Ranking the Episodes of “What If…?”
Trailer courtesy of YouTube, Disney.
November 15, 2021
Marvel has definitely hit the ball out of the park with it’s new series “What If…?”, with it being the first ever canon MCU animated series. The stories are a continuation of what would happen in alternate universes relating to the MCU. This is a personal ranking of the episodes as it is personal opinion. This will try to be as spoiler-free as possible as we rank the 9 episodes of “What If…?” from least to greatest.
There may be minor spoilers ahead.
9. What If… Captain Carter Were The First The First Avenger?
Captain Carter was introduced in the first episode of “What If…?” and started the series off in a great start. The reason it is so low on the list isn’t that it is a bad episode, but because the episodes that are next on the list surpassed it with twists and turns. In this episode, Peggy Carter takes the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers and Becomes Captain Carter. The episode takes place during the events of the first Captain America movie and is almost completely like the live-action 2011 movie.
8. What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?
Taking place during the events of the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark was never made to create his first suit in order to survive, instead Erik Killmonger rescues him and becomes his right hand man. Playing out similarly to the 2008 live-action movie, this episode adds scenery like Wakanda and characters like Black Panther.
7. What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?
Someone is wiping out The Avengers Initiative. In this episode, Nick Fury is having trouble finding out why someone is assassinating the new Avengers recruits. His mission is to stop and find the motive of the killer. Taking place during The Avengers (2012), this story starts to become unique when there is no Chitari invasion. This story begins to differ from the movies because there are no Avengers to save the world.
6. What If… Thor Were an Only Child?
If Odin never adopted Loki, Thor would never have so much responsibility to look after him. In this episode, Thor does not usually fight his foes, instead he likes to bring peace and parties on all the planets he comes across. Unlike some of the other episodes, this episode doesn’t have a time as to where it takes place. This is more of a sillier and uplifting episode than the others.
5. What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?
In this episode Yondu takes another child instead of Peter Quill, and that child just so happened to have been the Son of T’Chaka himself. This episode is very different because T’Challa forms alliances with unexpected foes such as Thanos.
4. What If… Zombies?!
”What If… Zombies?!” is one of the darker episodes of the series. When Hank Pym goes into the Quantum Realm to save his wife, she appears to have carried a plague and slowly started infecting everyone the zombies bit or scratched. A group of survivors such as Spider-Man, Wasp, The Winter Soldier, Happy Hogan and more find out that there is a way to reverse the effects of the plague.
3. What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
As we get closer to the end of the list, Episode 4 was one of the most unique episodes of the series taking place during the first Doctor Strange movie (2016). This episode has Doctor Strange trying to do whatever he could to save his loved one. At one point in the episode, The Watcher finally interferes to talk to Doctor Strange. What made this episode so unique is that there was more than one version of that reality and even split their universe.
2. What If… Ultron Won?
Episode 8 starts to bring forth the conclusion of the series. Ultron wins and claims The Infinity Stones, he destroys everything to “restore” peace and can even feel The Watcher’s presence. Ultron is able to escape reality and find The Watcher. This episode is very vivid and shifts into the multiverse. An entire new story is built but not in any Marvel timeline. Characters like Arnim Zola are brought back along with scenery in the Hydra Siberian Facility.
1. What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?
The “What If…?” conclusion brings back most of the characters from the previous episodes in one final battle against Ultron. The reason it is number one on the list is due to the fact that it perfectly ties into all of the other episodes. This episode checks back into the forgotten chapters of the series. With a satisfying ending, the series is concluded explains exactly what The Watcher does.
All episodes of What If…? are now streaming on Disney+.