Marvel's 'What If...?' Action Figures Bring The Multiverse To Your Collectible Shelf
There are new action figures inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe all the time. But thanks to Marvel's What If...? animated series, we're about to get a wave of action figures that put a unique spin on Marvel characters along with a stylized design that emulates the upcoming show's animation.
Today, Hasbro Pulse unveiled the first Marvel's What If action figures, including T'Challa as Star-Lord, Peggy Carter as Captain Britain, a rather gaunt, villainous version of Doctor Strange, a zombie Captain America, and the Spider-Man Sorcerer Supreme, who is being labeled as Zombie Hunter Spider-Man for some reason. See all those and a couple more of the action figures below.
Marvel's What If Action Figures
Hasbro Pulse announced the Marvel's What If action figures during a livestream today. Along with the previously mentioned characters, we've got a new one that hasn't appeared in the marketing materials: Heist Nebula. She's donning a blonde wig for some reason, and we're not entire sure how she'll be involved with this alternate spin on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe it's some kind of Ant-Man crossover since it involves a heist?
If you pick up the entire wave of Marvel's What If action figures, then you'll be able to assemble The Watcher, a new character voiced by Jeffrey Wright who is overseeing all of these alternate versions of MCU stories. You've seen a character like this before in the Stan Lee's cameo from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but now The Watcher will be made more integral to the MCU.
As a separate deluxe figure, you can also grab the Hydra Stomper, which is an Iron Man Mark I style suit that is controlled by Steve Rogers. There are even grips on the back of the figure so Captain Carter can hitch a ride on the hulking suit of armor.
If you want to get your hands on these action figures, they go on sale starting at 1:00 P.M. ET on July 29 at Hasbro Pulse.
Potential Hints About the Future of the MCU
Eagle-eyed fans are taking special notice of a detail on the packaging for Marvel's What If action figures. If you look at the boxes, you'll see that both Captain Carter and Loki character Sylvie (who didn't fit into the previous Disney+ line of Marvel Legends figures) are preceded by "Marvel's" in front of their names. Fans are speculating that because Sylvie has appeared in the live-action MCU and apparently requires this designation, we can somehow expect Captain Carter to make a live-action appearance in the MCU as well. But we're not convinced.
When it comes to merchandising and licensing rights, the use of established names and trademarks can be tricky. What's more likely is that "Sylvie" and "Captain Carter" have some other copyright or trademark associated with them, and Marvel has to include their company name with the character in order to create a distinction between this action figure and any other merchandise that might be out there. The same thing happened with Awkwafina's character in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings being labeled as "Marvel's Katy" on toy packaging.
For now, we're not anticipating Captain Carter appearing in any live-action Marvel movies or TV shows. But now that the multiverse has been established, anything is possible, so we can't definitively rule it out either. We'll just have to wait and see how this shakes out.