Unlike Loki, which was only confirmed to be getting a second outing following its season 1 finale, Marvel is already being open about the fact that their first animated series, anthology show What If…?, will be back for a sophomore run, too. Studio president Kevin Feige has already promised that we can expect season 2 to put a unique twist on Phase 4 movies, much as this year’s initial nine-episode issue has already riffed on Phase 1 and 2 films like The Avengers and Doctor Strange.
Now we can say for sure what one of the Phase 4 productions in the firing line will be. The Direct spoke with series production designer Paul Lasaine and he teased that the second season will include an episode starring “the woman with the red hair” based on a movie that “literally just came out”. Without actually spelling it out, then, Lasaine has confirmed for us that Black Widow will be one of the show’s targets. As he put it:
“There’s an episode that is based on one of the movies that literally just came out with the woman with the red hair…”
Natasha Romanoff has already played a major role in What If…?. Episode 3, which imagined a timeline where the founding members of the Avengers were assassinated before they came together. Lake Bell voices the heroine here, taking over the role from Scarlett Johansson, though whether this change was a result of Johansson’s partnership with Disney falling apart isn’t known. Due to the actress’ lawsuit against the company, it seems like a safe bet that Bell will reprise the character in season 2.
Now it’s up to fans to speculate over what the big twist on Black Widow will be. Maybe it could show us a reality where Natasha and Yelena remained in their undercover life in the US and never returned to the Red Room? Or a darker reality where she never defected from Russia to S.H.I.E.L.D.? As the series has already shown us, the possibilities are endless.
Marvel’s What If…? continues next Wednesday on Disney Plus.