Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: What If…? Season 2

  • ‘What If..?’ Composer on Adapting to Each Episode’s Genre

    ‘What If..?’ Composer on Adapting to Each Episode’s Genre

    We’re still anxiously awaiting any news on what Marvel Studios’ next season of What If…? has in store for us. Besides the brief tease from San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios has gone quiet on their animation front. Wild rumors have circulated that didn’t help matters much, but it seems we have something to carry us over in an interview by Laura Karpman on what it’s like working on the animated series, and it looks like she’s having a blast.

    Oh, I love it. The thing about What If…? that’s amazing is that every episode is different, so you’re kind of starting all over again. So every episode is its own little world or a big world. And so it really is… It’s doing these series of little films, and it’s a pleasure. It’s a great gig

    Laura Karpman

    Karpman is no stranger to working with Marvel Studios, as she’s recently been involved with Ms. Marvel and even next year’s film release, The Marvels. While details on those projects aren’t divulged, she does tease how she had to adapt to each episode’s unique theming while also adhering to the scores that inspired them, if it was a Captain America or Guardians of the GAlaxy-focused episode.

    So it’s one of those things where big decisions have to be made in every episode. And in fact, it’s the opposite of prescriptive. Although there are materials that we can draw from if we choose to. So there are preexisting materials. If I want to use some of Ludwig [Göransson]’s music or Alan Silvestri music, or anybody who’s worked in the MCU, we think about how do we want to do it. And I only have one kind of monster rule for myself when it comes to using the great themes written by the composers, and that is that I don’t actually ever look at the sheet music. I do it all by ear because I think if it filters through my brain somehow, then it’ll feel like the show. Then it’ll feel like I’ve had my influence rather than just really drawing exactly from what was written. And I think it’s better for the show too, because then it feels somewhat new.

    Laura Karpman

    It definitely sounds like the series gave her a fun challenge while flexing her creative muscle. There’s something unique about their first animated project that is steeped in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s history. Now, we only need to wait for an official release date.

    Source: Collider

  • Ratings for Second Seasons of ‘Loki’, ‘What If…?’ Confirmed

    Ratings for Second Seasons of ‘Loki’, ‘What If…?’ Confirmed

    Aside from outliers like Ms. Marvel’s TV-PG rating, the standard rating for Marvel Studios Disney+ shows has remained TV-14, essentially PG-13. Marvel Cinematic Universe films, of course, have also traditionally held the PG-13 rating since the MCU began in 2008’s Iron Man.

    Still, fans lately have been keen on tracking ratings for projects as the MCU expands past the Infinity Saga. For example, all hopes and expectations are on an R-rated Deadpool 3, Marvel Studios announced that the animated series Marvel Zombies would be its first TV-MA-rated show at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

    Unsurprisingly, though, the traditional trend continues with newly revealed ratings for Loki’s next season and What If… ? Season 2. Ahead of Disney+ Day and D23, the ratings for both shows have been revealed to be TV-14. Again, given that this is the second season of an ongoing show, these ratings shouldn’t be shocking. But at least fans won’t have to worry about them being less or more mature.

    It will be interesting to watch whether and when Marvel Studios creates other shows outside of its TV-14 comfort zone, like Ms. Marvel and Marvel Zombies. Fans of traditionally more mature characters like Deadpool or Blade, and fans of the darker Netflix Marvel television series like The Punisher are eager to see how Marvel Studios expands its audience going forward.

    For the time being, fans will have to wait until Disney+ Day on Thursday, September 8 and Marvel Studios’ D23 presentation on September 10 to find out more.

    Source: The Direct

  • SDCC: ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Captain Career Isn’t The Same From ‘What If…?’

    SDCC: ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Captain Career Isn’t The Same From ‘What If…?’

    When the animated series What If… ? first dove into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the first character it introduced was Captain Carter. A variant of Peggy Carter from the Captain America franchise, Carter went on to take the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers.

    Captain Carter made a surprise appearance in live-action in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where she was a member of the Illuminati. Her character was the first to make the jump for animation to live-action, so her presence in the Doctor Strange sequel raised many questions. Primarily, fans have wondered if the Captain Carter seen in What If… ? was the same variant in Multiverse of Madness.

    Marvel Studios confirmed at their animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con that the two Captain Carters are indeed variants of one another. Importantly, that means that the What If… ? Captain Carter did not die at the hands of the Scarlet Witch. It also means that both the animated and live-action future of What If… ?’s Captain Carter, voiced and played by Hayley Atwell, may be bright.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘What If… ?’ Season 2 Will Feature More Characters and Less Death

    ‘What If… ?’ Season 2 Will Feature More Characters and Less Death

    While fans are awaiting tomorrow’s finale of What If… ?, head writer A.C. Bradley is already giving us a taste of what Season 2 of the animated series will be like and how it compares to Season 1. A second season of Marvel Studios’ multiverse anthology has been confirmed for some time and, according to Bradley, every episode of Season 2 has already been written. The writer indicated that the series will start to focus on new characters and will be able to pull ideas from Phase 4:

    Going into the second season, we’re sticking with anthology form, and it’s going to be all-new stories, lots of fun, new heroes, and pulling more from Phase Four than we were obviously able to this season…[t]he fun of What If…? is that we get to explore the entire infinite multiverse, so we try and bounce around as much as we can. I want to play with all these characters, and as much as I love Captain Carter, we’ve got to share the love. I’m very excited to show new worlds, new heroes.

    A.C. Bradley

    Interestingly, Bradley also hints that Season 2 may not be quite as dark as Season 1, or at least may not kill off characters as many times. She noted that while many of the first seasons episodes featured “big, let’s end the world, let’s kill everyone” arcs, but also says that next season is more character-driven. She hopes he series can show “a different side to [characters] that people don’t expect and hopefully they can relate to.”

    Bradley added that What If… ? is not “designed to set up Avengers 5,” and emphasized how she approached the series as an opportunity to focus on entertaining and exploring what MCU heroes mean to us:

    When I took the job, one of my rules was let’s be free. We’re in the multiverse — we should be as free as can be and go and run into the wild, into the stories the movies will never do, into the stories the TV shows will never do, and show both Disney and the fans all the possibilities of these characters.

    A.C. Bradley

    Bradley’s comments about What If… ? utilizing its creative freedom definitely echo some of fans’ desires for the show that weren’t necessarily met in Season 1. Either way, it looks like Season 2 could be significantly different in tone and potentially explore far more possibilities of the multiverse than the MCU has so far.