While What If...? will feature a plethora of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) veterans, a few key actors will not reprise their roles for the animated Disney+ series.
According to Variety, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), The Collector (Benicio del Toro), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Howard the Duck (Seth Green) will not return for What If...? However, their Marvel characters will appear in the series and be voiced by other actors.
What If...? will expand Marvel Studios' concept of the multiverse by presenting classic one-shot MCU stories with a twist. Some storylines include Killmonger saving Tony Stark from the attack in Afghanistan from Iron Man, Peggy Carter taking on the title of Captain Carter, the United Kingdom's version of Captain America, T'Challa joining the Ravagers and becoming Star-Lord, Marvel Zombies and Party Thor throwing a massive celebration on Midgard with drastic implications.
The series will be narrated by Jeffrey Wright's The Watcher, a cosmic being who observes all timelines but cannot interfere. The series will also serve as the final Marvel performance for Chadwick Boseman, who will appear in multiple episodes. Boseman starred as T'Challa in the first Black Panther film — as well as in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame — and died in August 2020 at the age of 43 due to colon cancer.
What If...? is one of many Marvel Studios shows planned for Disney+. The studio has Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight in development. At the most recent Disney investor day, the House of Mouse also announced Armor Wars, Ironheart and Secret Invasion series. Marvel also has series based on Echo, a character who will be introduced in Hawkeye, in the works. Finally, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler is developing a series based on the African nation of Wakanda. This is on top of WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, both of which are currently streaming on Disney+, and Loki, which is nearing the end of its debut season.
Created by A.C. Bradley and directed by Bryan Andrews, What If...? stars Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, Hayley Atwell as Captain Peggy Carter, Josh Brolin as Thanos, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Sebastian Stan as James “Bucky” Barnes, Chris Sullivan as Taserface, Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine and Taika Waititi as Korg. The series premieres on Aug. 11 on Disney+.
Source: Variety