What If…? is more than just the MCU’s first brush with animation, it’s also set to break the multiverse wide open. After Loki destroyed the Sacred Timeline, fans will get their first in-depth look at how other timelines have gone for their favorite characters. The first episode of the series will premiere on Disney+ on August 11.
Director Bryan Andrews and writer A.C. Bradley spoke to Screen Rant about the collaboration process for the show, the animation style they chose, and the stories they’re most excited to explore.
Screen Rant: I have probably been anticipating What If...? more so than any other of the Marvel Disney+ shows because I had such a fondness for those comics. A.C., how has What If...? changed the way that you look at future Marvel films.
A.C. Bradley: I want to write one of them. I love Marvel; I've been trying to get in that building for a few years. So, when they approached me to do What If...?, I couldn't resist the possibility of almost creating my own little universe of Marvel stories. I got to do ten small Marvel movies.
I feel like it was a real education of how to write an iconic character. How to take them apart, deconstruct them, find out what makes them tick, and then find new ways to tell the story. I'm a big sucker for an underdog and, at times, that's what Peggy Carter is. She's the woman who was not supposed to be in the room. She’s the woman who is supposed to be on the sidelines, pining for Steve Rogers. And we're like, "No. We're gonna show a woman who knows her worth, and sees how that changes the world."
Bryan, the animation style is something that looks completely new to me. Can you talk to me about choosing this style, and the decision to make it all look unified?
Bryan Andrews: Yeah. Early on we had talks and thought each episode may be a different look. But it's a little hard to produce, plus that wouldn't make them cohesive. We need to make it feel like these are all subtle variations of a universe that we can all see, which is the MCU. The MCU looks a certain way, right? Because it's all live-action. So, we needed something.
We were like, "Okay, one look only." And then what is that look going to me? I just felt like [with] animated Marvel, they're gonna think certain things. And we've seen all of that before, so I didn't want any of that - as cool and awesome as all that is. I wanted to do something more inspired by classic American illustrators, mainly J. C. Leyendecker, from the 20s and 30s. His stuff is amazing, it's incredible, and it's iconic. Hollywood's been trying to steal it, use it, and animate since day one to various degrees of success or failure depending on your opinion.
And Ryan Meinerding, the main visual designer and character designer of Marvel proper, designed our characters for us and wanted to do something in animation as well. And he also loves J.C. Leyendecker, so he said yes. J.C.'s [art] is idealized. They're iconic; it's live-action adjacent enough to make it feel as if, "Okay, cool. I could buy into this as an animated telling of these movies I just watched."
A.C., were there any mandates on which stories or movies to tackle? Was there anything off the table, or was it pretty much free rein as you got to really play in their sandbox with all their tools?
A.C. Bradley: When it came to creating these episodes and which characters we wanted to make sure we gave them diversity. I was not allowed to do just 10 episodes of Tony Stark, although I could've. It was kind of making sure we represent as many of the first three phases of Marvel as humanly possible and giving room for cameos while bringing back as many of the actors.
The only other mandate was, "Don't do what's in the movies," and "Have as much fun." Show Marvel and show the fandom how big and vast and weird the multiverse can get.
In episode 2, we see T'Challa as Star-Lord. Can you talk about your experience working with the great Chadwick Boseman? And you kept the tone of Guardians of the Galaxy, but so much changes just by replacing Star-Lord with T'Challa. Can you talk about the brainstorming, and how the ripple effect works on something like this?
A.C. Bradley: I'll leave talking about directing Chadwick to Bryan. When it came to the episode, obviously, we were breaking that long before Chadwick's death. It was supposed to be a little bit more fun. Obviously, now it has a more serious tone given the circumstances. But we were starting off with, "Let's have some fun. Let's let T'Challa cut loose."
T'Challa's an interesting character because he himself does not arc. He changes the world around him in Black Panther. When it came to this, it was like, "How would a man like T'Challa change the galaxy? What would that ripple effect be?" He's still the king, and he still carries himself as a man who knows what he's doing and can pull off anything.
That was kind of the fun and the challenge in making him a little bit lighter and a little sillier, and bringing in more of the Ravagers. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but we see several characters in new lights.
Bryan, can you talk about your experience working with Chadwick Boseman?
Bryan Andrews: It was amazing. We only got him for such a small moment, compared to the experience of everyone who worked with him on Black Panther, or Ma Rainey, or any of the other things that he's done. He was amazing.
We were just glad that we got him. He was one of the first actors that actually responded and was like, "Yeah, yeah! I'm gonna do this with you guys. This is great." He was really excited about this version of T'Challa because he got to be a little bit goofy and got to be a little bit funny. He didn't have the mantle of the king, so it was a different way for him to put his stamp on T'Challa, Black Panther, etc. It gives the audience another version.
And it's amazing because he knew what he was going through, and he knew what was happening. And this was something that he wanted to help bring into the world. To me, that speaks volumes, because he felt it was important. It's T'Challa. We love T'Challa, we love Black Panther, but we also love Chadwick Boseman. And just being able to work with him in such a small capacity was epic. He's gold, and the guy's got talent days. It was just so amazing, just seeing him work, having a front-row seat to that, and helping him bring this to life. It was great.
What If...? premieres August 11 on Disney+.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3lIZLuB
Reviewed by Riyad
on
August 08, 2021
Rating:
No comments: