So far, Jeffrey Wright, the voice talent behind Uatu the Watcher in the Marvel Studios series What If…?, has stayed entirely coy when asked about whether or not he could reprise the role in a live-action capacity. But any MCU fan worth their salt knows that everything is confirmed in the Marvel universe until it is officially refuted, so the natural next step is to speculate on when Uatu will be rolling up in the land of Earth-616.
But, all kidding aside, it would be wise to expect an appearance sooner rather than later; it’s only natural, after all, that the being whose in-universe role is to observe the multiverse, has a place in an era known as the Multiverse Saga. Given his rather primordial state of being, it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that he’ll end up playing a major role once the crusade against Kang the Conqueror reaches crunch time.
Deadpool 3 (2024)
Marvel is investing a lot of faith in Wade Wilson finally joining the franchise, so much so that it has shifted everything else to 2025 (which is already a bad omen). Hoping Deadpool 3 to be an absolute winner with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman pulling its weight is not a far-fetched expectation, nor is predicting the Watcher’s return in the film. Why? The Marvels didn’t do a lot, but it did confirm that the X-Men reside in a different reality — one which almost crashed into Earth-616.
So, Deadpool is obviously a part of this new reality, where FYI, Monica is stuck in. We know that she is part of The Marvels now and won’t be staying in there forever. Then there is the fact that the MCU can’t really be expected to toggle between multiple realities on a regular basis, or to keep its arduously- acquired mutants away from its prime superheroes. The two realities will either merge, or a selected group of mutants might migrate to the OG reality, seriously screwing up the rules of the multiverse. And just who is monitoring the whole wide universe as we speak? The Watcher, of course. And he might break his passive streak to briefly appear and at least frown at this blatant flouting of strict multiversal guidelines.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (2024)
A lot about Agatha: Darkhold Diaries is still up in the air — we are still waiting with baited breath for Marvel to change its title again — but that has only fueled rumors of what is to come. And its leaked featurette (which also doesn’t reveal anything) has only stoked the flames further, like a certain dead body on a stretcher with the name “W. Maximoff” on it.
Well, it is possible that while Agatha manages to end Wanda’s mind control, she is unable to break the illusion-jail the Scarlet Witch left her to rot in. And to escape that, she needs the OG Wanda, who is technically dead in the MCU. So, the next natural step would be for the seasoned witch to revive her nemesis. Whoa! Trying to bring someone dead back to life? Everyone who has seen the alternate Doctor Strange in What If…? trying and failing to stop Christine’s death will remember how the Watcher appeared to caution the desperate Sorcerer.
That was a relatively innocent being Strange was hell-bent on saving, and Wanda was the unhinged mother, ready to tear apart realities to find her children. My money is on the Watcher doing more than just warning Agatha of the consequences.
Fantastic Four (2025)
The Watcher has a long comic book history with the Fantastic Four, for whom he constantly breaks his oath to not interfere with the happenings inside the multiverse, after which he often gets punished by a council of other Watchers for his transgressions.
Of course, delving into the Watcher’s possible involvement at the same time that we meet the Four would be far too fast-paced for any sane person’s comfort, but we wouldn’t be surprised if we got a glimpse of Uatu in a mid- or post-credits scene of the first MCU film featuring Marvel’s first family.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)
Somewhere within the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars is where Uatu really has a chance to shine; what follows is a bit of a rabbit hole, so bear with me.
Comic book storylines aren’t necessarily the only source of inspiration that Marvel Studios has as its disposal; indeed, if the studio wants to get extra cheeky with its pair of Multiverse Saga mega-crossovers, they could adapt a storyline from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance – a 2006 action role-playing game published by Activision, which featured an entirely original plot that wasn’t adapted from a comic book.
During the game, the players take control of various Marvel heroes as they wage a war of attrition against the Masters of Evil, a supervillain collective led by Doctor Doom. After a battle late in the game with Loki and the Destroyer Armor, Doctor Doom appears and is moments away from eliminating the heroes, but guess who intervenes at the last second to transport the heroes to a safe location on the moon operated by the Inhumans — you guessed it — Uatu.
It’s a stretch, to be sure, but the logistics of it all would almost certainly work for a Secret Wars-inspired arc in the MCU; who’s to say that — right before Kang pulverizes the Avengers and decimates the multiverse’s timelines into some bastardized Battleworld equivalent — Uatu couldn’t step in and transport the heroes to a safe zone just in the nick of time, where they and other champions of the multiverse can regroup and prepare for the long game against the Council of Kangs?
We’ll ultimately just have to wait and see where (and if) Uatu gets brought into the live-action fold. He certainly has a seat reserved whenever Loki appears next — the Watcher is practically the silent supervisor of the multiverse while the God of Stories controls the very thread of existence and all realities. Who knows, with Loki pulling the literal strings now, Uatu will find that his glorious purpose is a lot more than just uttering pearls of wisdom.
