While the upcoming live-action series are generally grabbing all the hype, let’s not overlook Marvel’s What If…? animated show, a multiversal anthology effort that will dive into a different alternate reality each episode. What’s more, all your favorite MCU stars will return to voice their iconic roles. Including, we’re pretty sure, Robert Downey Jr., and this leaked LEGO set reveals exactly how Tony Stark will come back.
The French version of Amazon has prematurely revealed an early look at an incoming LEGO set based on one episode of What If…? The main draw is an alternate Hulkbuster suit which is labelled as “Tony Stark’s Sakaarian Iron Man,” confirming that the animated show will feature an outing in which Tony is the one who ends up on Sakaar instead of Hulk. Likewise, the set come with three minifigures – Stark, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Uatu the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright, who narrates every episode).
So, what’s the deal with this one? And how would Stark ever travel to Sakaar? Well, the answer may rest with LEGO Tony’s shirt. It’s the same Black Sabbath tee that he wore in The Avengers. This is just speculation, then, but it’s possible that this episode will be set in a timeline where Tony didn’t return from his trip through the Chitauri portal in The Avengers and remained trapped in space. As we know from Thor: Ragnarok, wormholes often deposit folks from all over the universe on Sakaar, so this must be what happens to Stark.
Unlike a few others – Hayley Atwell, Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman – Downey Jr. isn’t officially confirmed to be back as Tony, but this LEGO set surely puts any worries that he won’t be involved to rest. It’s feasible that Iron Man could be recast for the show, but Marvel would no doubt be aware that this would be hugely disappointing for the fans. As such, it’s likely that they were just trying to preserve the surprise.
What If…? is expected to arrive on Disney Plus sometime later this summer, probably in August.