Summary

New images from What If…? season three promise Red Guardian, Captain America, and giant mecha Marvel’s What If…? will most likely premiere at the end of 2024 but that could change as “things are moving.” What If…? has gained popularity for its departure from MCU continuity, allowing audiences to enjoy the show without prior knowledge.

A batch of new first-look images from the third season of the Marvel animated series, What If…?, have been released, showing off Sam Wilson’s Captain America, The Red Guardian, and a pair of giant mechs. Released via social media, the official What If…? X (formerly Twitter) account thanks fans for watching the second season, which landed on Disney+ at the end of last year. “From all of us at Marvel Studios, THANK YOU for watching season 2 of #WhatIf and joining us on this journey across time…space…reality,” they said in a caption alongside the images. “We’re excited to share this early look at some of the endless possibilities we’ll explore together in season 3 of What If…?”

You can check out these first look images from What If…? season three below.

Details of season three remain largely under wraps, but we do know (and now these images confirm) that they will include a Red Guardian-centered episode, and an episode surrounding Sam Wilson’s Captain America and Monica Rambeau.

Marvel’s What If…? gave a surprising tease of its third season ahead of the season two finale back in December. In a recent interview, however, director Bryan Andrews suggested that the tease does not mean that fans will get to see the next batch of episodes anytime soon. Speaking to ComicBook.coms’s Phase Zero podcast, Andrews explained that the show’s return will be at the end of 2024 at the very earliest, and even that will be a “tight turnaround.” He explained:

“They move stuff around. Every time I thought it was like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be this!’ It’s like, ‘It’s going to move a little bit!’ So, even I would hate to say something and have people’s hopes come up and then have them be dashed because the beast of production and when things move around. I thought that it could come out at the end of the year in 2024 possibly, but that would be tight. There’s some other group of people that are masterminding when things [release] and they’re moving things on the board, and I don’t know where we exist on that at this moment.”

Last month, What If…? delivered its second season on Disney+, releasing daily episodes across the Christmas holidays to great acclaim. As the highest-rated Marvel project of the year, it is hard to see how the series could be improved on, but there were some really wild ideas that didn’t make it into the show. This included an episode that brought the Star Wars franchise into the Marvel Universe. As director Bryan Andrews explained, the crossover was pitched to Marvel boss Kevin Feige, who ultimately rejected the idea. Andrews told Moovy TV:

“So I think it’s absolutely doable. I just don’t know if [Feige] wants to cross those streams, but it’s really funny. Once you get to the realization of why, you go: ‘Oh, that… oh, right!’ It totally makes sense. It won’t rain on anyone’s parade. But it was just a love letter to old-school Star Wars. And it was great. And I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to do it. But we have thought about that stuff.”

Related: The MCU’s What If…? Is the Antidote to the Poison They Created

What Can Audiences Expect From What If…? Season 3?
what if? Release Date 2021-00-00 Seasons 2

The Marvel Universe is often criticized for being too intricately linked and forcing newcomers to trawl through more than 100 hours of previously released movies and shows to learn important information that is essential to understanding the story. What If…? takes away the need for audiences to revise the franchise before watching, as the show throws away the rulebook when it comes to MCU continuity.

This could be one of the reasons the series has been so well received, but whatever the reason behind its popularity, fans have already been given a taste of what to expect from season 3. A teaser was released on Marvel’s website ahead of the season 2 finale and subsequently shared online. This teaser shows a clip of what is assumed to be the opening episode of the new season and features Red Guardian and the Winter Soldier on an unexpected road trip. You can check out the clip below.

Marvel Studios did not have a great 2023, but they will be looking to make more from less in 2024. Deadpool 3 will be the only cinematic release of the year, while on Disney+ What If…? season 3 will be joined by Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, X-Men ‘97 and the imminent full-series drop of Echo. This means that half of Marvel Studios’ 2024 content is animated, and its only movie is R-rated, something that in previous years would have been extremely out of character for the strictly PG-13 franchise. However, the future of the MCU is currently being scrutinized and reassessed after the disappointment of 2023’s efforts, and big changes are clearly on the horizon to get the franchise back on track.