I've since learned how to read Kevin [Feige]'s smirk, because in my original pitch, I had this whole romantic Odyssey idea. And I was like, 'And then Pepper's in the rescue suit,' and there was a smirk. And I went, 'Come on! Pepper Potts deserves an Iron Man suit.' And he went, 'I'm sure she does.' And I was like, 'What does that mean?' And then, of course, Endgame comes out, and I'm like, 'Oh, the girl got one. Good. Good!'

It's unclear which MCU story this space romance story for Iron Man and Pepper Potts' Rescue would have followed on from, as Potts never found herself in space, while the only time Stark did prior to Avengers: Infinity War was very briefly in The Avengers. What If...? season 2 explored an alternate aftermath of Iron Man finding himself in space in The Avengers, but perhaps Stark and Pepper Potts' space-faring romance could have detailed an alternate Infinity War. Pepper Potts may have suited up as Rescue to Iron Man and Spider-Man in the battle against Thanos.

13 Steve Rogers Becomes Captain HYDRA

Twisting Steve Rogers' Captain America Story Would Have Been Fun

Amid the release of What If...? season 1, A. C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews sat down with Vanity Fair to reveal more unused pitch ideas from the series. Among them was a story that would have seen Steve Rogers' Captain America fall from the fated train and be taken captive by HYDRA instead of Bucky Barnes. While Barnes became the obedient Winter Soldier, Rogers would have been a version of the Winter Soldier who would "aggressively and openly pursue the cause of his new evil overlords."

My idea was, if Steve fell off the train, we would jump forward in time. Steve Rogers is the kind of man that when he believes something is right, he goes to the ends of the Earth to do it​​​​​​​. But he actually is not a very good soldier. He doesn’t follow orders.​​​​​​​ So if he’s brainwashed by Hydra to believe that Hydra is right, he’s going to go full throttle​​​​​​​. The fun twist is that [one hero] would have been Red Skull, who has now been replaced by Captain Hydra. They would have had to stop [Rogers] and then make him who he really is.

There have been calls for a dark version of Captain America to be seen in the MCU's Multiverse Saga, and this episode of What If...? would have showcased exactly that. However, with there already being a core story thread coming off of Captain America: The First Avenger's plot - the emergence of Captain Carter - this may have been unnecessary. Bradley explains that this was the story she pitched to get the job of head writer on What If...?, so as great as it would have been to see in animation, it fulfilled its purpose nonetheless.

12 Young Tony Stark

Tony & Howard Stark's Relationship Would Have Been Explored

Inspired by The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles series from the 1990s, Bradley also revealed to Vanity Fair that an early episode pitch explored the dynamic between a young Tony Stark and his father, Howard. The relationship between Tony and Howard has seldom been explored in the MCU, with it only really being alluded to in Iron Man 2 and Avengers: Endgame. Since this relationship between father and son was almost never seen to be stable and entirely loving, it is a gold mine that What If...? could have done some brilliant things with.

I always wanted to do a story looking at the relationship between Tony and Howard Stark​​​​​​​. I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of the sins of the father playing out in the son, and also that age or that moment when a child sees their parent as an actual person, flaws and all, for the first time.​​​​​​​ At the end of the day, Tony Stark is the guy who was never supposed to be the hero, becoming the hero.

This storyline could have shown audiences much more of who Tony Stark was before becoming Iron Man, and perhaps before even assuming a role at Stark Industries. His playboy history has been touched on in the MCU, but it would have been great to see this privileged, hedonistic and unabashed version of Tony Stark in What If...?, though this perhaps would have come too close to the Party Thor storyline in season 1. Even so, it would have been wonderful to see Tony and Howard's bond examined more closely.

11 Loki Becomes A Hero

Loki Became A Bona Fide Hero In Loki Season 2

The creators of What If...? seem to be adept at guessing what is set to occur in the live-action MCU, as not only were the Mighty Thor, Professor Hulk, an elderly Steve Rogers and Pepper Potts' Rescue predicted, but so was a heroic Loki. In a pitch delivered by Bryan Andrews, Loki was seen to be worthy of wielding Mjolnir, perhaps reimagining that now-iconic Thor: The Dark World. This would have raised huge questions for Loki in the MCU, but was removed because of the developing story of the Loki Disney+ series.

We had Loki with Thor’s hammer, like, Loki was worthy.​​​​​​​ At first it seems superficial, but how do you get to that point without changing who he is?​​​​​​​ You’re given a thousand questions to answer. It’s like, 'Oh, did he stay a Frost Giant? Was Odin not a dick and taught him better?' You know what I mean? There are so many aspects of that life you can explore. They didn’t want us to go there because basically they were doing that in the Loki series.

Marvel Television's Loki series caught up with the variant that escaped during the Time Heist in Avengers: Endgame, though he was rushed through a redemption arc and set to work getting to the bottom of the Time Variance Authority. In 2023's Loki season 2, Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief became a bona fide hero, taking it upon himself to protect the infinite branches of the ever-growing multiverse. This story was surely far more impactful than any What If...? would have produced, as Loki has now arguably sured every other MCU character.

