WHAT IF...? Head Writer Reveals Why The Time Variance Authority Won't Appear In The Animated Series

With What If...? set to take us into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse, shouldn't the TVA be there to prune some timelines? Well, Head Writer A.C. Bradley has now explained their absence...

By JoshWilding - Aug 06, 2021 02:08 AM EST

Filed Under: What If

Source: io9

In the season finale of Loki, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of the Multiverse was created when Sylvie plunged her blade into the chest of He Who Remains (a Kang the Conqueror Variant). Loki found himself in a different reality, while Mobius and Hunter B-15 could be seen watching the Sacred Timeline break off into countless new branches.

Now, What If...? is set to take us to some of those alternate realities, revealing worlds that are completely unlike the MCU. They include realities where Peggy Carter took the Super Soldier Serum, T'Challa became Star-Lord, and some sort of outbreak led to the emergence of Marvel Zombies!

During a recent interview with io9, What If...? Head Writer A.C. Bradley explained why the Time Variance Authority doesn't show up in the animated series to start pruning all these timelines.

"We were already deep in development and writing the show by the time Loki got up and running. So we had a meeting and talked about what we wanted to do with the multiverse - kind of as an aside - because Doctor Strange 2 was still in the very early stages," she explains.

"Basically I was like, OK, 'I’m just going to go and show all the fun we can have in the multiverse. I’m going to show all the things that can happen and the places we can go, I’m not going to lay down any serious rules, I’m not going to touch anything to do with the TVA."

This makes sense on a number of levels, and as much as we'd enjoy seeing an animated Mobius, we certainly don't need to see the TVA showing up at the end of every episode to prune these characters!

The return of the Multiverse may have rendered the TVA useless, anyway, especially as we know those timelines have all redlined. We wouldn't be surprised if season two of Loki addresses some of these new realities, but with the God of Mischief trapped on a world where Kang rules the organisation, something tells us he could have quite the fight on his hands when the show returns to Disney+.

Click on the "Next" button below to check out the
Kang Variants we can't wait to see after the Loki finale!

6. Scarlet Centurion

What many people may not know is that Kang has quite a bit of admiration for Doctor Doom, and after meeting Victor, the villain donned a new set of armour and dubbed himself the Scarlet Centurion.

This was a short-lived persona for the villain, but one he'd later give to one of his "sons" (basically another Variant of himself). They worked together for a time, and it would be fun to watch Majors essentially team up with himself in the MCU given the unique, often abusive dynamic these two have.

We'd like to see Scarlet Centurion portrayed as a heroic Kang, possibly in the second season of Loki, only for it to soon be revealed that he's just as evil as his dear old "dad."

This is too noteworthy a persona for Kang to not factor into the MCU somehow.

5. Rama Tut

Rama Tut is an ancient Egyptian ruler who first appeared in the pages of Fantastic Four #19.

With advanced technology and genius intellect, this Kang made the best of a bad situation when he found himself stranded thousands of years in the past and lived quite the high life as Pharaoh (many fans have wondered whether the Sphinx we saw in The Void was a nod to Rama Tut's existence in a pruned timeline).

In the MCU, Rama Tut could be tied into Moon Knight's origin given that character's ties to Egypt, though we'd actually like to see Majors make a cameo appearance in Eternals as this Variant.

There's not really a huge amount that can be done with Rama Tut on a long-term basis, but revealing that he once defeated those heroes - or vice versa - would be a fun way to tease fans with just how much of an impact this Kang has had on the MCU's history.

4. Iron Lad

All the signs appear to be pointing to the Young Avengers making their way to the MCU, and Iron Lad is undeniably one of the most interesting Kang Variants.

Donning an extremely powerful suit of armour, this Kang hoped to escape his villainous future, so travelled back in time to become a superhero. Founding the Young Avengers, he succeeded in that...for a little while. Kang would eventually force him to return to his rightful place in the timeline, forcing him into a destiny where he would one day become the Conqueror.

There are lots of ways Marvel Studios can play around with that, though, and Iron Lad might just make his debut in upcoming Disney+ shows like Armor Wars or Ironheart.

Needless to say, as he's a teenager, we'd probably need a different actor to play this Kang Variant, but it's feasible Majors could somehow be de-aged as well.

3. Nathaniel Richards

In the Loki finale, He Who Remains mentioned that he was once a scientist who discovered the existence of the Multiverse in the 31st Century. From there, he'd meet his Variants, some of whom we now know to be a little more villainous in nature!

