Much like the comic book run that inspired the show, Marvel’sWhat If…?has offered a fascinating look at how the MCU timeline could have branched out in multiple directions. Creating a series like this can really help the world feel more alive, giving an introspective look at some of the protagonists to show how the events of the MCU have shaped their characters. As well as allowing some much-needed time to flesh out characters who’ve been relegated to supporting roles thus far but who still may have a significant role to play in the series' future.
For the most part, Marvel got the balance right and offered some alternatives so tempting that fans may almost lament that they are not actual canon. At times, though, season one ofWhat If…?played it a little too safe and stuck a little too close to the source material of their own movies. Especially considering the premise essentially gave the writers a free pass to do whatever with these iconic characters. The recently released second season was a vast improvement on the series with more unique stories and better animation, with the show finally starting to live up to its full potential. With that in mind, here are all the episodes from the series ranked from worst to best. Spoilers ahead.
Update July 11, 2025: Now thatWhat If…?season two has concluded, this article has been updated to include every episode of the series up to this point.
19What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?
Unfortunately, the opening of the series was also the weakest, with the aforementioned issue of staying too loyal to the film that inspired it. In this episode Heinz Kruger shoots Steve Rodgers, preventing him from being turned into a super-soldier whilst attempting to steal a vial of the serum. With time of the essence, agent Peggy Carter steps in to take the serum, being transformed into the first super-soldier against the wishes of her commanding officer John Flynn.
The show makes an effort to empower Captain Carter as she defies Flynn to join the action but in truth, the sequence is just as hackneyed and nonsensical as it was the first time around inCaptain America: The First Avengerto explain away his costume. This sets the tone for the remainder of the episode, which largely follows the same plot from here on out, with a few minor tweaks for good measure. While Captin Carter is a great character and any chance to get more Hayley Atwell is always good, as a premiere episode for the series it didn’t quiet give a bold enough take to start the series as the answer is: the story would have basically gone the same way.
18What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?
The lowest rated episode from season two on this list follows Tony Stark’s Head of Security, Happy Hogan, as he’s tasked with making sure the Avengers' Christmas party runs smoothly. Things quickly begin to fall apart when Justin Hammer and his hired guns break in and take over the tower while the Avengers are out. It’s an episode heavily inspired byDie Hard, with Happy even parodying the vent scene at one point, and is a fun episode that reunites the original six Avengers.
Related:The MCU’s What If…? Is the Antidote to the Poison They Created
The biggest issue with this episode is that it could’ve taken place in the MCU’s sacred timeline. The change isn’t drastic enough to take place outside the universe, with the most exotic thing being Happy getting Hulk powers, and they tease it being undone at the end of the episode. The action is fun, and Sam Rockwell’s MCU return is long overdue; the story is just in the wrong series. It’s far from a bad episode and actually quite enjoyable, but it doesn’t utilize the potential ofWhat Ifas well as it could.
17What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?
Killmonger is already established as one of the most grounded and best-crafted villains in the entire MCU, and he’s arguably even better here. Granted, he carries what is otherwise simply a decent story, but the villain is truly cerebral and, more importantly, believable. Going right back to the inception of the MCU,Killmonger shows up to save Tony Starkin Afghanistan, which prevents him from becoming Iron Man. Tony remains a self-centered arms dealer and Killmonger positions himself as his guiding right-hand. Playing off all sides, Killmonger successfully kills Stark, T’Challa, and Rhodes before rising to become the new Black Panther.
The villain’s actions have a significant impact on well-established MCU characters and the world around him, making him feel consequential. It really felt like a whole new universe, an opportunity missed by other episodes. The problem with this episode is that it could’ve used more time. Right as Killmonger’s plan is coming to fruition and Wakanda is waging war on the United States, it abruptly ends. With just a little more time to see the story fully realized, it could’ve been one of the series' best episodes.
16What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?
Learning from the lessons of the first Captain Carter episode, this one is a vast improvement because it puts the character in a new environment that the audience hasn’t seen before. It picks up right after season 1’s finale when Captain Carter discovers that Steve Rogers survived as the Hydra Stomper, only he went on to be one of history’s deadliest assassins. Peggy teams up with Black Widow to take on Melina Vostokoff and the Red Room, all while trying to save the man she loves.
