Marvel Studios' What If (TV Series)

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Part of a series on Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). [View Related Entries]

About

Marvel Studios' What If refers to a Disney+ animated television adaptation of the superhero comic book What If. The series explores alternate outcomes of key moments within the Marvel universe and how that would change the future.

History

Comic Book

In February 1977, Marvel began the initial 47-issue run of the comic book What If.^[1] In the series, the character Uatu the Watcher, an extraterrestrial who monitors Earth in the Marvel universe (example covers below).

Television Series

On March 12th, 2019, SlashFilm.com^[2] reported that Marvel was developing a What If TV series for Disney+. They wrote, "We have exclusively learned that Marvel Studios will be producing a new television series for the Disney+ streaming service based on the popular What If comic book series. The new animated show will be overseen by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, but the stories will not be canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hit the jump to learn more about the What If TV series."

On July 20th, at San Diego Comic-Con Marvel officially announced the series as well as a the cast for the animated series, beginning with Jeffrey Wright, who would narrate the series as Uatu the Watcher. Additionally, other MCU cast members would voice their characters, as well, including Michael B. Jordan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chadwick Boseman, Natalie Portamn, Jeff Goldblum and more.

That day, @screenrant tweeted^[3] a photograph of the cast announcement. The post received more than 790 likes and 370 retweets in four days (shown below).

Logo Image Macro

Following the announcement of the series, people online began using the title reveal and logo as a reaction image and edited image macros. For example, on July 21st, Redditor ^[4] gobuysomedogebot posted a parody of the logo in the /r/sbubby. The post received more than 23,000 points (96% upvoted) and 200 comments in three days (shown below, left).

Several people online compared the title to the Steamed Hams meme. Twitter^[5] user @Than_Kyou tweeted a variation of the logo with the text changed to the dialogue from Steamed Hams. The post received more than 13,000 likes and 4,400 retweets in three days (shown below, center).

KnowYourMeme ^[6] user ore-ste posted the title with an image from the meme. The post received more than 3,000 views in three days (shown below, right).