Marvel Is Kicking Off a New Series of Novels by Asking ‘What If… Loki Was Worthy?’

Marvel has announced an exciting new line of adult novels—that’s right, these aren’t for young adults, though the YA crowd may find something to love in the What If… book series. The first installment is hitting shelves next March and sees everyone’s favorite mischief-maker teaming up with Asgard’s latest and greatest king. What If… Loki Was Worthy? sends Loki and Valkyrie on their own adventure in the first of three novels in Marvel’s “epic new multiversal series.”

When will What If… Loki Was Worthy? be released?

What If… Loki Was Worthy? is coming out on March 12, 2024. It will be followed by What If… Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man Story in July 2024, and What If… Marc Spector Was a Host to Venom? A Moon Knight and Venom Story in October 2024.

Who wrote it?

The author of What If… Loki Was Worthy? is Madeleine Roux, who previously wrote the Asylum series and has written fiction novels for Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft.

And it’s a novel-novel, not a graphic novel?

Yep, What If… Loki Was Worthy? is a traditional novel, not a graphic novel. It may feel a little weird for a media property we associate so strongly with comics and graphic novels to put out something our high school English teachers would recognize as a “real book,” but Marvel actually has a lengthy history of publishing prose novels based on characters from the comics. It’s also worth noting that the divide between “real books” and comics and graphic novels is an artificial one, and bad for youth literacy according to a lot of librarians and teachers. Anyway, yes, What If… Loki Was Worthy? is a fully written novel, not a comic or mixed media piece.

What is What If… Loki Was Worthy? about?

When Odin banished Thor to Earth, Loki decided to pull a final prank, rerouting his path to Midgard so he’d land somewhere unexpected. Unfortunately this went very wrong, killing Thor and destroying much of New York in the process. Odin responded to this by banishing Loki to Earth (because apparently he only knows one method of parental discipline), which actually worked out pretty well for Loki—even though he’s living off ramen noodles in a trailer with a gecko, he actually still likes it a lot better than he ever did being on Asgard. Of course nothing good can last, and pretty soon Valkyrie comes barging into his new life with the hammer and Thor’s last request: get Mjolnir to its new wielder, Dr. Jane Foster. It sounds simple enough, but then a grieving, furious, and therefore irrational Iron Man decides to destroy the bridge between worlds—never mind the cataclysmic consequences—and forges himself a new suit of armor made of Asgardian weapons to do it. It’s up to Loki and Valkyrie to stop him, and in the process Loki has to answer the question: what if he was worthy of Mjolnir?

How does it relate to the MCU and Marvel Comics canons?

Like other What If..? media formats, What If… Loki Was Worthy? exists in a standalone universe, created solely for the purposes of exploring the question asked by the title. It’s always possible it might be referenced later in either the MCU or a comic, especially given the recent exploration of the multiverse and all its possibilities. Other than that, it’s all off on its own, floating independently in Marvel’s interconnected series of realities.

Is it part of a series?

Yep, What If… Loki Was Worthy? is the first of a series of What If… novels published by Marvel in partnership with Random House Worlds, an imprint of Penguin Random House. As previously mentioned, the other two titles announced so far are What If… Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man Story by Seanan McGuire and What If… Marc Spector Was a Host to Venom? A Moon Knight and Venom Story by Mike Chen. Audiobook editions will also be released.

(featured image: Random House Worlds)