2024 has been extremely good to X-Men fans. Not only did this year deliver the grand return of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (and assorted friends and foes) in Deadpool & Wolverine, it also gave us the absolute Marvel masterpiece that was X-Men ’97. The good times aren’t over yet, either, as it turns out we’re going to get the MCU debut of Storm before the year is out.
Even though Agatha All Along is in our rearview mirror, there’s still one more season of Marvel TV to come in 2024. Namely, What If…? season 3. The studio unveiled some exciting new details about this latest run of the animated anthology show at this past weekend’s D23 Brazil, which included a first-look glimpse at various new variants set to appear this year. Previously, we’d heard that a major character would be making their arrival in the MCU this season, and it turns out this is none other than Ororo Monroe herself.
Just to add to the hype, this Storm variant will also wield Thor’s hammer Mjolnir — which makes sense, if you think about it, as she is known for her lightning-controlling abilities. Last but not least, we also know who will be voicing Storm in this appearance. And this casting should please fans of the heroine.
Who is playing Storm in What If…? season 3?
We don’t yet know exactly how Worthy Storm will factor into What If…? season 3, but we can say who will be bringing her to life. Marvel has entrusted this first incarnation of Ororo within the MCU multiverse to none other than X-Men ’97 veteran Alison Sealy-Smith. The X-Men: The Animated Series actress has been playing Storm for even longer than Halle Berry, so she’s truly the safest pair of hands in which to trust her introduction into the MCU.
Sealy-Smith’s casting is quietly a major deal, though, as it seemingly solidifies X-Men ’97‘s status as part of the MCU multiverse itself. This was already implied by the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from the Watcher himself in season 1, but now that a variant of one of its characters will interact with MCU characters in a different timeline the door is open for further crossovers down the line. Not to mention the potential for Storm to finally return in live-action to boot.
Storm’s debut was confirmed via a poster unveiled by Marvel at D23 Brazil, which also revealed that many other fan-favorites will be putting in appearances as well — including White Vision, Shang-Chi, and, um, Arishem from Eternals (what? He’s bound to be at least one fan’s favorite).
The downside is that What If…? season 3 will be two episodes shorter in length than the two previous seasons. This time around, it will comprise only eight episodes instead of 10. This is likely due to time constraints, as even the show’s producers have admitted that Marvel’s deadline for this season was “tight.” Catch What If…? season when it starts dropping episodes daily from Dec. 22.