Marvel’s creative brainstorming exercise – aka the wildly imaginative and sometimes unhinged (in the best way!) animated series What if…? – unfortunately comes to an end.

The Disney+ MCU anthology series, which explores alternate versions of events from major Marvel films, begins its third and final season on December 22nd. New episodes will be released daily until the series finale on December 29th. And Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum calls the eight-episode swan song “very bittersweet,” while Jeffrey Wright’s all-seeing narrator, Uatu the Guardian, brings a “melancholy” ending to the entire story.

Below, Winderbaum reveals what fans can expect from the final season of What if…?, Why now was the right time to end the show and what the animated series will look like next year Marvel Zombies provides a connection to the zombie episode of the first season.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why end? What if…? after this season?

BRAD WINDERBAUM: There are greater reasons in the universe to achieve it now. If you’re a fan of the entire MCU, you’ll notice that the first season premiered after this Loki Season 1, when the Sacred Timeline evolved into a multiverse and all of these new stories suddenly appeared. That’s when we started telling these stories What if…? And at the end of season two, when the Watcher takes Peggy to see the multiverse, it takes the form of the Story Tree, with Loki sitting in the middle at the end Loki Season 2. The climax of the third season and the series itself fits into the overall picture of the MCU in this way. That being said, there are endless stories to tell What if…?and time will tell if we do more. But for now, I think it’s a nice way to end this era and cap off the Guardian’s story.

So is there a chance this show could return again in the future?

I hope so.

Was it always the plan to end? What if…? after three seasons, or did this decision come later as the MCU evolved?

It came about naturally as the rest of the MCU came together and the multiverse saga came to a conclusion. It just feels like the right time. And I say this, our creative team led by Bryan Andrews, our creator and director of What if…?continues Marvel Zombieswhich will be released on October 3rd. If you remember the Zombies episode from Season 1, that’s very similar to the Part 1 prologue for this huge, epic event coming out next year.

Do people have to rewatch this episode before they can watch it? Marvel Zombies?

Yes definitely. Certainly I would watch this again before next October.

Does Marvel Zombies Link directly to the sequence of What if…? How does this episode set up the new series?

It fits exactly that. It’s the same universe. If you have never seen this episode What if…? you look at the universe from a different perspective. So you can just watch the four episodes of Marvel Zombies come in completely blind because it tells its own story. But if you know this episode What if…? and what happens in it is completely related to this episode.

Are you expanding further episodes into spin-off projects?

That’s a great question. There are certainly characters I would like to revisit. Kahhori, I love this episode from season 2 so much and it’s coming back in season 3. I think she’s just such an inspiring, cool character and really has great charisma and a great screen presence. And then there’s a new character this season called Byrdie, voiced by Natasha Lyonne, who I’d also like to see more of in the future.

How does this final season fit into the larger MCU?

I can’t really answer that, but I will say that it fits into the saga as we enter the third act of the saga. What if…? Season 3 sets the table in many ways.

Will the series finale end with a cliffhanger or will it mean complete closure for fans?

I find What if…? should feel like a warm blanket. It’s a holiday release, it’s a new one every morning, it’s a little gift you get when you’re home with your family for the holidays and you can watch it while you drink your morning coffee or hot chocolate . And it has that joy and that warmth and that sparkle of the season because these characters are very human and sometimes super funny, but sometimes they really need to learn some life lessons. And so a feeling of melancholy arises. The ending is both happy and sad. And for me it’s definitely very bittersweet because I worked on it for so long and because this was the show that launched the studio.

While each episode deals with a completely different story, what can you tell us about the main storyline we’ll see throughout the season?

It’s mostly an anthology with some kind of serialized story, and this season – and this series as a whole – could be viewed as an exploration of the Guardian. This guy was happy being an introverted observer of the world around him, but he dares, goes out of his comfort zone and immerses himself in the stories of the people he loves, the people he respects. And that comes at a price, and the season addresses that price.

Did you always know how this show would end?

There was no idea how it would end, but there was certainly an idea that it would be a story about the Guardian in some way. He is not just a narrator, he is not just a spectator. He is also a rebel in his own way. He’s a rule breaker and a guy who tries to balance what he’s supposed to do with what he wants to do. And that was very interesting for us. And when it came time to finish the story, that was certainly the driving force for us. The last two episodes are very satisfying. I find it very emotional to watch if you love the characters and follow the Guardian’s story – it kind of represents what it means to be a fan and how you interact with the material you love. I think the ending is very funny but also very sad and very satisfying in every way.

What episodic stories are you most excited for fans to see this season?

The Shang Chi Western episode with Kate Bishop is so great and really leans into the genre in such a fun way. I mean, the Mech Avengers episode, being a kid in the ’80s and seeing all that Voltron, that was a dream come true, being able to play with those toys. Old-fashioned Hollywood: Dominic Cooper returning as Howard Stark and taking over his Howard Hughes direction is so much fun. There are surprises in all of them, but with Howard (the Duck) Got Hitched (episode) you don’t expect this episode to go where it needs to. I mean, in the end, especially as a parent, it hits pretty hard. And Kathryn Hahn reprising the iconic Agatha – really, there isn’t an episode in the series that I wouldn’t watch a thousand times. And believe me, that’s what I did when I was in those editing rooms. That’s why I’m excited for the world to see it now.

Which MCU actor will surprise fans the most with their performance? What if…? this season?

Dominique (Thorne) is back as Riri Williams and this is a dystopian episode in a world ruled by this tyrant version of Mysterio and she is truly incredible in this story. I think people will be surprised by this. It’s great that Hailee (Steinfeld) is playing Kate Bishop again. And Sebastian Stan is just incredibly cool and can show so many dimensions of Bucky. David Harbour, he’s just so much fun as that character (Red Guardian). You say, “More please.” And Anthony Mackie as Captain America, leading the mech Avengers, is great. And this episode says so much, it’s a great pilot this season. Walton Goggins returns to reprise his role Ant-Man and the Wasphe’s so good that you start to actually re-contextualize (his) live-action performances and realize how incredible he was in his original appearance. There are really too many to even mention, but these are just a few. I’ll say this: When Kathryn saw the musical numbers in the “Agatha Went to Hollywood” episode, she thought, “We have to do this in live action.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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