There’s more Marvel What If…? storytelling coming soon, though perhaps not in the way you would expect. While What If…? season 2 is yet to premiere on Disney+, Marvel and Random House Worlds (an imprint under the Penguin Random House banner) have announced a collaboration for a new and officially licensed series of What If…? adult novels.
The concept of What If…? has long been a staple of Marvel storytelling, beginning with the first comics under that same name published in 1977. Within these stories, Marvel asks itself how different its world and heroes would be if just one detail was changed. What if Peggy Carter had taken the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, for instance? It is questions like these that this new series of novels will try to answer.
Each What If…? novel will be set in its own distinct universe within the Multiverse, unaffected by all other Marvel continuities (but therefore still possibly canon). The first What If…? novel is set to be published on March 12, 2024, and will focus on everyone’s favorite God of Mischief, Loki. Titled What If… Loki Was Worthy? A Loki and Valkyrie Story, the official logline reads: “So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched the trickster god sow chaos. But…what if Loki saved Asgard from Tony Stark’s revenge?” This logline does make it seem like the novels, too, will be narrated by the Watcher, an omniscient being who exists outside of the planes of time and space.
Written by Madeleine Roux, bestselling author of the Asylum series, What If…Loki Was Worthy? will see Loki seek redemption for a “harmless” prank gone wrong and attempt to fulfill his brother’s dying wish. Check out the official cover below.
Two other What If…? novels will also be published in 2024. In July of that year, readers can expect What If…Wanda Maximoff and Peter Paker Were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man Story by author Seanan McGuire, and in October 2024, What If…? Marc Spector Was a Host to Venom? A Moon Knight and Venom Story will be published, penned by Mike Chen.
Well, that’s another three novels to add to my TBR list. Thanks, Marvel!
(via Marvel, featured image: Disney+)
