Head of Marvel Television and Animation Brad Winderbaum has a lot to be proud of this year.
From the critical and audience acclaim of X-Men ‘97 and Agatha All Along to Disney+’s first profitable fiscal quarter (Q3), Winderbaum looks to carry that momentum into 2025. But first he’s bidding adieu to one of the studio’s foundational series, What If…?. The animated anthology has no shortage of what-if stories that it could explore, but capping the show has more to do with the needs of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“What If…? has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective,” Winderbaum tells The Hollywood Reporter.
One of the key takeaways that Winderbaum has discovered since Marvel Studios started releasing television shows on Disney+ in 2021 is that they don’t always have to create something that’s everything to everyone.
“The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people,” Winderbaum says. “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Endgame-scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.”
Looking ahead, Marvel Television begins 2025 with what might be its most anticipated series to date, as March marks the return of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again. (Earlier this year, Winderbaum explained the simplified way in which Marvel Studios declared all of Netflix’s former Marvel series to be MCU canon.) The longtime executive also sheds light on what to expect from their multiple new animated series.
“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together,” Winderbaum shares. “Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. Eyes of Wakanda is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel Zombies is this sprawling adventure story using the whole world as its backdrop.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Winderbaum also addresses the future of non-Daredevil Netflix characters, such as Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, as well as what’s next for Iman Vellani’s fan-favorite character, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.
Based on the two episodes I’ve screened, this series is still going strong, creatively. So why was this the time to end it?
Well, I can’t go into great detail, but just like the first season came out after the Sacred Timeline blossomed into multiple alternate realities at the end of Loki season one, What If…? has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective.
(L-R): Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (voiced by David Harbour) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (voiced by Sebastian Stan) in Marvel Animation Television’s WHAT IF…? Season 3.
Courtesy of Marvel Animation
One of the episodes involves Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei (David Harbour) going on an adventure. Was this episode meant to be a starter course for their dynamic in next year’s Thunderbolts?
It wasn’t designed that way. We were just spitballing stories like we always do in the What If…? writers’ room. Obviously, Sebastian Stan’s depiction as Bucky is one of the most iconic characters in the MCU, and I love David Harbour. The way he’s embodied Red Guardian is just so entertaining. He’s so charismatic, and he just jumps off the screen, so seeing those characters together just felt like a natural fit. They both have these Russian origins, and t