It's not hard to see how an actor might find a special challenge in playing Marvel's The Watcher a.k.a. Uatu. After all, the character is an otherworldly being who, with a mandate to stay neutral, is able to peer through the multiverse and witness the miracles of infinity. That's a lot for an actor to wrap their mind around, but Jeffrey Wright did a phenomenal job with the role in season one of the Disney+ original series What If...?, and following that experience, he has brought what he describes as new dimensions to Uatu for What If...? Season 2.
Wright has been having an excellent 2023, earning acclaim for his work in movies like American Fiction, Rustin and Asteroid City, and last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with him about his latest contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Reflecting on everything that The Watcher went through in Season 1, I asked the actor how he perceives change in the character compared to who he was when we were first introduced to him in "What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?" and he explained how he sees the evolution in Uatu and how it changed his approach:
