Christmas is coming early for Marvel fans. What If...? is returning for its third and final season, with daily episodes dropping from December 22 until Christmas Day, just as it did in 2023. But that’s not the only gift in store from the animated anthology, as the new season will feature two new additions to the MCU. According to Matt Chauncey, Head of Story for What If Season 3, one character is well-known to Marvel aficionados, and their cameo will mark their “long-anticipated MCU debut.”
When Chauncey teased the reveal at this year’s LightBox Expo, many fans guessed the character would be a member of the X-Men or Fantastic Four. They didn’t need to wait long for confirmation: Marvel dropped the official Season 3 trailer at the D23 convention, introducing fresh takes on characters like Agatha Harkness, Shang-Chi, and the X-Men’s most powerful team member, Storm. She can be seen in the final moments of the trailer, and here, she’s more than just an X-Man, but apparently her universe’s version of Thor.
That Storm wields Mjolnir, Thor’s magical hammer, is a deep-cut reference to a great Marvel comic. Storm once used her own enchanted hammer, Stormcaster, in a handful of comic storylines, but in 2011’s X-Men: To Serve and Protect #3, she got the chance to use Mjolnir alongside Thor. To some, that was proof enough of her worth: like Captain America and other noble heroes, she should be able to wield the hammer on her own. That said, What If will be the first time we actually see her become the Goddess of Thunder of her own volition.
Storm’s upcoming appearance in What If also builds on the momentum of X-Men ‘97, the acclaimed but non-canon sequel to Marvel’s original X-Men series. Though What If will present a version of the character from an alternate reality, this Storm will be voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith, who’s played the character on and off for the past 20 years. Her tenure as Storm began with X-Men’s second season in 1993, when she took over for original voice actor Iona Morris, and she’s since become one of the definitive versions of the character.
What If has become an intriguing springboard for lesser-used Marvel characters. Season 2 introduced its first original character, Kahhori (Devery Jacobs), ahead of her debut in comic books, and there’s a sense that Season 3 may do the same for Storm, at least where the MCU is concerned. Her appearance in the animated series feels like a hint of what’s to come: Marvel has been teasing the X-Men’s MCU debut for years now, from offhand comments about mutants in Ms. Marvel to full-on cameos in Doctor Strange 2.
An X-Men film hasn’t been officially announced, but hopefully it’s only a matter of time. Another appearance from Sealy-Smith is always welcome, but a live-action X-Men update is likely on everyone’s wishlist this year. We haven’t seen Storm in action since a minor role in the dire Dark Phoenix, and now that she’s enjoying an animated Renaissance, it would be nice to see the character return to live-action glory too.
