You don’t need to be a huge Marvel fan to know that the multiverse is at the center of the latest installments of the mega-franchise. From a bunch of Lokis inLokito three different Spider-Men inSpider-Man: No Way Home, the Marvel entries have played with the concept of parallel universes for quite a while. One of their first titles to do this was the animated seriesWhat If…?, which is now expanding to the world of ink and paper.
Random House Worlds and Marvel Entertainment announced today that theWhat If…?stories are set to take on darker themes as they get adapted into an adult novel series that will kick off in 2024 with three new titles. Just like inthe animated show, the story will re-imagine the origin story of our favorite heroes and put them in different contexts that we are used to. The three initial titles will center around Loki, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man,Venom, Moon Knight, and Valkyrie.
What Is The Story of theWhat If…Novel?
The first entry, titledWhat If… Loki Was Worthy? A Loki and Valkyrie Story, is written byMadeleine Rouxand is set to hit shelves on August 12, 2025. In this story, Loki accidentally kills his brother Thor and is banished to Earth as punishment. He eventually crosses paths with Valkyrie, who swore to Thor she’d pass Mjölnir the hammer to a worthy successor. While they band together to search for a certainDr. Jane Foster, Tony Stark plans massive revenge on Asgard due to the killing of one of the original Avengers.
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The other novels in the series are titledWhat If… Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man StoryandWhat If… Marc Spector Was a Host to Venom? A Moon Knight and Venom Story. The former is written bySeanan McGuireand is set to be published in July 2024, while the latter is written byMike Chenand arrives later in the year, in October 2024. All titles will also become available in audiobook format. There is no word yet on whether these stories will tie in withupcoming Marvel entriesin cinema, but considering that the animated series is a bit isolated from the live-action entries, chances are that the novels are just an exercise in expanding the Marvel multiverse.
The multiverse idea greatly helped reshape the Marvel universe as we know it, but it also brought itsown set of problems. Currently, we don’t exactly know how mega-producerKevin Feigeintends totie all loose endsthat are being left along the way, but so far we’ve been able to enjoy most of the multiverse ride.
What If… Loki Was Worthy? A Loki and Valkyrie Storyhits shelves on August 22, 2025. You can check out the cover below:
