There's A 'Very Dark' Episode Of Marvel's What If...? That We Will Never Ever See
Marvel's "What If...?" season 1 had a lot of conceptual promise and so-so execution. Seeing the promise of the multiverse fulfilled via a highly imaginative animated anthology series was exciting, yet the art style and animation left a lot to be desired.
For season 2, Marvel doubled down on the zaniness of the concept, serving up even wilder stories and visuals. As Vanessa Armstrong wrote in her review for /FIlm, season 2 is "a zany, refreshing mix of stories." There's a "Wild Races" episode, a "Die Hard" homage, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic book story "Marvel 1602," and even an episode about a new hero named Kahhori, a First Nations woman of the Mohawk tribe.
Then there's the episode that almost was — one that was deemed too dark for "What If...?" season 2. Speaking with IGN, head writer and creator A.C. Bradley talked about how the second season of the show was fully produced during the height of COVID-19. This impacted every aspect of the series, from the script-writing to the way voice performances were recorded, and the tone of the show itself.
"It felt like the world was already ending and we didn't need to add to it," Bradley explained. "And so it became kind of an escape and a fun release. However, I did write an episode, which is forever going in a drawer, that was very, very dark. I was calling it ”Children of Men' with Spider-Man.'"
Marvel's resident sad boy
How exactly do "Children of Men" and Spider-Man go together? It doesn't sound like this would be based on any existing Marvel Comics storyline. What's more, that is not an obvious combination, considering "Children of Men" is a gloomy sci-fi story about a future world where humans have become infertile, whereas the Peter Parker version of Spider-Man notoriously has no children since his marriage to Mary Jane was undone in the Marvel Comics universe. But therein lies the reason why this makes a lot of sense.
Simply put, Spider-Man is Marvel Comics' king of depressing storylines, whether it entails losing his uncle and then his girlfriend, swapping bodies with a dying Otto Octavius, or lots and lots of clone drama and the death of his best friend. If "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" taught us anything, it's that Spider-Man is synonymous with tragedy. Maybe the episode would simply remake "Children of Men" but with Peter Parker in the Clive Owen role? Who knows.
Regardless, it is probably for the best that the episode wasn't produced. In the same year when Miles Morales showed us that no, Spider-Man doesn't have to be tragic and they can forge their own destiny, it's better to avoid putting Peter Parker in yet another dark and depressing story.
Besides, "What If...?" season 2 has enough dark stories as it is. You can see as much for yourselves now that the complete season is available on Disney+.