Draft:What If... 1872?

"**What If... 1872?**"
"What If... 1872?"
What If...? episode
Episode no.	Season 3; Episode 6
Directed by	Stephan Franck; Bryan Andrews
Story by	Bryan Andrews; Matthew Chauncey; Ryan Little;
Teleplay by	Matthew Chauncey; Ryan Little;
Editing by	Anton Capaldo-Smith
Original release date	December 27, 2024
Running time	32 minutes
Cast
	Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi; Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop; Wyatt Russell as John Walker; Meng'er Zhang as Xu Xialing / Hood; Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch; Allen Deng as Kwai Jun-Fan; Jason Isaacs as the Eminence;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "What If... the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?"	Next →; "What If... the Watcher Disappeared?"
	What If...? season 3
	List of episodes

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"What If... 1872?" is the sixth episode of the third season and 24th episode overall of the American animated television series What If...?, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Inspired by the 1872 comic book miniseries, the episode follows Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop as they settle to stop the Hood's onslaught in an alternate 1872. The episode was written by Bryan Andrews, Matthew Chauncey and Ryan Little and directed by Stephan Franck and Bryan Andrews.

Jeffrey Wright narrates the series as the Watcher, with this episode also starring the voices of TBD.

"What If... 1872?" was released on Disney+ on December 27, 2024.

Plot

In the 1860s, Xu Xialing fled to America for a better life only to fall victim to the Hood's plan to enslave Chinese immigrants in order to consolidate his power.

In 1872, Xu Shang-Chi is searching for his sister alongside Kate Bishop, who wants revenge on the Hood for killing her family. Shang-Chi and Bishop fight John Walker's gang and defeat them. Walker directs them to where the Hood was last sighted. They find a decimated township and meet a boy, Kwai Jun-Fan who claims the Hood attacked and left on a train. Shang-Chi, Bishop, and Jun-Fan find and board the advanced train where they discover that the missing immigrants have been brainwashed by the Hood's enforcer Sonny Burch.

The Watcher helps Jun-Fan escape Burch's henchmen after noting that other versions of Jun-Fan were killed in similar situations. Shang-Chi and Bishop are taken to the Hood who is revealed to be a corrupted Xialing after she killed the original Hood and stole his powers. Burch confesses to killing Bishop's parents and attempts to brainwash her until Jun-Fan rings the bell enough to free the prisoners and allowing Bishop to knock Burch out. Shang-Chi refuses to join or fight Xialing and Bishop kills her, freeing Xialing from the Hood's influence as the hooded cape flies off in the wind. Later, the pair observes Jun-Fan with the immigrants and rides off into the sunset.

Subsequently, the Watcher is punished by the other three Watchers for his interference, causing shards of their observatory to spill into the multiverse.

Production

Development

TBD

Casting

Jeffrey Wright narrates the episode as the Watcher,^[1] with Marvel planning to have other characters in the series voiced by the actors who portrayed them in the MCU films.^[2]^[3] The episodes stars the voices of Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Meng'er Zhang as Xu Xialing / The Hood, Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, Allen Deng as Kwai Jun-Fan, and Jason Isaacs as the Eminence.

Animation

Reception

Accolades

At the 77th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Jeffrey Wright was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for his work on the episode, while Mac Smith, Vanessa Lapato, Alyssa Nevarez, Steve Bissinger, Derek McGinley, Anele Onyekwere, Carl Sealove, Andrea Stelter Gard, and Sean England were nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing For An Animated Program for their work on the episode.^[4]

Notes

References

^ Cite error: The named reference WrightConfirm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference WhatIfAnimation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference S2ReturningActors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Rice, Lynette; White, Peter; Gomez, Dessi (July 15, 2025). "Primetime Emmy Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved July 15, 2025.

External links

"What If... 1872?" at IMDb

[WrightConfirm-1] Cite error: The named reference WrightConfirm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[WhatIfAnimation-2] Cite error: The named reference WhatIfAnimation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[S2ReturningActors-3] Cite error: The named reference S2ReturningActors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Emmys2025-4] Rice, Lynette; White, Peter; Gomez, Dessi (July 15, 2025). "Primetime Emmy Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved July 15, 2025.

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