The ‘What If…?’ Team Was Not Allowed to Include Sam Wilson or the X-Men in Season 2
While Marvel’s What If…? allows its writers to imagine endless possibilities for the infinite multiverse, according to head writer A.C. Bradley, the What If...? team did have limitations imposed on them by Marvel.
While Season 2 of the animated series saw Nebula join the Nova Corps, Happy Hogan transform into the Hulk, and a new hero emerge in pre-colonial America, one notable Marvel character was absent- Sam Wilson.

Photo: Collider
Why Sam Wilson Was Absent
According to Brandley, the reason for Wilson’s absence was that the season was written as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was being filmed. As the team did not know when the two series would be released, What If…? could not spoil Wilson picking up Captain America’s mantle.

Image Credit: Marvel Studios
“We also couldn’t do Sam Wilson’s Captain America because we didn’t know when that would be coming out. Again, we were writing Season 2 as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier paused shooting and the scripts were being re-written because of other things,” Bradley explained.

Photo: Marvel
” We don’t know when anything is airing. So, we couldn’t touch it because we’re not allowed to introduce⦠It makes sense, you let the character live in live-action first and then go play in the multiverse.”
The X-Men Were Off Limits
Similarly, Bradley and her team could not use the X-Men despite the fact that the iconic team of mutants is being set up to play a prominent role in the future of the MCU.
“They were pretty much off the table. They’re like, ‘We got to do it first in live action and then you get to do it’. And we’re like, Ah, man! We would’ve loved to have played with all kinds of toys. But there’s limitations,” Bradley said.
While a third season of What If…? is on the way, based on how far along in production the new season is, it seems unlikely that we will see the X-Men featured.
Still, Sam Wilson is firmly entrenched as Captain America, and The Marvels introduced Beast to the MCU, so perhaps the What If…? team will get to use these characters after all.

Photo: Marvel
Season 1 and 2 of What If…? is now streaming on Disney+.
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