Brad Winderbaum talks about the end of the series, Ms. Marvel’s future

Head of Marvel Television and Animation Brad Winderbaum has a lot to be proud of this year.

From critics and audiences acclaim of X-Men ’97 and Agatha All Along for Disney+’s first profitable fiscal quarter (Q3), Winderbaum looks to carry that momentum into 2025. But first, he’s saying goodbye to one of the studio’s foundational series, What if…?. The animated anthology has no shortage of what-if stories it could explore, but the end of the show has more to do with the needs of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“What if…? has always tied to the larger MCU and Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear over the next few years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective,” says Winderbaum. The Hollywood Reporter.

One of the main things Winderbaum has discovered since Marvel Studios began releasing TV shows on Disney+ in 2021 is that they don’t always have to create something that’s everything to everyone.

“The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people,” says Winderbaum. “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Final game-scale event that is a four-quadrant series that each person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for someone, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.”

Looking ahead, Marvel Television begins 2025 with what may be its most anticipated series to date, as March marks the return of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again. (Earlier this year, Winderbaum explained the simplistic way in which Marvel Studios declared all of Netflix’s previous Marvel series to be MCU canon.) The longtime director also sheds some light on what to expect from their several new animated series.

“Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a comic about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York as you try to make ends meet and keep your group of friends together,” says Winderbaum. “Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. The eyes of Wakanda is a story of conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel zombies is this sprawling adventure story that uses the whole world as a backdrop.”

Below during a recent conversation with THRWinderbaum also addresses the future of non-Daredevil Netflix characters such as Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, as well as what’s next for Iman Vellani’s fan-favorite character, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.

Based on the two episodes I’ve shown, this series is still going strong, creatively. So why was it time to end it?

Well, I can’t go into detail, but like the first season came out after the sacred timeline blossomed into several alternate realities at the end of Loki season one, What if…? has always tied to the larger MCU and Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become apparent over the next few years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective.

One of the episodes involves Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei (David Harbour) on an adventure. Was this episode meant as a crash course for their dynamic next year Thunderbolts?

It wasn’t designed that way. We just skipped stories like we always do in it What if…? writer’s room. Obviously, Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of Bucky is one of the most iconic characters in the MCU, and I love David Harbour. The way he has embodied the Red Guardian is just so entertaining. He’s so charismatic and he just jumps off the screen, so it felt like a natural fit to see those characters together. They both have this Russian origin, and the what if scenario – “What if you stop the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark?” – was just a fun story to play in.

“What if… the Red Warden stopped the Winter Soldier?” was originally intended to be a season two episode, so I wrongly theorized that it was held back to be pre-promotion for Thunderbolts.

Honestly, it’s serendipitous that it’s coming out so soon Thunderboltslike the Mech Avengers episode with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America (pre Captain America: Brave New World). It’s something we’ve wanted to put on screen, and based on the timeline of how long it takes to do animation versus a film, you really have to add an extra year to animation. So it just so happens that (these two What if…? episodes) fits perfectly with these two (2025) movies.

When we last spoke for X-Men ’97you acknowledged that the streaming mode at the time had made Marvel Studios more sane. But since then you’ve had three resounding victories: X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along and a very positive third quarter for Disney+. So do you feel like you have a bit of a renewed wind at your back right now?

The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people. I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Final game-scale event that is a four-quadrant series that each person shows up for in a big emotional way. What is important is that naked shows up in an emotional way that we can tell stories that speak to any part of our fan base and bring them the excitement they experienced in the theater when they watched Final game. If we can do that for someone, for a fan, then we’ve done our job. It will allow these shows to be discovered and word of mouth to grow so more people can discover them.

We too discussed the integration of the previous Netflix shows into Disney+’s MCU timeline and how Daredevil: Born Again was rebuilt to embrace these stories. But are all the former Netflix characters on the board now? Is someone like Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) eligible to return under the right circumstances?

It’s all one shared universe, so you never know where the characters will appear next. It’s a huge opportunity to have officially folded these stories into our canon. Whether they’ve always been part of the canon or not, it’s now official and we can play with those toys in our toy box. There are surprises surrounding the band that I won’t get into, but for fans of Netflix shows, we have a very exciting show on the horizon in Daredevil: Born Again.

With 2025 just around the corner, wouldn’t you mind giving your best elevator pitch for next year’s Disney+ slate?

I remember going into the comic book store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan and I collected Marvel comics and there was a huge selection of books available to me. There was also increased imagination Thor. There were soap operas with social commentary in them X-Men. There were adventure stories in it The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing. There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our TV slate, certainly, but in our slate in general.

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is just a fun ride. It’s a comic about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the big world of vigilantism in New York while you try to make ends meet and stick together in your group of friends. Daredevil: Born Again is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. The eyes of Wakanda is a story of conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. Marvel zombies is this sprawling adventure story that uses the entire world as a backdrop. Each of these shows has a different tone and a different type of story in a different genre. And like the comics, it speaks to the breadth of the Marvel brand.

I’m staring at one Mrs. Marvel logo behind you right now and I am reminded of how you struck gold with Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. What can you say about her future?

I love Iman. She is incredible. I love that character. I will tell you that she is definitely a big part of the MCU for me. Mrs. Marvel is a really important show for us and without going into details because I don’t want to spoil anything, she’s top of mind. So it will be interesting to see where she turns up next.

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What if…? season three premieres on December 22 Disney+.