Head of Marvel Television and Animation Brad Winderbaum has a lot to be proud of this year.
From the critical and audience acclaim of X-Men ‘97 and Agatha All Along to Disney+’s first profitable fiscal quarter (Q3), Winderbaum looks to carry that momentum into 2025. But first he’s bidding adieu to one of the studio’s foundational series, What If…?. The animated anthology has no shortage of what-if stories that it could explore, but capping the show has more to do with the needs of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“What If…? has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective,” Winderbaum tells The Hollywood Reporter.
One of the key takeaways that Winderbaum has discovered since Marvel Studios started releasing television shows on Disney+ in 2021 is that they don’t always have to create something that’s everything to everyone.
“The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people,” Winderbaum says. “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Endgame-scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.”
Looking ahead, Marvel Television begins 2025 with what might be its most anticipated series to date, as March marks the return of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again. (Earlier this year, Winderbaum explained the simplified way in which Marvel Studios declared all of Netflix’s former Marvel series to be MCU canon.) The longtime executive also sheds light on what to expect from their multiple new animated series.
“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together,” Winderbaum shares. “Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. Eyes of Wakanda is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel Zombies is this sprawling adventure story using the whole world as its backdrop.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Winderbaum also addresses the future of non-Daredevil Netflix characters, such as Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, as well as what’s next for Iman Vellani’s fan-favorite character, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.
Based on the two episodes I’ve screened, this series is still going strong, creatively. So why was this the time to end it?
Well, I can’t go into great detail, but just like the first season came out after the Sacred Timeline blossomed into multiple alternate realities at the end of Loki season one, What If…? has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective.
(L-R): Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (voiced by David Harbour) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (voiced by Sebastian Stan) in Marvel Animation Television’s WHAT IF…? Season 3.
Courtesy of Marvel Animation
One of the episodes involves Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei (David Harbour) going on an adventure. Was this episode meant to be a starter course for their dynamic in next year’s Thunderbolts?
It wasn’t designed that way. We were just spitballing stories like we always do in the What If…? writers’ room. Obviously, Sebastian Stan’s depiction as Bucky is one of the most iconic characters in the MCU, and I love David Harbour. The way he’s embodied Red Guardian is just so entertaining. He’s so charismatic, and he just jumps off the screen, so seeing those characters together just felt like a natural fit. They both have these Russian origins, and the what-if scenario — “What if you stop the death of Howard and Maria Stark?” — was just a fun story to play in.
“What If… the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” was originally intended to be a season two episode, so I wrongfully theorized that it was held back to be pre-promotion for Thunderbolts.
Honestly, it’s serendipitous that it’s coming out right before Thunderbolts, as is the Mech Avengers episode with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America [before Captain America: Brave New World]. That’s something we’ve wanted to put on screen, and based on the timeline of how long it takes to make animation versus a movie, you have to add an extra year onto animation, really. So it just happens that [these two What If…? episodes] are lining up perfectly for those two [2025] films.
Marvel Animation Television’s WHAT IF…? Season 3.
Courtesy of Marvel Animation
When we last spoke for X-Men ‘97, you acknowledged that the state of streaming at the time had caused Marvel Studios to be more judicious. But, since then, you’ve had three resounding wins: X-Men ‘97, Agatha All Along and a very positive third quarter for Disney+. So do you feel like you have some renewed wind at your back currently?
The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people. I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Endgame-scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. What’s important is that anybody shows up in an emotional way, that we can tell stories that speak to any portion of our fan base and bring them the elation they experienced in the theater when they saw Endgame. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job. That will allow these shows to be discovered and for the word of mouth to grow, so that more people can discover them.
We also discussed the integration of the former Netflix shows into Disney+’s MCU chronology and how Daredevil: Born Again was retooled to embrace those stories. But are all those former Netflix characters on the board now? Is someone such as Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) eligible to return under the right circumstances?
It’s all one shared universe, so you never know where characters are going to pop up next. It’s a huge opportunity to have officially folded those stories into our canon. Whether or not they were always part of the canon, it’s now official, and we can play with those toys in our toy box. There are surprises around the band that I won’t get into, but for fans of the Netflix shows, we’ve got a very exciting show on the horizon in Daredevil: Born Again.
With 2025 right around the corner, would you mind giving your best elevator pitch for next year’s Disney+ slate?
I remember walking into the comic store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me. There was heightened fantasy with Thor. There was soap opera with social commentary in X-Men. There were adventure stories in The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing. There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together. Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. Eyes of Wakanda is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel Zombies is this sprawling adventure story that uses the whole world as its backdrop. Every one of these shows has a different tone and a different type of story in a different genre. And just like the comics, it speaks to the breadth of the Marvel brand.
I’m staring at a Ms. Marvel logo behind you right now, and I’m reminded of how you struck gold with Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. What can you say about her future?
I love Iman. She’s incredible. I love that character. I will tell you that she’s certainly a big part of the MCU to me. Ms. Marvel is a really important show to us, and without going into great detail, because I don’t want to spoil anything, she is top of mind. So it’s going to be exciting to see where she pops up next.
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What If…? season three premieres Dec. 22 on Disney+.
