Marvel's What If...?: Every Reveal From The Toy Leaks

Several new lines of forthcoming What If...? toys have revealed juicy details regarding Marvel's animated Disney+ series. With WandaVision, Falcon & The Winter Soldier and Loki, any trepidation about the MCU's jump to streaming has been well and truly put to bed, with each live-action offering maintaining movie-level quality and earning widespread acclaim. Next on the agenda, however, is the animated What If...?, which dives into an anthology of outlandish MCU realities designed to tickle fan curiosity. What if Peggy Carter was Captain America? What if T'Challa was Star-Lord instead of Black Panther? What if Tony Stark hadn't heard of shawarma?

What If...? will feature the voices of many top MCU talents, including Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayley Atwell, and a poignant posthumous performance from Chadwick Boseman but, typically, plot details remain shrouded in Marvel Studios' trademark secrecy. Though a trailer let loose some parallel-universe plot lines that'll be covered, much remains unknown. Fortunately, Marvel's spoiler security protocols have one crippling weakness - merchandise.

To put toys on shelves in a timely manner, manufacturers are required to know salient plot details ahead of release, and these secrets become public knowledge far more readily than Marvel would perhaps like. For instance, the latest batch of Spider-Man: No Way Home merchandise clearly shows Peter Parker in a Spidey outfit modded with Doctor Strange's magic - a story hint Kevin Feige almost certainly wouldn't have wanted in the public domain so early. With What If...? now only days away, here's everything that can be gleaned from the new batch of toy images.

Spider-Man Is A Zombie Hunter

Spider-Man shoots his webs in Marvel's What If

Peter Parker will swing into What If...? occupying his usual Marvel guise as Spider-Man. The twist is that he'll be hunting undead zombies instead of New York's various street crooks, since both LEGO and Hasbro's What If...? merchandise lists the web-slinger as "Zombie Hunter Spidey." This intriguing new role puts Peter in direct opposition to one Steve Rogers. The original Captain America is confirmed as a member of the undead in Disney+'s animated series, and with both characters harboring ties to New York, it makes sense for Zombie Cap to be hunted down by the friendly neighborhood dead-slinger across the backdrop of an NYC skyline.

The zombie-hunting Spider-Man is surely inspired by the Marvel Zombies comic run, released between 2005 and 2006 and written by The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman alongside Sean Phillips. Taking place on Earth-2149, the arc sees a virus from another dimension trigger an outbreak among Marvel's finest. In the original source material, Spider-Man became a zombie himself, rather than a hunter, which hints towards a potentially gory ending for What If...?'s Peter Parker. Fortunately, dark endings are precisely what this (probably) non-canon anthology series was designed for.

Doctor Strange Is Finally The Sorcerer Supreme

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange

Is Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange the MCU's Sorcerer Supreme? No one's entirely sure. The good doctor took over from Tilda Swinton's Ancient One, and she definitely was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, so logic dictates Strange has now inherited that title. And yet, not once has he been referred to as such. Many MCU fans believe Strange will need to overcome a stringent multiversal challenge before he can truly claim the Sorcerer Supreme title as his own. No such problems for Doctor Strange's What If...? counterpart; his illustrious job title is plastered all over a new Funko Pop vinyl figure.

The product shows Cumberbatch's Strange in a purple and gold cloak, with purple shadows under his eyes and an orange sash. Listed as "Doctor Strange Supreme," this What If...? story evidently takes place in a universe where Strange has developed his mastery of the mystic arts to an even greater level than within main MCU continuity. The What If...? trailer confirms Strange will embark a cacophony of adventures, including an encounter with Peggy Carter and a battle against the Ancient One, and he can also he spotted wearing the same purple outfit as this new figurine.

Spider-Man Has Doctor Strange's Cloak

Spider-Man drops by briefly in the What If...? trailer, and he looks entirely unchanged from Tom Holland in the MCU, sporting the same suit and mechanical web-shooters, but new merchandise reveals a massive addition to Peter Parker's zombie-fighting outfit. Both the LEGO minifigure and official Hasbro action figure include a large red cloak bellowing behind Spider-Man's usual attire, and the ridiculously high collar all-but-confirms this is Doctor Strange's cloak of levitation.

Obviously, levitating could be a useful skill during a zombie hunt, and could compliment Peter's existing Spider-based abilities. The cloak also teases a strong connection between Spidey and Strange as fellow New York-based superheroes, with the Sorcerer Supreme keeping his young web-slinger friend well-armed. What If...? might foreshadow events in the primary MCU timeline here, since Spider-Man: No Way Home will see Strange and Peter make a series of mystic adjustments to the latter's costume (though don't expect Cumberbatch to give up his cape). Alternatively, Peter might've learned the mystic arts himself, or Strange was zombified and Peter managed to salvage the cloak before it became a napkin for the undead.

Steve Rogers' New Superhero Name

We know Peggy "Captain" Carter will serve as a feature attraction in What If...?, exploring how MCU history might've played out differently had she been given the super soldier treatment. And as mentioned previously, Steve Rogers himself will feature in Spider-Man's story as a flesh-eating zombie. But the original Captain America has another part to play in Disney+'s animated Marvel anthology.

Included among the Funko Pop What If...? range is "The HYDRA Stomper." This mech unit is built from gray-green armor not entirely dissimilar to Iron Man's, and bears a star on its right breast with "C-15" on the left. The HYDRA Stomper also comes as part of a LEGO set alongside Captain Carter and Red Skull, where Steve Rogers is in regular military gear, remotely operating the HYDRA Stomper armor to support Carter in battle. The HYDRA Stomper has no real comic book basis, but it's interesting that serum-free Steve turns to technology, when he and Tony Stark were considered diametrically opposed during the MCU's Civil War. Howard Stark was milling around SHIELD at the time, so there could be a connection between the HYDRA Stomper and Tony Stark's dad.

Killmonger Becomes Kingmonger

Killmonger saving Tony Stark in What If.

The What If...? trailer opens with Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger saving Tony Stark from one of his own bombs, switching up the events of Iron Man's origin story. However, Killmonger's animated arc will extend beyond serving as Stark's bodyguard, since a new Funko Pop shows the MCU villain wearing T'Challa's royal superhero outfit, confirming he'll become King of Wakanda in What If...? This is something Erik briefly achieved by force in 2018's Black Panther, before being dethroned by a resurgent T'Challa. It appears that Killmonger will become Wakanda's leader by more legitimate means in this alternate continuity - possibly because T'Challa himself is roaming through space as Star-Lord.

Killmonger certainly had a noble streak in live-action, and since he's shown leading Wakanda's army in What If..., the new King Erik (not to be confused with the soccer legend of the same name) could answer the question of what would happen if Killmonger returned to his homeland as a friend, rather than a foe. The "King Killmonger" Funko figure also comes with the severed head of Ultron. Could he be cleaning up Tony Stark's messes, as well as saving his life?

Nebula Isn't Enhanced (& Has Hair)

Thanks to Marvel's official What If... poster, it's already known that Gamora will don Thanos' golden armor and wield his famous double-bladed sword, and her new look is confirmed by a LEGO minifigure in the same style. Curiously, Hasbro will release an action figure of Nebula... with flowing blonde locks. As far as the toy shows, Nebula has no cybernetic enhancements at all, allowing fans to finally glimpse what Karen Gillan's character looked like before Thanos took his daughter apart for "improvements." What If...?'s Nebula change makes sense if Gamora has assumed Thanos' position as leader. Despite trying to murder each other on a regular basis, the sisters share a close bond, and Gamora would never demand Nebula's biology be altered for her own purposes.

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