What we know about Marvel Studio's "What If...?" so far? And will it be delayed?

Back in D23 of last year Kevin Feige announced What If...? as the first MCU related animated series heading to Disney+. It is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. It explores what would happen if major moments from the MCU films occurred differently. It is rumored that the series will have 23 episodes. So one episode per movie. Jeffrey Wright stars as the Watcher, who will narrate the series. 

The first season of What If...? will consist of 10 episodes. We know about a few of the episodes thanks to the footage shown during the D23 2019 and Expanding the Universe, a Marvel Studios special that debuted on Disney+. 

What if... Peggy Carter got the Super Soldier Serum?

The first episode will offer us an incredibly different tale for Captain America: The First Avenger. Details from the episode tease that Peggy will get superpowers and become Captain Carter. Comic book readers will notice similarities with Captain Britain. Steve Rogers is rumored to suit up in a giant Iron Man-like suit created by Howard Stark. This seems to be a great episode to start the series.

Rumored: What if...Peter Parker was recruited by Hawkeye in Civil War?

Last year during SDCC, Marvel showed a few clips and art works from the What If...? series. Recently a video of Variety from that event surfaced online. In that video an attendee said that Marvel showed them an artwork of Peter Parker as Hawkeye. Though it's neither confirm nor deny the episode, it is worth pointing out.

In Civil War, we see Tony Stark recruit Peter in his team. But in this what if...? episode Peter is recruited by Hawkeye. This small change is sure to bring much change. Peter played a great role in Tony's character arc. Peter also got his suit from Tony. So in this case, Peter would get training from Hawkeye. It is interesting because in that way Peter would not become Spider-Man rather he would become the second Hawkeye.

What if... Captain America became a zombie?

In 2005 Marvel released a five issue comic run named "Marvel Zombies"- a horror spin on the Avengers. Now it seems like we might be getting a Marvel Zombies episode in an episodes of What If...?

In Disney+'s Expanding the universe, a scene of Bucky fighting a zombie Captain America was shown. Zombie Captain America has a terrifying look with his iconic shield covered in blood. We are still not sure which Marvel movie it would correspond with. 

Rumored:What if...Tony Stark reached Sakaar?

One of the rumored episodes of What if...? is the Tony reaching Sakaar after the events of the Avengers. The episode will most probably take place after the battle of New York when Tony takes the missile to space to defeat the Chitauri. In this episode, Tony would not make back to the Earth rather he would reach Sakaar. 

The rumor of this episode started from the Grandmaster actor, Jeff Goldblum. He said in an interview that he recorded an episode for What if...? He also said that Robert Downey Jr. was in the episode.

The Grandmaster of Sakaar used to keep slaves and made them fight for amusement. It seems like Tony would be using his brain to make different suits to win the battles. It would be interesting to see this genius make innovative suits again with a bunch of Sakaar scrapes.

What if...Yondu abducted T'Challa instead of Peter Quill?

Marvel is really looking to play with the What if...? series. In Expanding the Universe, we saw a glimpse of T'Challa as Starlord. It really seems to be an interesting episode. T'Challa and Peter Quill are two very different person. So it will be interesting to see what T'Challa does during the events of the Guardians Vol.1

What else can we expect?

In 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige revealed the cast of "What If...?" It has an impressive cast from Joss Brolin to Micheal Douglas. He also revealed that Jeffrey Wright from Westworld will play the Watcher, a celestial observer who occasionally meddles in terrestrial happenings. The storyboard artists and the writer from the fourth season of Samurai Jack, Bryan Andrews will be directing the series.

Will it get delayed due to the pandemic?

Due to the pandemic, almost all the movie productions around the globe are haulted. But thanks to "What If...?" being an animated series, Marvel Studios could continue its production work remotely. So the work of the series is not haulted. But still there is a catch. Marvel needs the voice actors for dubbing the series. It's unsure if Marvel already has the voice work done or not. But it seems unlikely that this series would get delayed. Marvel's "What If...?" is scheduled to release on summer 2021.