‘What If…?’ Producer Explains Why X-Men and the Fantastic Four are off the Table
With Marvel’s plethora of successful shows debuting to rave reviews, the MCU’s newestDisney+ exclusive series is no exception; however, the What if…? producer discusses why X-Men and the Fantastic Four are strictly off the table for the new series.
Marvel Studios, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have spent over a decade building a revolutionary, interconnected, movie universe that is unlike anything that the film industry has ever seen.
With entire trilogies dedicated to characters like Iron Man and Captain America, and a plethora of Avengers films have all worked together to create the modern MCU; an endeavor that grows ever larger with each passing film.
It was in 2019, that Marvel saw an incredible alteration to their plan; an alteration that even the most passionate of fans never thought would be possible.
Disney completed the highly publicized acquisition of Fox; the studio that owned the rights to two of Marvel’s biggest properties, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.
With that news coming just two years ago,, Marvels What If…? is the first project that is able to feature the introduction of mutants and Marvel’s first family; the question is, why has there still not been a single inclining of their MCU introduction?
Someone may now have an answer, as the What If…? producer explains why X-Men and the Fantastic Four are off the table…for now.
Brad Winderbaum, the executive producer for the newest Marvel series, spoke to Collider about the two beloved Marvel properties, and why his series gladly followed strict orders to stay far away from them.
Winderbaum noted,
We had very few parameters when we were ideating the show, but that was certainly one of them. We wanted to make sure that the characters were firmly rooted in the MCU. And that had nothing to do with rights and had nothing to do with the future stories we wanted to tell.
It had everything to do with what ‘What If…?’ is: which is a spin on an established storyline. So we look- primarily- at the Infinity Saga.
It makes perfect sense for What If…? to stand as an opportunity to explore alternate versions of classic MCU characters; capitalizing on the attachment we have to them, and the endless possibilities of the multiverse
Winderbaum’s words are important to note for fans as it pertains to the future of MArvels’ integration of these two Fox properties.
Marvel is going to take the same journey with these characters, as they do every other; they’re going to meticulously and carefully craft their story into the story of the MCU.
When that has happened, and we know who the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are, then we can ask that oh so important question; What If…?