‘What If?’ for Vision Pro to arrive next week
The Watcher is watching with a Vision Pro.
Today Marvel and ILM dropped the trailer for the forthcoming “What If?” immersive story, which was just announced a couple of weeks ago, and (surprise!) is launching next Wednesday in the visionOS App Store as a free app.
Marvel and ILM say the immersive story is about an hour long, and is directly connected to the “What If?” animated series on Disney+, which itself is a multiversal riff on various Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. (Lest you think that this multiverse stuff is new, “What If?” is based on a comic that I absolutely devoured when I was a kid. I still have my issue #1 in a box—what if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?—not too far from where I’m typing this.)
The story will feature the cosmic being The Watcher asking you, the Vision Pro user, for help in facing off with dangerous “variants,” alternate-universe versions of various Marvel characters. Sorcerer Supreme Wong will instruct players on how to cast spells (presumably with the Vision Pro’s hand tracking features) and use the Infinity Stones. Versions of characters such as Thanos, Hela, the Collector, and Red Guardian will appear.
Marvel and ILM describe the app as including both full virtual environments as well as mixed-reality scenarios which involve the real world around players. It sounds very much like an interesting mash-up of interactive and animated elements. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the “What If?” animation style translates into 3-D. I guess my wait will be over in a week!