Marvel recently took another step towards ramping up the future of the MCU to a cosmic level by introducing Uatu the Watcher to the franchise. The character will be voiced by Jeffrey Wright, who’ll make his first appearance in the upcoming Disney Plus animated show What If…?, a series of re-imaginings of the MCU’s existing storylines.
The Watcher is an alien being from Marvel Comics who belongs to an immensely ancient and powerful race. Despite being one of the most powerful beings in existence though, most of the race have dedicated their lives to simply observing important events taking place in the multiverse without interfering. Uatu’s assigned to observe Earth and the surrounding space, and despite his vow of non-interference, has in the past often found himself interacting with and helping the heroes to prevent a major catastrophe.
The Watchers have already made an appearance in the MCU, of course. They were the giant, blue-robed and bald-headed characters Stan Lee was talking to in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And while they didn’t have any lines, the scene confirmed the fact that the MCU’s Earth is definitely a source of interest to the Watchers. Not only that, but Lee’s various cameos throughout the Marvel films may have been in the capacity of either being a Watcher himself or an emissary of the alien beings.
Circling back to Jeffrey Wright, though, and we’re hearing from our sources – the same ones who revealed Taskmaster as Black Widow‘s villain, and who told us Black Knight was coming to the MCU back in April – that the actor will reprise his role from What If…? in future cosmic MCU movies. Which exact films he’ll appear in we can’t say for sure just yet, but possibilities include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, The Eternals or even the Fantastic Four reboot.
And we all know that once Uatu the Watcher enters the mix, it can only mean trouble for the MCU. Perhaps to an even greater extent than what Thanos did. Think Galactus, Annihilus, or maybe even The Beyonder.