The MCU has dominated the cinematic world for the last decade and a half and decided to try dominating the televised world in a similar fashion with their expansion into original series on Disney+. Suffice to say, their domination has continued. With five original series released in 2021 with three more slated for 2022 (along with two holiday specials), the MCU is full-steam ahead in terms of giving the world as much Marvel content as possible. That being said, one particular MCU show broke all kinds of barriers and managed to broaden the limits of what even the Marvel Cinematic Universe is capable of - that show was What If…?,

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The animated anthology series was a first for the MCU, with every episode centering around the aspect of one key element in the current MCU timeline drastically changed. One episode saw T’Challa, prince of Wakanda, become Star-Lord; another had Peggy Carter take the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers; the fifth episode that surrounded around the concept of zombies taking over the MCU was so successful that it sparked its own spinoff series. While the MCU is used to putting out material that audiences and fans love, What If…? is a special, animated addition to the otherwise live-action-packed universe. All that said, with a season 2 already in the works, there are some MCU characters that fans would like to see.

All Netflix Marvel Show Heroes

     Marvel Studios

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist – come on down! Marvel’s bombshell drop of incorporating the Netflix show characters into the official MCU canon during Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye was met with universal praise from fans and critics alike. Now, with the Netflix shows on Disney+ and the characters able to appear in MCU projects, it only makes sense that the characters get their own What If…? episode. Now, every single character doesn’t have to get their own stand-alone episode – that would be overkill and unnecessary.

RELATED: Marvel’s What If…? Season Finale: What We Learned and Where Season 2 May Be Headed

But, What If…? plays on the premise of switching one vital moment in the current MCU timeline with another. With most Netflix Marvel characters residing in New York City, wouldn’t it be a cool concept to do an episode where the Avengers never exist? Instead, the Defenders have to save New York from Loki and the Chitauri. Even if that’s not the story Marvel chooses to go with, the possibilities are endless, fans would love to see the characters again, and this would be an easy way to incorporate them all.

All Fox Reacquired Properties

     Marvel Studios / 20th Century Fox

X-Men, Fantastic 4, Deadpool – you’re on deck. With an episode revolving around the Netflix Marvel characters, it would only be fitting to do an episode that incorporates all of the characters that Marvel reacquired from Fox. The Doctor Strange 2 trailer has all but confirmed that the X-Men are entering the MCU canon. An episode involving the Fantastic 4, Deadpool, or the X-Men would be a great way of bringing the characters into the MCU fold without overloading their next few live-action projects with cameos.

RELATED: Will There Be More Spider-Man in What If…? Season 2?

Also, it’s known that Marvel is rebooting the X-Men ‘97 animated series. How awesome would it be if Marvel did a cross-over episode between What If…? and X-Men ‘97 where the MCU heroes (drawn in What If…?’s animation style) have to team up with (or fight against) the X-Men (drawn in X-Men ‘97’s animation style)? The Doctor Strange 2 trailer featured the Sorcerer Supreme falling in and out of different universes, and one of them was animated. If live-action can cross over into animation, then a different animation style certainly can.

Tony, Cap, Natasha

This one might be a little biased, but it’s also hard for fans to believe that the MCU hasn’t included Iron Man, Black Widow, or the original Captain America for nearly three years. The trio were part of the original Avengers, and Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans will forever live in the hearts of MCU fans. With that in mind, it would really be a tremendous fan service if at least one episode featured the three heroes that MCU fans miss most. It’s an easy way to bring them back without screwing up the timeline and would seamlessly allow Marvel to continue to honor the characters.

Rocket & Groot

     Disney+

With honorable mentions to heroes such as Shang-Chi, the Eternals, and any other characters that were introduced to the MCU after the first season of What If…? debuted, Rocket and Groot deserve their animated justice. While What If…? featured a couple of different versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy (T’Challa as Star-Lord, Peter Quill as a regular guy, Gamora from the final battle against Ultron), the two most important comedic characters of the group were nowhere to be seen. Rocket and Groot didn’t appear for a single second on the first season of What If…? and while Groot may have his own project slated for the future, the absence of the galaxy’s most cuddly rabbit and his tree needs to be addressed.