Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Marvel Studios' 'What If...?.'2024 was the year Marvel Studios fully embraced having the film and television rights to the X-Men franchise back and the studio’s final release of the year, the third and final season of the animated seriesWhat If…? followed in the footsteps of earlier projects, integrating the mutant-focused X-Men mythology into its world and narrative. In addition to giving a supporting role to a variant of X-Man Ororo Munroe/Storm, withAlison Sealy-Smith again voicing the character she famously portrays inX-Men: The Animated Series and its acclaimed sequel,X-Men ’97, the season makes several references, both overt and subtle, to other characters and concepts from the X-Men lore. An allusion to the Exiles, a separate superhero team with close ties to the X-Men, is arguably the most telling, asa project focusing on the former group would be a natural successor toWhat If…? given that it would continue exploring the Marvel multiverse while giving mutants more central roles, just as the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole prepares to.
The Exiles Are the X-Men of the Multiverse
Created byJudd Winick andMike McKone, the Exiles first appeared in a comic book of the same name in 2001. The initial version of the team was brought together by a being known as the Timebroker and tasked with fixing broken realities — although the nature of their missions was often morally ambiguous, causing members to question their commitments to the group.The original Exiles consisted of X-Men and other mutant superheroes from various universes and were led by Clarice Ferguson/Blink from the Age of Apocalypse, a world in which Professor Charles Xavier was killed before he could start the X-Men and the villainousEn Sabah Nur/Apocalypse subsequently conquered America. Although most Exiles stories continue to connect in some ways to the X-Men franchise, figures from other corners of the Marvel Universe, includingMiguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 andWhat If…? mainstay Captain Peggy Carter have since joined iterations of the team.
In the penultimate episode ofWhat If…?, after being captured by older members of his alien race, the Watcher, who will eventually take the name Uatu (Jeffrey Wright), is put on trial. The elder three Watchers criticize his decisions to repeatedly break his oath not to interfere in the events he observes throughout the multiverse. Aware that Uatu’s friends, the reality-hopping superheroes known as the Guardians of the Multiverse, who are led by a version of Peggy (Hayley Atwell), will likely try to rescue him, the Watcher known as The Incarnate (D.C. Douglas) notes that“If Captain Carter and those… exiles attempt to find you, they will be stopped.”
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Exiles Could Be Marvel's Next Multiverse Show
Although Peggy is presumed dead after the final battle between the Guardians and the Watchers, the series finale implies that Uatu and the rest of the team will continue observing and aiding the multiverse. While this could easily lead one or more of them to simply appear in other projects, especially as the culmination of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga approaches, it also opens the door for a more direct follow-up toWhat If…?. Various Marvel Studios creators have confirmed that the franchise will continue exploring the multiverse even after the saga concludes withAvengers: Secret Wars, while alsodescribing the franchise’s next era as revolving heavily around the mutant mythology. Given this,an adaptation of Exiles makes perfect sense as the next project dedicated to anthology-style depictions of alternate realities, and another animated series is likely the best format for such an adaptation, since, as in the case ofWhat If…?, it would allow for the creation of especially unique and elaborate visuals and worlds without the practical limitations of live-action filming.
Even though the other Watchers refer to them as such, a Marvel Studios version of the Exiles wouldn’t have to consist solely of the surviving Guardians. That being said,What If…?’s version of Storm would definitely be an intuitive choice for such a team, given her ties to both the X-Men and the multiverse, and fellow Guardians Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) and Byrdie (Natasha Lyonne) could definitely appear, whether as regular cast members or in supporting roles, as, again, Exiles comics have never been limited to solely focusing on X-Men lore. Likewise, even if he doesn’t have the kind of leading role he had inWhat If…?it would be logical for Uatu to continue to appear in an Exiles series, given that theWhat If…? finale implies that he’ll continue to be an influential figure in the multiverse.
What If...? is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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- Release Date
- 2021 - 2024
- Showrunner
- Ashley Bradley
- Directors
- Bryan Andrews
- Writers
- Ashley Bradley, Matthew Chauncey
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, this animated anthology looks at alternate timelines in the multiverse that would happen if specific moments in the MCU occurred differently.
