The Watcher will return when the second season of Marvel’s What If…? hits Disney+ on December 22 with nine brand new stories spanning the multiverse and looking at several different possibilities. The new trailer for the series offered a lot of exciting looks but didn’t necessarily tell us what each of the nine episodes will have in store for Marvel fans. So, I’ve taken a closer a look at the trailer and am attempting to separate these quick glimpses into nine different episodes.
What if Peter Quill was delivered to Ego?
The trailer opens up with a team of heroes going after a boy at a carnival. The team includes Hank Pym’s Ant-Man, Dr. Bill Foster’s Giant-Man or Goliath, King T’Chaka’s Black Panther and Dr. Wendy Lawson or Mar-Vell. They attempt to apprehend a young Peter Quill who appears to have celestial abilities. It doesn’t take long to see that they may have bitten off a bit more than they can chew.
This team of heroes assembles multiple times throughout the trailer – including alongside Thor and Captain Carter – so either this episode will follow their adventures or they are going to show up in multiple episodes of this second season. It could be they will follow the path of the Guardians of the Multiverse from season one, though it appears several of them are going to be showing up as well.
What if Nebula joined the Nova Corps?
This is one of the shakier theories here as there appear to be a lot of images that might tie into this episode. One of the earlier visuals in the trailer is Nebula removing a Nova Corps helmet and she shows up several times throughout the trailer, appearing to be the hero of her story.
With that being said, we also see Gamora as she appeared as a member of the Guardians of the Multiverse as well as some kind of enhance Rocket Raccoon with some very big weapons. This could just be some kind of alternate Guardians of the Galaxy adventure, but Nebula certainly seems to be at the center of some kind of story here.
What if Odin and Hela never stopped conquering?
I may be combining two different episodes here, but this would be very interesting. Early on, we see Hela walking through the rain, so clearly she is going to have a prominent role to play. We also see several images reminiscent of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, including the Great Protector. We later see Wenwu and Ying Li using the power of the 10 rings again Odin and an army of Asgardians.
We remember from Thor: Ragnarok that Odin eventually put a stop to Hela’s thirst for power and imprisoned her. But what if he never did, and her wrath eventually came to Midgard. This would have been centuries ago when Earth’s best defender may have just been Wenwu with the Ten Rings and the might of Ta Lo and the Great Protector.
What if Wanda warped the Marvel Universe?
This is the trickiest one to piece together. We see Wanda seemingly working with Asgardians early on and maybe opening some kind of portal or unleashing some kind of power. Asgardians show up several times throughout the trailer, so it’s hard to place exactly how many episodes they’re in.
The only other imagery that seems to match the one above(aside from another quick shot of Wanda) comes later on when we see some characters fighting in some sort of red glow. We see the Hulk, with facial hair, perhaps hinting that this story will see the creation of Maestro – a dystopian future version of the Hulk who has seen the world destroyed by nuclear war. We also see Ant-Man and Captain America sword fighting so… your guess is as good as mine there.
What if Marvel was Twisted Metal?
While most of these episodes seem as though they could have ties to what will likely be another epic finale, this one seems like more of a fun one-off. In a brief, action-packed sequence, we see a slew of Marvel characters taking part in what appears to be some kind of savage death race.
Gamora, Tony Stark, Valkyrie, Korg and the Grandmaster all appear to be participating in this savage contest. My best guess is they are on Sakaar and this is just the Grandmaster’s latest game. But what is the prize? If this serves that same one-off purpose as last season’s “Zombies” episode, it should be one of the best.
What if the Avengers stopped Thanos in Infinity War?
This one is also very up in the air but it certainly seems as though it has a major connection to the aforementioned epic finale. We get a glimpse of Captain America fighting Thanos at the Battle of Wakanda. This time though, Cap lands a shot on the Gauntlet that might just change the course of the battle.
This is certainly an interesting story to explore. The Avengers losing in Infinity War set the course for the rest of the MCU, with half of all life blipping for five years. But what if that had never happened? Who knows what other threats may have emerged in that time.
What if Marvel did Die Hard?
After the intense music and action-heavy images are done, the trailer leans into the holiday season with a look at a Christmas-themed episode. Darcy Lewis answers a phone call from Happy Hogan letting her know Avengers Tower has been overtaken. She expresses her shock that this would happen on Christmas and tries to come up with what movie this reminds her of. Meanwhile, Happy is going full John McClane in the air ducts at the tower.
We also get some very quick glimpses of what looks like the Avengers enjoying a holiday party before having to leap into action in the most dramatic, slow-motion way they know how. We don’t get to see who it is attacking Avengers Tower so that remains a mystery. My guess is, this will be another fun one-off kind of episode.
What if Kahhori found the Tesseract?
We got our first look at a new character named Kahhori way back in March. We learned then that Kahhori is a Native American who existed before the colonization of America and that this episode would see the Tesseract fall to Earth and land in the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kahhori then finds the Tesseract, leading her on a quest to discover her power. It’s also worth mentioning that the comic arc “1602″ was announced to be a part of this season. This episode could see a brief adaptation of that story.
Now, it appears that quest will include crossing paths with Captain Carter, Strange Supreme and even Thanos. This will likely be the episode that leads into the ninth and final. Killmonger is also briefly seen in the trailer and this would most likely be the episode in which he would show up.
Of course, the ninth episode would be that epic finale that will undoubtedly see some of the heroes from previous episodes team up to stop some new multiversal threat. Last season it was Infinity Ultron that made the Watcher break his oath and brought the heroes together. Who will it be this time?
Marvel’s What If..? season 2 premieres December 22 with nine episodes airing daily on Disney+.