While most Marvel fans were thrilled with season 2 of the What If...? animated anthology series, supporters of Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson were disappointed that he did not feature.
After all, Wilson is expected to play a significant part in the MCU in the future, as Steve Rogers entrusted the shield and mantle to him in the last moments of Avengers: Endgame.
In response to those fans, AC Bradley, the show's head writer, said that it all came down to timing and the fact that the season 1 and season 2 episodes were written at a time when it was unclear how The Falcon and the Winter Solider would pan out.
"We also couldn't do Sam Wilson's Captain America because, we didn't know when that would be coming out," AC Bradley told the Phase Zero podcast.
"Again, we were writing Season 2 as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier paused shooting and the scripts were being re-written because of other things. We don't know when anything is airing. So, we couldn't touch it because we're not allowed to introduce… It makes sense, you let the character live in live-action first and then go play in the multiverse."
A perfectly reasonable explanation- characters have to make their big screen debut before being featured in a What If...? episode. While Sam Wilson suited up in the Disney+ MCU series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he's yet to make his big screen debut.
If you recall, season 1 and season 2 of What If...? were written as one big batch of episodes that were later split into two seasons. While the second season just premiered in December, these episodes were written back in 2019/2020.
A third season of Marvel's What If...? is confirmed to be on the way but Bradley recently announced that she's leaving Marvel to pursue other ventures.
However, based on her explanation of how things work, it's likely that Sam Wilson will make his animated debut in What If...? during its third season as Captain America: Brave New World is set to hit theaters on February 14, 2025.
Based on 22 reviews, the second season of What If....? presently has an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.7/10.
According to the site's critical consensus, "What If...? may not add much to the larger MCU narrative, but surprising takes on beloved characters and some of the best action sequences in the entire franchise make for engaging viewing."
Are you excited for more What If...? episodes in the upcoming season 3? Let us know in the comments section below.