There is a Nathaniel Richards who happens to be the father of Reed Richards, but the original Kang is actually a descendant of the Fantastic Four leader. Like most things time-travel related, it's complicated. However, you have to believe Marvel Studios could find a way to effectively tie Kang to Mister Fantastic and possibly even the creation of his team.

Many fans have questioned how the team Ant-Man and The Wasp can possibly hope to content with Kang the Conqueror in Quantumania; well, we don't believe they will.

Instead, we're pretty sure we're going to meet that scientist from the 31st Century who either gets trapped in the Quantum Realm and clashes with the original Wasp before returning to his own time or one who comes back seeking Hank Pym's help. Either way, expect an origin story for He Who Remains!

2. Doom The Annihilating Conqueror

Look, we all know that Kang the Conqueror is coming to the MCU, and that's why he's not featured here. The villain is bound to become this world's big bad at some point in the next few years, but if and when a Secret Wars movie rolls around, we have an even greater threat in mind.

Perhaps the most powerful Kang Variant of them all, this one was created when Iron Lad was forced to return to his own timeline, went mad, fell to his villainous tendencies, and proceeded to fuse himself with Doctor Doom (remember what we saw about Kang admiring him?) and Annihilus.

With that, Doom The Annihilating Conqueror was born!

With all these abilities at his disposal, he was only narrowly defeated by the Fantastic Four, and this could be a cool way to make use of multiple villains in one in order to create one of the biggest, craziest threats the MCU has ever seen. However, we'd probably swap Annihilus for Galactus!

1. Kamala Kang

The fun part about the Multiverse is that the Variants of Kang we meet don't necessarily have to be just the well-known versions listed throughout this feature.

One recent addition to the Marvel Universe was Kamala Kang. Created in the Infinity Warps storyline where two different characters found themselves fused into one, this version had all of Ms. Marvel's superpowers combined with Kang's intellect and mastery over time-travel.

She wasn't around for long, but with no Inhumans in the MCU, Marvel Studios could get creative and have Kamala gain her powers through some sort of technological means tied either to Kang or even the "magic" once used by Rama Tut in Ancient Egypt (which would obviously also be advanced technology).

Then, in a future story, perhaps Kang will come calling, looking for the powers Ms. Marvel holds?

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7 Comments

bkmeijer2 - 8/6/2021, 3:00 AM

Just gonna throw it on those timelines not resulting in evil Kangs, so the TVA doesn't have to interfere I guess. Well, that or the Kang that rules the TVA at the end of Loki S1 simply doesn't care.

1AboveAll - 8/6/2021, 3:10 AM

@bkmeijer - I suppose unless it fully interacts with He Who Remains plan and doesn't lead to another Kang then a timeline can exist for a time. I think after all the events of the next phase happens and Kang appears and fights in multiple forms from multiple timelines against multiple heroes then eventually the last Kang left will again be He Who Remains and the loop restarts again and Renslayers mission to ensure that happens

bkmeijer2 - 8/6/2021, 3:16 AM

@1AboveAll - my guess it doesn't necessarily end in the same HWR (since I'm not on board with the ''time is looped'' ship), but just a version of Kang that ends up at the end of time.

1AboveAll - 8/6/2021, 3:20 AM

@bkmeijer - well I’m not sure it’s time is looped but more that every eventuality is played out in the multiverse and unless the timeline is brought back to just a sacred timeline with WHR then there will be endless Kangs to attempt to conquer it so they will have to either block off travel between the multiverses or bring it back to one timeline

ShimmyShimmyYA - 8/6/2021, 3:50 AM

@bkmeijer - I think it’s more now that HWR is dead every other timeline outside of the sacred has sprung back to life, like he was containing it but now he’s dead it’s all just exploded

bkmeijer2 - 8/6/2021, 3:51 AM

@1AboveAll - yeah eventually a Kang will come out on top, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's gonna be an evil Kang this time around. It'll probably end in either a new kind of TVA or indeed blocking of multiversal travel

bkmeijer2 - 8/6/2021, 3:53 AM

@ShimmyShimmyYA - maybe not sprung back to life, but he's definitely not there anymore to prune any new branches from existence.

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WHAT IF...? Head Writer Reveals Why The Time Variance Authority Won't Appear In The Animated Series

With What If...? set to take us into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse, shouldn't the TVA be there to prune some timelines? Well, Head Writer A.C. Bradley has now explained their absence...

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