Don't expect Season 1 of Marvel's What If...? animated series to introduce new comic book characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Executive producer Brad Winderbaum spoke with Kakuchopurei about the possibility of characters from the Marvel Comics Universe making their MCU debut on What If...? Season 1. "The potential is there, but every idea is based on something that precedes it from the MCU. So, for example, I don’t think we would ever do an episode about a character that hasn’t appeared in one of the movies or shows yet," Winderbaum said. "However, there’s always a chance we could create new characters out of thin air. I feel like that’s the best way to tell any particular story."

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Based on the Marvel comic book anthology launched in 1977, What If...? explores alternate timelines in the multiverse where key events in MCU history played out differently. As with Loki Season 1, What If...? features variants of the characters depicted in earlier MCU shows and films, including a version of T'Challa (voiced by the late Chadwick Boseman) who's taken from Earth at a young age and grows up to become Star-Lord. However, director Bryan Andrews told Kakuchopurei that Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige requested that Season 1 stick with the already-established slate of MCU residents.

"We basically had operating instructions from Kevin Feige. Basically, we can’t introduce anyone or any character that hasn’t already been introduced in an MCU movie," Andrews said. "You won’t be seeing, like, some random person pop up from the comics or other franchises that we hadn’t seen already in MCU proper."

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"We were thinking of some ideas, like yeah, this that and Feige was like no, no, no, no, let’s just dial it back a little bit and maybe in the future we can expand beyond." he added. At the same time, Andrews teased that What If...? features "surprises" involving characters already realized in the MCU -- some of which, like the zombie-hunting Spider-Man or "Party Thor," leaked through the show's marketing ahead of its arrival.

In a separate interview, Andrews also confirmed that What If...? Season 1 doesn't feature any crossovers with Star Wars or other properties owned by Disney, either. Beyond that, though, he remained tight-lipped about the other surprises in store when the show premieres on Aug. 11 on Disney+.

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Source: Kakuchopurei