Marvel’s What If…? animated series has confirmed that Star Wars is, in fact, a part of the MCU multiverse. The Disney+ show has released its latest episode, and this one imagines how differently the Infinity Saga might have played out if just one element was changed.

What If…? Ultron Won

Now, previous episodes of the animated series had self-contained narratives. Episode 8 of What If…? marked the first time the show has attempted serialized storytelling. This is because this story worked as a supplementary or companion narrative to the previous Party Thor episode.

Episode 8 of What If…? is titled “What If… Ultron Won?.” In the latest episode, the show imagined an MCU where Ultron was able to carry out its goal of wiping off all life on Earth, thus defeating the Avengers.

But this wasn’t just what the show did. The series pushed it further on and showed Ultron scouring the whole galaxy in an attempt to kill off all living beings it was meeting. Once he succeeded in fulfilling his objective, he realized the existence of the multiverse and so he was motivated to do the same to other realities.

We have seen till now that The Watcher has lived up to his name. He has never interfered, just observed. We saw during the Doctor Strange episode that the collapse of an entire universe wasn’t enough to make him act. But in this one, he does fight the AI after it was able to discover his presence.

Ultron And Watcher Fight In Mustafar

The battle that ensued was extremely creatively done as the duo duked it out while traversing the various realities. This even included a timeline where Steve Rogers became the President of the United States.

At one point during the battle, they find themselves in a place that looks like Mustafar, complete with what looks like Darth Vader’s castle in the background. Now, this iconic Star Wars location has been seen in a handful of projects. So it’s easy to distinguish it, even in a small shot.

Previously, the makers of What If…? tried to get Luke Skywalker to appear in the animated show, but they were shot down. As such, it can be clearly seen that they are huge Star Wars fans. And so, it was expected that they would have slyly inserted one obvious Star Wars reference in the show.

However, whether it was an intentional or unintentional creative decision, it has been confirmed now that Star Wars is, in fact, part of MCU’s growing multiverse. Since Star Wars and the MCU are two of the biggest franchises ever, so this little homage was obviously exciting for fans.

Is A MCU and Star Wars Crossover Coming?

Fans have wanted a crossover between Star Wars and the MCU for years now. In fact, Marvel boss Kevin Feige himself is going to produce a Star Wars movie. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki writer Michael Waldron is all set to write that story.

To make things more exciting regarding a potential crossover, many viewers have even suggested that Mustafar isn’t the only planet that was shown in What If…?. It was just the one that most people were able to easily recognize.

Fans have said that during Ultron and Watcher’s fight, the duo seem to be fighting on the Star Wars tropical planet Felucia. Assuming that both the Star Wars locations do show up in What If…?, this could indicate that the franchises are starting to narratively connect to each other.

However, this isn’t a certainty and neither a realistic prospect.
After all, each franchise has its set mythology, and combining them will only result in a headache. There will surely be multiple plot holes that audiences will quickly find out and critique.

Moreover, the possibility of a franchise crossover was dismissed by MCU boss Kevin Feige himself. He has said before that a Star Wars and MCU crossover won’t happen. During an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, he said that there wasn’t any compelling reason for the franchises to meld.

It might sting, but the boss is right. Even though the initial idea of a crossover might seem cool, but there’s no story reason to do it. Overall, this Mustafar or Felucia reference was likely just an easter egg for fans to enjoy.

However, we should be thankful to the creators of What If…?. After all, they got a blank slate to do whatever they wanted and slipped in a Star Wars reference or two in the story for fans to freely enjoy.

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