Marvel fans will be invited to enter the MCU as the lead characters in a new mixed-reality app coming exclusively to Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive, Lucasfilm’s storytelling studio, announced “What If…? – An Immersive Story,” a one-hour AR and VR experience touted as the first interactive Disney+ original story created for Apple’s recently introduced Vision Pro.
A release date is TBD, and Marvel hasn’t said whether “What If…? – An Immersive Story” will be available for free. In any case, it’s a high-end play: You’ll need to have the Vision Pro, the $3,500 spatial-computing device that Apple has hyped as “the ultimate entertainment experience.”
The app is based on Marvel’s animated series “What If…?” on Disney+, which explores alternate timelines in the Multiverse about what would happen if major moments from the MCU films had played out differently.
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Per the app’s description, “What If…? – An Immersive Story” reimagines events “from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in unexpected ways. Now, fans have been chosen to step into the leading role of an all-new immersive story that transforms the space around them as they traverse across realities. Throughout their journey, they will come face-to-face with Multiversal variants of their favorite characters, learn the mystic arts, and be tasked with harnessing the power of the Infinity Stones.”
“This experience is truly groundbreaking and unlike anything we’ve done before,” said executive producer Jamie Voris, EVP and CTO at the Walt Disney Studios. “It’s an exciting new way to become a part of the MCU through a deeply emotional and compelling story.”
“What If…? – An Immersive Story” director Dave Bushore commented, “As a kid, my favorite stories were about worlds beyond my own, advanced technologies, and heroes traveling across space and time. ‘What If…? – An Immersive Story’ is the next evolution in how we tell our stories, where fans across generations can experience them and live out the adventure alongside their favorite heroes. This experience kicks the door open to the Marvel Universe, and it’s a glimpse of what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”
Marvel and ILM Immersive say the app will let users “cross between augmented and virtual reality as they live out their narrative adventure, interacting with the world around them by using their eyes and hands.”
“Fans will step into breathtaking environments that place them in new and iconic MCU locations, and feel completely immersed with stunning visuals and spatial audio. Together, these features will remind fans that time, space, and reality are more than a linear path,” per Marvel’s announcement.
“What If…? – An Immersive Story” is directed by Bushore at Marvel Studios and produced by Shereif M. Fattouh at ILM Immersive. The experience is written by David Dong and Phil McCarty (“The Learning Curve”), with music by composer Laura Karpman (“American Fiction,” “The Marvels”).
Executive producers are Bushore, Fattouh and Brad Winderbaum (“What If…?,” “X-Men ‘97”), with Bryan Andrews (“What If…?,” “Primal”) serving as consulting producer. Also serving as EPs are Vicki Dobbs Beck, VP of immersive content at Lucasfilm and ILM Immersive; Mark S. Miller, VP of creative development and production at ILM Immersive; and Walt Disney Studios’ Voris.
Marvel released additional screenshots of the forthcoming Vision Pro app:
