Marvel’s What If...? writer reveals the two things that were ‘off limits’ for new MCU series

The head writer of the forthcoming Marvel anthology series What If...? has revealed the two things she was told were “off limits”.

The animated series, debuting later this month on Disney Plus, focuses on alternate versions of pre-existing Marvel stories, experimenting with key points of the main MCU timeline.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, the series’ head writer AC Bradley discussed the restrictions the creative team faced when devising which plotlines to use.

“One was we couldn’t do anything that the movies or TV shows were already doing,” she said. “So that let us go to weirder and stranger places.”

For instance, one of the ideas that Bradley had to abandon hewed too close to the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which will be released in 2023.

Another stipulation that Marvel apparently insisted upon was that the series was not allowed to include any elements from the Star Wars universe. Both Marvel Studios and Star Wars are currently owned by Disney.

“Despite my damndest, I was not allowed to use Star Wars characters,” said Bradley.

“I tried many times; they kept reminding me that Luke Skywalker is not an Avenger,” she joked.

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What If...? starts streaming on Disney Plus on 11 August.

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