Marvel’s What If Writer Explains Why The TVA Is Absent From The Show

What If…?’s head writer, A.C Bradley, explains why the Time Variance Authority is absent from the show. Having premiered on Disney+ in early June, Loki not only turned its incorrigible trickster into an increasingly empathetic character, but was also tasked with doing a lot of the legwork setting up much of Phase 4 to come. This included introducing the TVA, an organization tasked with maintaining the proper flow of time, and its many faces such as Mobius (Owen Wilson), Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku).

After Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) reach the Citadel at the End of Time, He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) is revealed to be the true creator and overseer of the TVA. When faced with the difficult choice of killing him or replacing him, Sylvie decides to kill the Kang the Conqueror variant and risk multiversal war. Coming off the heels of this momentous finale, What If…? will explore the multiverse which Sylvie seemingly created. The animated series will revisit pivotal moments from the Infinity saga and imagine if events transpired differently.

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Considering What If…? will explore concepts like alternate timelines and variants in-depth, one might assume the TVA would play a role, given this is well within their wheelhouse, but it doesn’t sound like the organization will. In an interview with iO9, What If…?’s head writer, A.C Bradley, says they began developing the show long before they were even aware of Loki. The impetus for What If…? was to showcase the many possibilities that lie with the newly-created multiverse, which meant leaving most of the world-building to Loki. Read what Bradley had to say below:

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. 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.

Based on this interview, it doesn’t sound like there was much communication between the two Marvel projects beforehand, but a general idea on both sides of what direction the MCU was heading in. Kevin Feige recently revealed the studio held a meeting to hash out all the rules dictating the multiverse, which Bradley and Loki and Doctor Strange 2’s head writer Michael Waldron were likely present for. However, this would have been long after the projects were deep into development.

It makes sense the TVA won’t play a role in What If…? since the season 1 finale essentially ended the organization as it was known and is now run by a variant of He Who Remains. The TVA is more likely to show up next in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, given that the projects share a writer in Waldron and a Loki. While the TVA won’t be a factor, What If…? will still have plenty of entertaining alternate timelines in store when the series hits Disney+ on August 11.

Source: iO9

Key Release Dates
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Sep 03, 2021
  • Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
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