Marvel’s What If…? Showrunner Originally Pitched Jane Foster as Thor

After over a decade of making live-action films for the big screen, Marvel Studios will finally make the leap into animation by adapting a concept that longtime comic fans are likely to know and love. The new series will explore alternate takes on classic movie storylines, bringing back the main cast to voice their iconic characters in Marvel’s What If…? coming to the Disney+ streaming service. And while they originally had one idea they wanted to tackle, it has since become off limits because it’s actually happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What If…? showrunner Ashley Bradley spoke with Discussing Film of an interview and revealed that she originally pitched an episode where Jane Foster would become Thor, but now that’s not happening because director Taika Waititi is making it a reality on the big screen in Thor: Love and Thunder.

“We’re all big fans of the comics and we do use those to a degree,” Bradley explained about inspirations for the upcoming series. “Our first weeks there I very strongly pitched doing The Mighty Thor- Jane Foster Thor. Jane wielding the hammer, I believe first happened in a What If comic. I was very poignantly told that was never going to happen. I got a little angry and thought, ‘Why, because they don’t want a woman holding the hammer?’ I was very politely told, ‘No we’re doing it.’ I was like what? ‘We’re doing it in the movies. You can’t do it.’ I was like, seriously? They responded with, ‘Please don’t tell anyone. We’re with you on it, it’s an amazing idea. Taika Waititi wants to write it.’ At that point, you just go ‘Then Taika Waiti can write it!’”

Bradley went on to explain that the comics served as inspiration, but the movies in the MCU will be the backbone for the stories told on What If…?

“So we did use the comic books to draw from- which was a lot of fun,” Bradley said. “We also used passions of ours in other ways to change the story. We’ve all stood in a parking lot outside after one of the movies and talked about what if this had happened or that had happened. This is just us taking that and getting to do it on a bigger level. Getting to fulfill the audience’s dreams. What we drew from was this collective consciousness of what we want to see. What would we do differently?”

What If…? does not currently have a release date on Disney+.