Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Opinion, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: captain america, civil war, defenders, Marvel's What If, opinion, spider-man, venom, x-men

What If Marvel Explored Its Sandbox More with X-Men, Venom & Others?

The execution of Marvel's What If…? left a lot to be desired with its first season, with the animated series primarily interested in only its core cinematic characters and thus missing out on a multiverse of possibilities. It just seems like if you got the screen rights to the X-Men back when acquiring FOX and have an agreement with Sony to feature Spider-Man, there could be potential for even more possibilities. Not having the physical MCU actors didn't stop them from using said characters as well. So I have a few suggestions for stories they could tap into for season two.

What If Someone Else Became Venom?

Anyone who's followed Venom in the comics knows that there are symbiote hosts other than Eddie Brock, which live-action fans would only be familiar with Eddie Brock from the Topher Grace and Tom Hardy takes on the character. We got brief moments with Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) from the two films, but it's more so done for comedic purposes than really explore the potential of She-Venom. Williams deserves a time to shine as Venom. Hell, I wouldn't even mind if we got Flash Thompson's Agent Venom, Mac Gargan Venom, or even Gwenom to name the most popular spins. I would love to see Tom Holland's take on an arc if Spider-Man kept the symbiote.

What If They Revisted Civil War Aftermath Where Steve Rogers Died?

The 2016 film Captain America: Civil War re-explored the themes of superhero registration similar to its comic counterpart. The difference with the MCU in its aftermath to its comics was that Steve Rogers (following the events depicted in "Civil War") was assassinated by Crossbones and Sharon Carter in Ed Brubaker's "The Death of Captain America". Whereas Chris Evans got to have his happy ending following his fight with Thanos at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame (2019) being able to grow old with Peggy Carter after deciding not to travel back forward in time. What If… didn't have a problem killing the Avengers at the hands of Hank Pym, so why not bring one of the best Captain America stories to life?

What If the Defenders and X-Men Returned?

With Netflix's exclusive TV rights to the Defenders expiring, there's no reason why they couldn't make their debut on Disney+ regardless if you get their live-action actors to voice their animated counterparts. Same for the X-Men now that Disney owns FOX. Hell, I'd even argue it would be great to get a preview of the creativity that can be achieved now that they're back within the same family. Whether if it's from the original trilogy of the new class films to get the actors back into the fold would be a real treat to fans perhaps giving the closure they never got when Dark Phoenix came out.

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