As Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 approaches its last flurry of episodes, series director Bryan Andrews has come out to clarify why Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine could not feature in any chapter. Jackman returned to his iconic X-Men role earlier this year through Deadpool & Wolverine and instantly managed to revive interest in his character among the audience. As such, many expected the claw-bearing superhero to make an appearance in the final installment of the Disney+ show. Nevertheless, Wolverine unfortunately ended up missing out on making a comeback in What If…? Season 3, a predicament that Andrews has since explained.
Bryan Andrews explains why Wolverine isn’t in What If…? Season 3
According to Bryan Andrews, Wolverine did not appear in the acclaimed animated series What If…? Season 3 due to an absence of clarity on the character’s rights.
Andrews shared the update during a recent interview with Phase Hero‘s Brandon Davis. While stating that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine had a chance of making it to What If…? Season 3, Andrews said, “We could’ve even done Hugh Jackman Wolverine, right? I think when we were doing this episode, we didn’t even know if that purchase had been made, and we were too locked in, and now things had been chosen, done, and were in production. Then, that deal came through where now, we finally got all those live-action X-Men back, and we were like, ‘Gah!’ Because we could’ve used any of that.”
Nevertheless, another X-Men mainstay Storm did end up playing a significant part in the series. Explaining her inclusion, Andrews remarked, “X-Men ’97 would’ve been out already, so that gave us access to her, but technically, that gave us access to any of those X-Men if we wanted to.” He then provided details on the prospects of Wolverine’s appearance before citing the reason behind its failure.
What If…? Season 3 released its first episode on December 22, 2024, and has premiered a new chapter every day since. The final edition of the series will end with its eighth episode on December 29, 2024.
