Jeffrey Wright on Portraying Marvel’s The Watcher in Live-Action: “We’ll See.” (Exclusive)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe expanded its storytelling medium threefold in 2021. After a decade of telling stories exclusively on the big screen, Marvel Studios began to dabble in serialized shows. Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson and others’ narratives following Avengers: Endgame were explored in an episodic format on Disney+. While those stories were executed in live-action, Marvel would dip its toes into the two-dimensional later that summer in the form of Marvel’s What If…?. This animated anthology explored alternate universes where one small change created an entirely new sequence of events. These episodes largely operated as standalones, with the one commonality being their narrator: Jeffrey Wright’s The Watcher.

Speaking to ComicBook.com during the Asteroid City press junket, Wright remained coy on whether fans would see him portray his What If…? character in live-action one day.

“We’ll see,” Wright said.

While Wright himself has yet to portray The Watcher in a live-action capacity, the all-seeing character has been hinted at on the big screen before. 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 saw a trio of Watchers listen to Stan Lee as he recounted his various cameos in past MCU installments. 

Last summer, a Watcher statue was spotted at the gate to Eternity in Thor: Love and Thunder. That particular statue mirrored the design of Wright’s The Watcher, unlike the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Watchers who had a slightly different look.

The presence of Wright’s The Watcher at the gate to Eternity, alongside statues to both the Living Tribunal and Lady Death, would suggest that he at the very least exists in this medium. Whether Marvel Studios decides to bring the character into the live-action fold is another question.

Regardless of what the feature film future holds, Wright will be back as The Watcher in an animated capacity in What If…? Season 2. That sophomore installment is still awaiting a release date. Beyond that, The Watcher will factor into Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro reality headset. A supercut trailer for the headset featured snippets from Marvel’s involvement in the world of augmented reality, one which will include a What If…? experience.

“What if you could become a superhero and seek the answer to the ultimate question, ‘What If…?’” Wright’s The Watcher asks in the footage.

Until then, Wright can be seen in Asteroid City, playing in cinemas everywhere now.