10 Spider-Man Inspired By Kafka

Peter Parker's Spider Transformation May Have Been Too Gruesome

During the 1980s, a visit to the Savage Land ended with Marvel Comics' Peter Parker being transformed into a giant spider-like creature, with his abilities manifesting physically. Man-Spider was almost the focus of a very dark What If...? storyline, as explained by A. C. Bradley to Vanity Fair, with this story taking inspiration from Franz Kafka's 1915 novella, The Metamorphosis, in which an ordinary man wakes up in the form of a giant insect, playing with the uncanny valley. This would have been a shocking MCU story, culminating in a hard "No" from Marvel Studios.

When you’re given the entire toy store to play with, you start thinking, What do I actually want to write?​​​​​​​ I would love to write something that was darker, that’s a little bit more angsty and horror-based. So I was like, 'Ooh, what if there was a *Metamorphosis–*meets–Spider-Man story that’s really dark body horror?' It would have been hard-R for a show that probably your kids will end up watching. It was a little too dark. So I was like, 'Okay, that’s fine. Can I do zombies?' And they said, 'Yes, you can do zombies.' It was definitely Cronenberg. It was definitely me wanting to go real dark​​​​​​​. I wanted to strip that apart. Like, what if the gift you’re given is more of a burden that actually is tearing you apart? How do you cope? How do you survive? How do you still stay a 16-year-old kid when you’re dealing with something far bigger and darker than yourself?​​​​​​​ I wanted to take Peter Parker and put him through the ringer.

Bradley referred to David Cronenberg, who directed MCU veteran Jeff Golblum in 1986's The Fly, which explored a similar body horror story of a man splicing his DNA with a fly and inadvertently becoming a monstrous creature. This story would have been incredibly dark, so perhaps not appropriate for the younger audience of the animated What If...? series. The MCU's Spider-Man hadn't yet experienced the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, too, so What If...? would have delivered his first tragic story in the MCU.

9 Half The Plot Of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

What If...? Creators Predicted Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3's Storyline

A. C. Bradley opened up about another unused pitch for What If...? season 1 to Rocket Raccoon's history with the High Evolutionary, and explored the variant of Gamora's new relationship to the team and Adam Warlock's arrival in the MCU.

I pitched an entire episode. It took me a couple of days to break it. I was very excited about it. I went to Bryan and was like, 'Here we go, this is what happens, do you think Kevin Feige would approve?' He went, 'Oh, yeah, Kevin would love that, that’s half the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.'

It seems likely that Bradley's pitch for What If...? included the High Evolutionary, as he is one of Marvel Comics' most significant and powerful villains who hadn't yet appeared in the MCU. Chukwudi Iwuji's High Evolutionary was a formidable threat in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and now that he's been seen in live-action, the opportunity is there for him to make an impact in What If...? season 3, though he hasn't been confirmed. It would be fantastic to see more Guardians of the Galaxy stories explored in the MCU's future, whether in animation or live-action.

8 Avengers Vs. Dinosaurs

What If...? Almost Included A Jurassic Park-Inspired Episode

Marvel Studios' Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum has been outspoken about his ion for What If...?, and has also revealed some unused stories for the animated series. In 2021, Winderbaum explained to Yahoo! Entertainment that the series always tried to examine "philosophical discussions over how far [they] could push" stories, with A. C. Bradley noting that they almost included "Dino-vengers." Inspired by Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, this would have certainly been one of What If...?'s weirder, but most entertaining, episodes.

Dino-vengers​​​​​​​. This is what happens you’re in a room for 12 hours and there’s no windows. I think after a while you start pulling [from] classic movies. And be like, ‘What if we did Jurassic Park?’

Shockingly, there is precedent for this to happen in the pages of Marvel Comics, as the Fantastic Four traveled to an alternate dimension in a recent comic storyline where they found the Avengers to be prehistoric animals rather than superpowered humans. What If...? could have introduced Brachiosaurus Iron Man, Lambeosaurus Captain Marvel and Quetzalcoatlus Black Widow, all of whom appear in Marvel Comics. This may have followed on from a Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but still would have been remarkably strange and very unexpected.

7 Luke Skywalker Becomes An Avenger

Marvel Could Have Crossed Over With Star Wars

There has been speculation of a possible MCU and Star Wars crossover for years, given the fact that both franchises are owned by Disney. In 2021, Bryan Andrews and A. C. Bradley confirmed to Luke Skywalker, the Jedi character made famous by Mark Hamill, into What If...? Marvel Studios blocked this, however, noting that What If...? needed some guidelines, and should stay firmly within the bounds of the MCU itself, rather than branching out too far.

Luke Skywalker being introduced as a multiversal member of an Avengers team would surely make many fans of both the MCU and Star Wars franchise very happy. With his access to the Force, Skywalker's power matches that of many superheroes in the MCU, so this would have been interesting to see. Even so, Marvel Studios likely made the right choice when not allowing Skywalker to appear in What If...?, since this would have confused many viewers who may not be familiar with Star Wars, while also unnecessarily combining two vastly different franchises and raising too many questions.