Marvel Studios has been on a near-constant roll since WandaVision premiered on Disney+ in January, and this month it continues with the Season 1 streaming debut of What If...?.
The franchise's first animated show thus far has told tales of reimagined super soldiers, Wakandan princes-turned-Ravagers, and worldwide heroes succumbing to unknown assassins—and that's only a third of Season 1.
And with Season 2 already confirmed on the horizon with MCU Phase 4 projects in mind, it seems as though the possibilities are endless for Marvel Studios' latest playground.
Nonetheless, the visuals of the show are nothing without the soundtrack accompanying it, and four-time Emmy award-winning composer Laura Karpman stepped in to fulfill that duty with her score for the show.
With both new and old sounds coming into play, such as a twist on the iconic Captain America theme for Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter/Captain Carter, the audio for the show has been as expansive as the locations that it has taken viewers to.
Now, during a recent interview with The Direct, Karpman noted if she'd be returning for Season 2 and what she's enjoyed most about Season 1 so far.
WHAT IF...? COMPOSER RETURNING FOR SEASON 2
During an exclusive interview with The Direct, What If...? Season 1 composer Laura Karpman was asked if she had started thinking about or working on any of the scores for the already-confirmed Season 2 of the show if she were to return.
Karpman immediately confirmed that she'd be back at it but that she has "no idea what's going on:"
"I am doing it, and I have no idea what's going on. We just finished Season 1, so I'm still in recovery from that. But I'm sure they're [Marvel Studios] cooking up some pretty cool stuff."
Then, when asked about any of her favorite contributions to the show's score thus far, Karpman cited the tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and the T'Challa Star-Lord episode sounds among others:
"There's a lot. The theme, definitely. The tribute to Chadwick, definitely. Being able to write this new music and weave The Watcher theme in with him, I think, was really moving to me and, hopefully, to others. I really like the music from 103. It's kinda whacky and modernist. I like where it goes, I like the kind of 'Loki' sounds, too. There's something in every single episode that I really loved. But those would be the things so far that really... oh, the heist! The heist stuff was super fun to do. That's like a dance with picture. That was fun, too. Every episode had a lot of interesting things to work on."
MCU PHASE 4 SOUNDTRACK INCOMING
With Season 1 already hosting well-known scores from the Infinity Saga, taking some, and turning them on their heads, there's no saying which directions Season 2 could pivot in.
Phase 4 will soon be home to new and old heroes alike, such as Shang-Chi, the ensemble from Eternals, and co-leads Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen as Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch, respectively. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Karpman having "no idea what's going on" might actually be an exciting sign for the show as there are merely many options for Marvel Studios and its hard-working staff to choose from when it comes to crafting the next chapter of What If...?.
As for what's already been showcased in Season 1, Karpman's favorites are sure to resonate with viewers, particularly ones relating to the T'Challa Star-Lord/heist episode; revisiting both Wakanda and the expansiveness of space that the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise introduced surely felt like home to some. More so, getting to hear Boseman bring life to T'Challa one last time—although his time on the show is not up yet—was a bittersweet goodbye like no other.
Nonetheless, it'll be exciting to hear what Karpman brings to the table throughout What If...?'s future.
What If...? streams Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+.
