Before 2023 ended, Marvel Studios graced fans with the second season of What If…? But, everyone’s favorite web-slinger almost made a groundbreaking appearance.
The Darkest MCU Spider-Man Story
Not only would Peter Parker/Spider-Man have swung into the second season of What If…?, but it would have reportedly been one of his darkest stories unfolded on screen.
Season two of What If…? screamed all the hallmarks of classic film genres, movies like Blade Runner (1982), and even some familiar Marvel tropes. But, nothing was more of a shock to every Marvel fan watching than the new direction Marvel Studios took the season in.
In an exclusive interview with IGN, head writer/showrunner A.C. Bradley shared that Spider-Man almost starred in an episode heavily inspired by Children of Men (2006) but was scrapped due to COVID:
“It felt like the world was already ending and we didn’t need to add to it. And so it became kind of an escape and a fun release. However, I did write an episode, which is forever going in a drawer, that was very, very dark. I was calling it ‘Children of Men with Spider-Man.‘”
Why Did Marvel Scrap the Episode?
With animation taking far longer to produce than traditional live-action media paired with CGI, the What If…? team has been hard at work with season two since before season one even premiered on Disney+ in 2021. With the initial production of the series kicking into action in 2018, Bradley didn’t sit down with his creative crew until 2020 to write the scripts fully remote.
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Bradley shared:
“With Season 1, there was a push to use the headliners, to do the Tony Stark episode, to do the Black Panther episode and Doctor Strange.”
“But with Season 2, we had a bit more freedom. At the end of the day, we’re not writing the big blockbuster, 100 million dollar movie. We’re not even showrunning the live action TV shows. We’re the scrappy, little animation show slipping under the Marvel machine radar. So, it was really subconscious but I think we veered toward the scrappy characters in Season 2. We started with the second stringers, the undervalued and overlooked, like Nebula (Karen Gillan), Darcy (Kat Dennings), and Hela.”
Given the sign of the times when writing this Spidey-centered episode, Bradley felt it best not to add another sour note to the world with a depressing Spider-Man episode.
Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Roma, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), highlights the dystopian future where women globally become infertile, leaving the globe to collapse when one woman, Julian (Julianne Moore), becomes mysteriously pregnant. Furthermore, the film earned a “Severe” rating for Violence & Gore on IMDb.
With the light-hearted and loveable Spider-Man juxtaposed against a setting as bleak as Children of Men, fans would have been in store for a heavy episode.
While head writer A.C. Bradley hasn’t shared more on the plot details of his scrapped episode (would Peter Parker be seen delivering a particular child or woman across the United States against hoards of people?, etc.), he highlights that “[it] was very, very dark.”
More About What If…?
Marvel’s What If…? series, streaming on Disney+, explores alternate realities within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, presenting intriguing twists on familiar storylines. The show is narrated by Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, an omniscient being overseeing these alternate timelines. Each episode delves into pivotal moments, imagining how events could unfold differently.
Fan-favorite characters take on new roles, such as Peggy Carter becoming Captain Carter, voiced by Hayley Atwell, and T’Challa as Star-Lord, portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman. Other notable voice actors include Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. The series offers a captivating exploration of the multiverse, showcasing the creative possibilities of the Marvel universe.
