There’s still a lot we don’t know about Marvel’s upcoming animated series What If?, which is due to premiere in early August. But one leak, from Lego of all places, seems to have confirmed Iron Man still has a big part to play in the post-Endgame MCU.
This leak comes from a Lego set listing which popped up on Amazon France earlier this week. The set in question is ‘Tony Stark’s Sakaarian Iron Man’, which presumably means we now know the setting of one of What If’s 10 episodes.
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We already knew that Tony Stark was going to pop up in What If? In some shape or form: he is in the trailer after all, lying inside the giant donut that made an appearance in Iron Man 2. But we didn’t know how big a part Iron Man was going to play, and the Lego set seems to indicate that Marvel isn’t done telling stories with Tony Stark just yet.
Marvel’s What If? Is an animated anthology series, narrated by Uatu the Watcher as he takes viewers through alternate takes on various MCU stories; expect stories such as ‘What if Peggy Carter was a super soldier?’ and ‘What if T’Challa was Star Lord?’. Evidently one of the other stories will be ‘What if Tony Stark was in Thor: Ragnarok?’
That said, it does raise several further questions for us. Of course Tony would use all the discarded tech littering the surface of Sakaar to create a suit of armor — one that looks remarkably similar to the Hulkbuster. The only question we have is whether he’ll be taking the place of Thor, Hulk, or both?
My guess is that this story will take place sometime in the immediate aftermath of The Avengers, given that the Tony minifigure is wearing the same Black Sabbath t-shirt he sports in that movie.
Jeff Goldblum has already confirmed he will be reprising his role as the grandmaster for What If?, and has told Buzzfeed that he would be returning alongside Robert Downey Jr. That may well answer one of the many things Marvel has been coy about with What If?.
While many actors have already signed on to reprise their big screen roles, there have been no announcements about who would be voicing key characters such as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. From what Goldblum said, it appears that, like Marvel, Robert Downey Jr isn’t quite done with Tony Stark yet. Just don’t expect him to be returning to the big screen anytime soon, not after Stark’s sacrifice during Endgame’s final battle.
Taika Waititi is also confirmed to return as alien rock man Korg, while the Lego set suggests that Valkyrie will be playing a role in this episode, too. Whether Tessa Thompson is returning to voice her hasn’t been announced, though we’d hope she is, considering she's set to reprise her role in Thor: Love and Thunder (due next year).
What If? Is currently set to debut on Disney Plus on August 6, and the first season will comprise 10 episodes. Meanwhile, Marvel fans will be able to get a fix much sooner with Loki, which arrives on June 9, and Black Widow, which hits theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access on July 9.
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