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SYFY WIRE Marvel's What If?

Jeffrey Wright, aka Uatu the Watcher, teases emotional Doctor Strange episode of 'Marvel's What If...?'

By Josh Weiss
What If Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange doesn't just have the ability to conjure up portals to other dimensions. According to Jeffrey Wright, the Sorcerer Supreme also has the power to make us cry. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Wright (who voices Uatu the Watcher) alluded to the strong emotional core of the Strange-centric episode for Marvel's What If...? TV series, which arrives on Disney+ in just a few weeks.

"I was really taken by the Doctor Strange episode, which you will see when you get there," teased the Westworld alum. "For some reason, it just really pulled at my emotions. And as well, it becomes a story of interest to The Watcher too, so in that way, we kind of see things from a similar perspective. So yeah, check out the Doctor Strange one when it comes. When you land on that one, you'll land in a place where I sat up even further in my seat."

The actor went on to admit he was "really moved to hear Chadwick Boseman voice T'Challa again," while recording lines for the episode in which the Wakandan prince is abducted by Yondu and becomes Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill. Boseman tragically passed away last August after a secret battle with colon cancer, making What If...? his final MCU role.

"I actually first met [Chadwick] when Black Panther was being introduced at Comic-Con," Wright continued. "We saw each other from time to time after that and just to watch him grow as an actor and watch him take on this character, to see what that character meant, and to understand that he was doing that while facing serious challenges, I just find to be on the level of heroism that Black Panther himself is on. So to be a part of just a little bit of what some of his last work is is really special. And I can't wait for folks to just hear him."

The animated anthology features Wright as the voice of Uatu the Watcher — an omnipotent being whose job it is to observe the Marvel Universe without interfering in its affairs. "There was a lot of discussion about how does this guy talk?" Wright explained of the host/narrator. "How does he sound, this extraterrestrial celestial all-knowing being who has powers in some ways beyond most of the characters that we've seen from the Marvel films? So how does he speak? I wanted to make sure that the tones of the character were new, that they were born of the moment now."

Victoria Alonso, executive VP of film production at Marvel Studios, recently let slip that Disney is currently developing several more animated projects set within the MCU. “We’re going to have our animation branch and mini studio, and there will be more to come from that as well,” she said..

Marvel's What If...? premieres on Disney+ Wednesday, Aug. 11.