I know, I know, Marvel has their own name for them, and they’re called, What if? stories, and there is a What if? show already in existence, but I want to talk about the possibility of Marvel creating movies that are What if? In a similar way to how the DCU has their Elseworlds movies, Joker, and The Batman. Of course, they didn’t start out as simply Elseworlds movies, but that’s a topic for a different time.
Now, I don’t think at this point that the MCU needs to take any notes from the DCU, but it’s always good to keep an eye on the competition, and Elseworlds or What if movies could be beneficial for the MCU. However, I do think there are pros and cons. Before I go any further, I just want to say that this video was inspired by the Youtuber, John Campea on the John Campea Show. He has a great collaborative Youtube show all about movies, and if you haven’t checked out his channel, I highly recommend it. I’m not going to quote him, but he talked about this idea for the MCU.
What if Possibilities are Endless
Anyway, back to me, and my thoughts. Basically, we’re talking about movies that don’t fit in with the connected world, but still have some of the same characters. As a giant superhero nerd myself, I am completely up for this idea. Just one idea that comes to mind is an X-men Age of Apocalypse movie which is a world where Professor Xavier never formed the X-men and Apocalypse was able to take over the world. Now this could work in the MCU especially with the Multiverse, but we might not get to see this alternate timeline have its own movie. X-men: Days of Future Past was great, and we got to see a good amount of the future story, but the majority of the story was set in the past.
The future that we did see was also set at the bitter end of the war. I know it’s a different story, but they are similar. An Age of Apocalypse movie could show us more of a dystopian world through the eyes of Apocalypse and his enforcers as well as the resistance. Of course, an alternate time line like this one isn’t exactly a typical what if story, but there are many other stories that could work for great movies, and they can borrow from the “What if?” comics themselves as well.
The MCU Multiverse is Already Full of What if Stories
One reason that they might not want to make “What if?” movies is that now that they finally have the X-men back, they probably want to focus on bringing everything together instead of having separate stories. The X-men movies that were released by Fox are now essentially “What if?” movies, and many of those character’s are likely to pop up in the Multiverse Saga. And with the Multiverse going on, it may be confusing for general audiences to follow What if? movies as well. And the Multiverse implies that we could see those what if movies crossover with the main MCU. It seems that there is already some confusion among general audiences with the Multiverse as it stands, so these What if? movies could cause some trouble.
With the previous movies made by other studios, Marvel already has many alternate stories. A Spiderman What if? Movie is essentially off the table unless Marvel works out another deal with Sony, but they still have the Fox X-men and Fantastic Four. However, it may just be better to let those versions of the characters rest in peace after the Multiverse Saga is over. Sony should definitely take advantage of making more Spiderman movies if that’s in their contract, but they wouldn’t be under the MCU so they wouldn’t officially be “What if?” movies.
Fox Characters Left Behind
If there is a character from the older projects that still has a story to be told, a What if movie could be a good idea, but with the new versions of the characters coming, it doesn’t seem likely. It would have to be a story that makes the most sense with the previous iteration of the character. Once Kevin Feige and his team have mapped out the general projection of the X-men in the MCU, they’ll have a better idea of other stories that they want to tell that don’t fit in with the main one. For example, the X-men in the main MCU may not face the alien threat known as the Phalanx, but they could do that in a “What if?” movie.
There are so many comic book story lines that it is doubtful we will see all of them in the 3rd Saga of the MCU. Of course, the MCU will most likely be around for a while and there will be time to incorporate all of the best story lines for the X-men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the other heroes.
Leave a Reply