What If? is such an interesting show for Marvel because it allows them to do...basically anything. The entire concept of the show is to present crazy "what if" scenarios involving MCU heroes and villains, and put characters into situations they would never normally find themselves in. The medium of animation also gives the creative team a lot of freedom, because animation allows for wackier situations and action set pieces than would be possible in a live-action show.
Because of the very nature of What If?, there are basically infinite possibilities as to where the show could go in future seasons. It would be nice to see a season that's simply anthology, and not all connected like the first season was, because they could really branch out with it. Every scenario takes an MCU story that's already been told and asks, "What would have happened if a different choice was made, or if x thing didn't happen at all?". There are so many different storylines the show could explore in the future, and here are just five ideas about what some of those could be.
What If...Odin Hadn't Imprisoned Hela?
Hela's appearance in Thor: Ragnarok was certainly a formidable one, and she quickly proved to be one of the most powerful villains that the MCU had seen to date. Her backstory, however, is one of the more interesting parts of her character. She was Odin and Frigga's firstborn and was by Odin's side through all of the conquests that lead Asgard to being the great power that it is. However, Odin eventually realized that peace was a better way to rule, and tried to make Hela comply with that. When she would not, and she attempted to take the throne through a violent coup, he imprisoned her in Hel and wiped her from any records in Asgard, to the point that his other children had no knowledge of her.
But what if that hadn't happened? This story concept could go a couple of different ways. Perhaps the scenario is that Odin never learned peace, and he and Hela continued to rule violently. What would Thor and Loki have turned out like? How would this impact the outcome of the Thor movies? Alternatively, Hela could successfully take the throne from Odin and rule Asgard instead. Maybe at this point, Thor and Loki are in the picture and have to figure out a way to overthrow her and restore peace to the realm. The Asgardian mythology in the MCU movies has always been interesting, and it would just be great to see more of it from What If?
What If...Sylvie Hadn't Been Taken By The TVA?
Speaking of Asgard, it would be interesting to see another multiverse version of it - namely, one where Sylvie isn’t snatched by the TVA and lives out the rest of her life on Asgard. This is getting a few levels deep, as Sylvie is already a version of Loki from a different universe, and this pitch would be exploring another, alternate version of Sylvie. Because of how the TVA works, there might not even be a timeline in which she’s not taken from her original time stream, but What If? likes to bend some of the pre-established MCU rules, so it’s possible this could happen.
This episode would basically answer the question of why Sylvie was taken from her timeline in the first place. What was it about her future that was worthy of pruning? If the mistake was simply that she was born as a girl, surely the TVA would have pruned her sooner. Some fans have theorized that because young Sylvie is seen playing with Valkyrie dolls, she would have grown up to be a hero rather than a villain, which is what made her a variant. It would be cool to see a What If? episode that confirms this, and shows what Sylvie’s life would have been like if she didn’t have to go on the run from the TVA.
What If…The Other Half Were Blipped?
This is a popular What If? pitch amongst fans, and also just an interesting thought experiment in and of itself. In this universe, all of the people who were Blipped in the original MCU timeline survived Thanos’s snap, and now have to deal with the fallout. Would they have been able to figure out a solution to reversing the Blip without certain characters like Tony Stark to figure out the elements of time travel? And what would Wanda have been like in her immediate grief dealing with the fallout of the Blip?
This would also mean that Thanos was part of the 50% that got Blipped, which means that they wouldn't have to deal with finding him, but would the Infinity Stones disappear with him? This whole concept would just give some of the MCU characters who aren’t the original Avengers some time to shine and show that they’re just as capable of saving the world (which would be a good message to have going into Phase 4, where most of the original six Avengers aren’t present).
What If…Bucky Killed Tony In Civil War?
This concept would keep intact the most prominent What If? recurring gag, which involves Tony Stark dying (seriously, he dies in every episode of the show that he appears in). In this version of events, Bucky kills Tony at some point during Civil War, either during their initial confrontation when he's been put into Winter Soldier mode, or during the fight at the end of the movie after Tony finds out who killed his parents. The latter option would especially create some long-lasting tensions that would be interesting to explore.
How would this change Steve and Bucky's relationship? Steve has defended Bucky through everything so far, but he might draw the line at murdering someone that Steve is friends with (even if they had spent the whole movie fighting). And what are the implications for the rest of the MCU without Tony? Again, he wouldn't be there to figure out time travel, or to perform the final, world-saving snap in Endgame. This concept is a bit simpler, but it could be an interesting character study, and have a spy thriller sort of feel if Bucky has to go on the run from all of the Avengers again.
What If…The Avengers Was a Musical?
Now, this concept might not be for everyone, but it’s not a totally wild idea. There is a classic trope in television of having a musical episode, and this would give Marvel a perfect opportunity to play with that trope. A lot of the MCU actors can sing, and it would be so fun to have them performing songs in character. The idea is just that in this particular universe, everything is always a musical (there doesn’t need to be the “one different choice changes everything” motif for this episode). It would be reminiscent of the Phineas and Ferb episode "Rollercoaster: The Musical!", where they revisit the events of the first episode, but make it a musical this time.
They could do this with any of the movies (or combine a few of them into one), but The Avengers in particular feels like a good movie to turn into a musical theatre piece because it’s kind of a classic within the Marvel pantheon. It just feels like a big sweeping story that could still work with songs, and the original film is just campy enough that a musical version wouldn’t feel totally out of place. And just think, Loki would get an absolutely epic villain number!