What If was a major departure from the typical live-action shows and films that Marvel fans have grown accustomed to over the last 13 years. The show had a bit of a rough start, but it certainly hit its stride as the season came to a close. Here are all of the episodes of What If ranked starting with the worst and wrapping up with the best offering of the season.
Spoiler Warning: Since this list will talk about every What If episode, there will be spoilers. If you don’t want to spoil the ending, then we suggest not reading about the episodes you haven’t watched yet. If you’ve watched every episode or don’t care about spoilers, enjoy.
9. What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?
Peggy Carter is a fantastic character, and her relationship with Steve Rogers is one of the most wholesome in the MCU. However, this episode of What If is one of the least entertaining stories in this cinematic universe. It’s essentially the story of Steve Rogers as Captain America as we’ve already seen it, but with Peggy Carter as Captain Carter.
The fight sequences are the only redeeming bit of entertainment in this episode. The fact that What If is animated allows for Captain Carter’s herculean strength to shine through without looking as cheesy as some live-action superhero films and shows tend to. However, this episode falls short of the mark because it retreads too much familiar ground.
8. What If… Thor Were an Only Child?
What If was doing so well, and then this episode just had to show up. As Marvel fans know, Loki is the trickster god adopted brother of Thor that always kept the god of thunder on his toes. But this episode took a look at what would happen if Loki instead was raised by his true family, the frost giants. Spoilers: Thor likes getting drunk quite often.
Thor traveling around the universe partying it up with the locals of whatever planet he finds himself is admittedly entertaining. It’s a fun little gag, but it’s hardly a solid plot for an episode of this show. And Captain Marvel’s appearance doesn’t add any entertainment value. The only moment of consequence to happen at the end of the episode when Vision Ultron shows up.
7. What If… Zombies?!
What If zombie movies, tv shows, video games, comic books, etc. hadn’t already been beaten into the ground for the last half-century? Then this would have been a good episode. It’s certainly not an original idea and on top of that, it wasn’t remotely well executed. The revelation with Vision and Wanda was heartbreaking, but that was the only interesting idea the episode had.
Also, what did everyone think was going to happen if Hope Van Dyne used her suit to grow as tall as a skyscraper and sacrificed herself? There’s no way that anything but creating a giant zombie could have happened. Yet, it was kind of neat seeing Spider-Man brought into the mix and Scott Lang being given the Futurama Richard Nixon treatment was good for a laugh.
6. What If… the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?
This episode was not bad. The biggest problem it had was that the title gave away what was going to happen more than some of the other episodes. Sure, we didn’t know Hank Pym was going to be behind the whole thing. But the name of the episode let everyone know beforehand that the Avengers were going to die. Tony’s Death was a little shocking at first, but from there it was just a matter of time for the rest of them.
In the end, Steve Rogers was the only planned original member of the Avengers who survived because he was still sitting on ice. Even though this episode wasn’t bad, it certainly could have been much better. In the end, Loki taking over Earth was interesting enough to somewhat overshadow the deaths of the Avengers that were completely unsurprising considering the episode’s title.
5. What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?
The return of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa following his sad and unexpected passing last year was a bit of a bittersweet moment. I don’t think there’s any need for an explanation why that’s the case. But there’s no doubt that he delivered a fantastic performance as one of the most beloved characters in the MCU.
The episode as a whole wasn’t fantastic, but it was still enjoyable to see a more laid-back version of Thanos that kept trying to light-heartedly bring up his genocidal plans. Even T’Challa himself was a bit more laid back and absolutely was a less obnoxious version of Star-Lord. But the rest of the Ravagers were fairly close to their original MCU versions.
4. What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?
Once a bad guy, always a bad guy. At first, this episode almost made it look like Erik Stevens (Killmonger) was different from the variant seen in Black Panther. He saved Tony Stark from capture in Afghanistan and called out Obadiah Stane’s collusion in the Ten Rings plot to have Tony captured. But once he just happened to mention the Liberator combat drone project, things started feeling a bit off.
In the end, Killmonger ended up murdering Tony and T’Challa on his way to Wakanda’s throne. It’s a little disappointing that his personality didn’t change at all in this other universe. However, it was still interesting to see how much power Killmonger was able to obtain by putting himself in the right situation with the right people.
3. What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
Benedict Cumberbatch is a treasure. If you have any doubt, then just check out the motion capture work he did for Smaug or listen to his stellar voice acting in this episode. The range of emotions he is able to convey is absolutely stunning. From unfettered joy to the depths of despair and from completely self-assured cockiness to utter confoundment, Cumberbatch hits all of the notes perfectly.
The only aspect of the episode that brings things down a bit is his forgettable relationship with Christine. Although it’s the centerpiece of this episode, the focus is more on Strange himself. It’s an interesting look at how his self-obsession and feeling the need to being able to fix everything can be so destructive. On top of that, it shows how terrifyingly powerful a master of the Mystic Arts can become.
2. What if… The Watcher Broke His Oath?
Guardians of the Multiverse, assemble! In this episode, the Watcher forms a ragtag group of superheroes by pulling Gamora, T’Challa, Killmonger, Thor, Captain Carter, and Strange Supreme from their universes to help take on Vision Ultron. It was great to finally see all of the different lead characters from the previous episodes brought together (plus Gamora) to fight towards a common goal of getting the Infinity Stones from Vision Ultron.
The fight scenes were masterfully animated. Each character from every episode brought their own unique skills to the table and even the zombie episode had a powerful representative in the form of the zombified Wanda Maximoff. But the big twist where Killmonger turned on the group was telegraphed from the moment he was selected for the team. Fortunately, it still presented an interesting situation where Strange Supreme locked Killmonger and Arnim Zola in an alternate universe where they were perpetually fighting over the Infinity Stones.
1. What If… Ultron Won?
Now, this episode is where business really starts to pick up in What If. Vision Ultron first appeared at the end of the party Thor episode which I promise we won’t talk about ever again. This episode is a great look back at one of the most underrated MCU villains, Ultron. Just because Age of Ultron isn’t often spoken of as highly as the other Avengers movies, people tend to discount the main antagonist.
But the creators of this show do a fantastic job in one scene showing how truly powerful Ultron is when he slices Thanos in half. And it’s not just any Thanos, it’s one equipped with five stones in his Infinity Gauntlet. This episode also has some of the most visually impressive fight scenes in the series. Seeing Ultron and the Watcher smash each other through numerous universes is unlike anything seen in the MCU. And we’ve definitely never seen any character take a bite out of a galaxy.
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