Movies News Talk
Three years since the Multiverse Saga started, few people may have witnessed the MCU's best What If...? story thus yet. The multiverse has been influencing all spheres of the MCU ever since Loki season 1 spurred its revival. This has produced the introduction of Spider-Man variants in Spider-Man: No Way Home, a voyage across numerous worlds in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the MCU's biggest threat thus far the Council of Kangs - in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Meanwhile, the animated MCU show What If... has been delving deeper into alternate worlds in which branching histories result from the tiniest of deviations from the primary MCU timeline. While the second season of What If...? ended in December 2023, a bonus episode of sorts has now surfaced under odd disguise. Marvel Studios and the Apple Vision Pro are working together to create an immersive story with another branching history based on what if... and it might be among the best multiverse stories ever.
An immersive episode of What If...? dubbed "What If...? - An Immersive Story transforms the observer or player into the so-called "Hero of the Multiverse," a protagonist with natural sorcery ability Wong helps to perfect in a matter of minutes. It starts with the Watcher begging the Hero to stop three villains from acquiring particular Infinity Stones in their timelines and so alter the natural path of the multiverse. The Soul and Space Stones as well as The Watcher's capacity to send them to other worlds enable the hero accomplish this.
As the Hero stops the relevant enemies, he gathers Infinity Stones; only then does "The Watcher" show himself as Scarlet Witch in disguise. Seeking to establish a brand-new multiverse in her image, Scarlet Witch grabs the Infinity Stones for herself. She then sends the baddies and the Hero to the Soul Realm. Here the player encounters Vision, whose death is an Absolute Point in time and something Wanda wants avoided. Following Wong's release and helping the Scarlet Witch to be defeated, the Hero carries Wanda and Vision to the Soul Realm so they may be reunited always. The Hero of the Multiverse must then make a tough choice: let the multiverse follow its natural path or let the villains to exploit the Infinity Stones as they meant. Two quite distinct endings then take front stage.
Placing a single decision at the viewers' feet helps one to really understand the concept of Branching Timelines produced by those decisions. In what case...? An Immersive Story approaches absolutely fresh territory in MCU narrative. The nature of the multiverse and What If...? stories fit exactly a choose-your-own-adventure framework and this project captures that possibility. Placing the viewer front-and-center lets the mind-bending idea of What If...? all-new levels as the audience itself influences the universe.
Placing a single decision at the viewers' feet helps one to really understand the concept of Branching Timelines produced by those decisions. This accentuates the idea even more since it seems significantly less constrained than the narratives being presented inside the limited framework of a regular episode. The two endings also seem to augur even more participatory What If...? stories, implying that Marvel plans to create more tales in this especially unusual environment.
Regretfully, what if? An Immersive Story only involves the small number of Apple Vision Pros owners. This prevents a great swath of MCU enthusiasts from even knowing this specific Multiverse Saga narrative, so this excludes a criminally underappreciated addition to the MCU that finally walks new ground as fans want for different genres. Although gameplays can be seen online on sites like YouTube, they will mostly go under the radar since they are not viewable using conventional means like Disney+ or cinemas.
No other MCU release shares this level of status. Though the canonicity of What If...? - An Immersive Story is debatable, the sheer structure of the multiverse points to it being canon as any other world, including Fox's X-Men franchise and Sony's Spider-Man series. Fortunately, this also means that, even if it does not affect the main MCU storyline, missing out on this underappreciated MCU installment merely results in the fact that it is worth a view.
Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the animated anthology series What If... stars Peggy Carter, T'Challa, Doctor Strange, Killmonger, Thor, and more—fan-favorite characters. Under Bryan Andrews' direction alongside AC Bradley as lead writer, the new series has trademark MCU action with an intriguing twist. The program features Uatu The Watcher, an all-powerful entity unable to meddle as it watches the events of several worlds from far-off. Things change, though, when a being glances beyond the curtain and compromises the multiverse.
What If...? An Immersive Story heralds a new chapter of MCU storytelling by proving the possibilities of augmented reality to provide interactive and immersive experiences. Early on in its development, this initiative has shown that the MCU can push boundaries and provide fans creative means of interacting with the property. For those who wish to explore the multiverse in a totally fresh manner, What If...? - An Immersive Story is a must-try with its special mix of interactive storytelling and the enthralling universe of the MCU.