What If: Marvel Head of Design Details Differences Between Animated and Live-Action Conceptualization

Marvel’s new animated series, What If…?, is four episodes deep on Disney+ and takes a look at the vast multiverse. The series takes many beloved characters from the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe and puts them in all new scenarios ranging from T’Challa becoming Star-Lord to Doctor Strange turning evil. Recently, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with What If…? character designer Ryan Meinerding and he spoke about developing the show’s style and drawing the beloved characters.

“I was involved very early with this project, trying to figure out the style of the show; which included developing the style. So yeah, I’m doing more actual drawing. I actually have some drawings on paper, with pencil, which is really fun for me to get back to, the notion of … So much of my work is digital, either Photoshop paintings or sculpting things in the computer, that this was a real joy for me; to be able to break out some paper and pencils and actually start drawing,” Meinerding shared.

“But most of the work, frankly, was done in 2D; figuring out the style through drawing,” he added. “And then, because the characters are actually 3D in the pipeline, we did do a little bit of sculpting the faces and overall body proportions, to try and really make sure that when we pass things on to vendors that they were able to translate something that was as close to what we were looking for as possible. But each one of the vendors has been such a great partner in developing the look of the show. It’s been a really incredible experience.”

The latest episode of What If…?, “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands,” featured the return of Doctor Strange‘s Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Tilda Swinton. While some characters have been replaced with other actors, many Marvel stars are returning to voice their characters in the new series. You can check out the full list below:

Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Benicio Del Toro, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Sullivan, Clancy Brown, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Danai Gurira, David Dastmalchian, Djimon Hounsou, Dominic Cooper, Don Cheadle, Emily VanCamp, Evangeline Lilly, Frank Grillo, Georges St-Pierre, Hayley Atwell, Jaimie Alexander, Jeff Goldblum, Jeremy Renner, John Kani, Jon Favreau, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Kat Dennings, Kurt Russell, Leslie Bibb, Mark Ruffalo, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Douglas, Michael Rooker, Natalie Portman, Neal McDonough, Ophelia Lovibond, Paul Bettany, Paul Rudd, Rachel House, Rachel McAdams, Samuel L. Jackson, Sean Gunn, Sebastian Stan, Seth Green, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Tilda Swinton, Toby Jones, Tom Hiddleston, and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.

Marvel’s What If…? releases new episodes on Wednesdays. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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