to build a time machine
in a cave with a box of scraps, Tony becomes
a Knight of the Roundtable with his solar powered armor
and takes over for King Arthur after he falls in battle.
And I'm so sorry for bailing on that Obadiah Stane bit.
Adapting this will actually be pretty simple.
While the Avengers are in the middle
of the Infinity Stone time heist in Endgame,
Tony gets sidelined in the process
and finds himself in ancient times.
Unable to return, he eventually joins King Arthur
along with another Marvel character that's been teased out,
the Black Knight.
We've gotta be honest though, we're not sure
if anyone will buy the whole he can't build a time machine
in the past to get back to the future angle.
- Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave!
With a box of scraps!
- Oh (bleep), I predicted the future.
And finally, the last pick.
What if Doctor Strange was a disciple of Dormammu?
He's come to bargain for discount lessons.
Published in 1979, the 18th issue of the series
revealed what would've happened if Stephen Strange
had strayed from the path of good.
In the comic, Baron Mordo is able
to heal Strange's wounded hands with Dormammu's black magic
and thus Strange never learns the lessons
about selfishness and arrogance he so desperately needs.
Since these are left unchecked, it leads to him
losing his medical license and he eventually joins forces
with Mordo and Dormammu.
This leads to an epic showdown of good and evil
between Dormammu and the cosmic being known as Eternity,
with Doctor Strange in the middle having to choose.
Luckily for us, he goes with good (laughs)!
Good job, humanity, you didn't beef it.
So how could we see this play out in the new series?
Well since Doctor Strange's movie origin
mirrors his comic book origins pretty damn closely,
this episode could almost be a shot-for-shot remake
of the comic, but we'd like to offer up a twist.
This time, he chooses evil instead,
resulting in the Dark Doctor Strange,
and if they did this story,
we could see this What If universe
pop up in the upcoming Multiverse of Madness,
AKA Doctor Strange 2.
Good Doctor Strange versus Evil Doctor Strange,
please make it happen!
I love when my medical professionals fight.
And there you go, folks, six What If stories you can
probably bet will be adapted in the upcoming Disney+ series.
Of course, we might be wrong, but what if we're right?
We're gonna be right.
We'll find out for sure in 2021
when the show finally comes to Disney+.
But tell me, what do you folks think?
What What If's could you see animated
for the small screen, and do you think
that Chris Evans will eventually give in
and join the cast?
- No.
No, I don't think I will.
- All right, geez, and what's your favorite What If comic?
Ours is when Conan the Barbarian becomes a pimp
in the 20th century.
That actually happened, look it up.
Anyway, let's discuss.
Thanks again to Borderlands 3
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