Written by Edwin Francisco
Marvel Studios’ animated series What If…? snuck in a crossover between Star Wars and the MCU.
All my life, I never thought that the two vastly different franchises would ever be together in a crossover.
Star Wars is set in a period of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
On the other hand, the Marvel universe is in an alternate modern timeline.
Is it possible?
The first thing in common with the two is that Marvel Comics did its own officially-licensed Star Wars comics that ran from 1977 to 1986.
Now, the main connection between the two franchises is that they are both owned by Disney.
So, will they ever do a crossover?
They nearly just did.
Image: Marvel Comics Group
If you’ve seen the new What If…? episode, “What If…Ultron Won?”, there is a brief moment when the worlds collided.
In this installment, Ultron took over the Vision (voiced by Paul Bettany).
In this parallel reality, Ultron wipes not only half the entire universe, but all of life with the power of the Infinity Stones.
Furthermore, he then learns of other universes wherein he also plans to eradicate all life forms.
Because of this, the Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright), known only for observing the events of the universe, did something unusual. He stopped watching and fought against Ultron.
Ultron and the Watcher fight through different universes.
In one scene, they battle each other in a molten lava planet.
For most people, this planet could be literally anything.
Did Marvel Studios Just Cross Over Star Wars And The MCU?
Image: Disney Plus
However, if you are into Star Wars, the planet will remind you of a place, Mustafar. 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith delivered the first look at Mustafar.
It’s where Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) fought one another.
The main feature that tells you that it is Mustafar. is the far-off building in the background. It is very much similar to Darth Vader’s palace.
Moreover, Mustafar is not the only Star Wars location featured in this episode. The jungle forest of Felucia seemed to be part of it, too. Felucia was also shown in Revenge of the Sith.
You can think that this is just a mere coincidence.
Nevertheless, you do have to consider that the writer A.C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews always wanted to make a Star Wars/Marvel crossover.
You can even check out the video interview at Collider’s YouTube channel about them talking about the possibility.
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd
Unfortunately, Disney turned them down since they already have the entire MCU to play with.
Therefore, the Mustafar and Felucia references are intentional Easter eggs for Star Wars fans made by Bradley and Andrews.
It doesn’t mean that Star Wars is now part of the MCU canon.
But then again, with the MCU already dealing with the multiverse, why not a universe where Star Wars is actually real?
Star Wars does actually exist in the MCU, but only as fiction.
Spider-Man (Tom Holland) did reference The Empire Strikes Back in Captain America: Civil War.
In addition, in Spider-Man: Homecoming a broken Lego Death Star set appeared in the movie.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Luke Skywalker being part of the Avengers.
Perhaps this will be the closest we can get as a Marvel/Star Wars crossover.
But then again, with both franchises under Disney’s belt, it’s hard to resist not to make references with each other.
Related: Zack Snyder Interested In Directing A Star Wars Movie