The episode works as a merger betweenCaptain America: The Winter SoldierandBlack Widowas it replaces Hydra with the Red Room and is a pretty exciting original story. It has the benefit of being in the universe that season one set up, but now that we get to see Captain Carter in a new environment, it’s a lot easier to appreciate her character. She stands out on her own and feels fully fleshed out, no longer standing in Steve’s shadow. Its placement on the list isn’t a knock on the episode, it just happened to be that others were stronger.
15What If… The World Lost its Mightiest Heroes?
Taking place during “Fury’s Big Week” whenIron Man 2,The Incredible HulkandThorall occur in the span of a few days before a murder mystery sets in. A promising premise that retreads familiar ground, but adds in the obvious wrinkle of the Avengers dying.Black Widow is initially framedas the person behind the murders before uncovering the true assailant to be Hank Pym in microscopic form as the Yellowjacket. In this universe, he let his daughter Hope join SHIELD, and she is tragically killed on a mission. That sent Hank spiraling down a path of revenge against Fury for letting it happen.
It’s a surprising reveal with a few hints about who the killer is here and there, and seeing the Avengers die this way shows just how dangerous a character like Yellowjacket is. The episode smartly picks the right moments to kill each hero when they’re at their weakest, like when Thor is mortal, and Iron Man is already dying from blood poisoning. It all comes together when Loki and Fury team up in an exciting finale that ends with Loki successful in taking over an Earth with no Avengers to stop him. The biggest downside of the episode is that it ends on a huge cliffhanger that’ll never be paid off, but otherwise, it’s a very solid episode in the series.
14What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?
A much better example of an episode that takes a familiar story and swaps in a different character would be this one.T’Challa becoming Star-Lord instead of Peter Quillhas rippling consequences throughout this universe, allowing for fresh takes on a number of established MCU characters and a story that feels more of its own. T’Challa’s superior nobility and sense of responsibility guide this universe in an overall more positive direction, even converting Thanos at one point to join his Ravengers.
The second act of T’Challa searching for his homeworld was humble but less exciting than the sequence that preceded it, which hurt it just a little. The episode really needed a longer runtime to do justice to the more emotionally relevant plotline, but overall, it was a good showing. Seeing The Collector step in to fill the void that Thanos left is also fascinating because it shows a different side of that character at his full potential. In one of his final performances, Chadwick Boseman does a great job voice acting the character and brings so much life to him.
13What If… The Avengers Assembled in 1602?
What If…?is at its best when the series embraces ideas that drastically differ from the sacred timeline, and nothing represents that more than this episode. At the end of season two’s Captain Carter episode, she is mysteriously transported into a different universe to the year 1602 by the Scarlet Witch as she begs her to help save their dying reality. The episode quickly becomes a mystery that Peggy is trying to solve as she figures out what caused all these heroes to become time-displaced by 400 years. As she’s put on the run away from the Asgardian Royal Family, she is taken in by Rogers Hood and his Merry Men.
Steve and Peggy’s relationship is at the core of this episode and is the primary reason it works as well as it does. It’s building off of their lost love in not just the sacred timeline, but also that of whichWhat If…?has established. The 1602 backdrop adds a whole new era that hasn’t been shown yet in the MCU, but enhances the story being told in a really entertaining way. In the end it’s revealed that during the events ofInfinity War, Steve accidentally smashed the time stone while fighting Thanos and sent these heroes to 1602 without any memory of what happened. His goodbye with Peggy is emotional and grounds the heightened reality the story is set in as the episode immediately cements itself as one of the series' best. The biggest downside to the episode is that it is not quite up to par with the original1602comic, which actually takes some more interesting swings with the character than the episode did.
12What If… Zombies?
The flagship episode for the series' marketing that many fans would have been looking forward to,paying homage to the cult favorite comic run Marvel Zombies. Playing out as more of a zombie movie, focusing on the survivors, rather than an outright superhero flick, was absolutely the right choice. This was the best the MCU has shown of Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne, who serves as the heart of this episode, feeling the burden of the zombie outbreak falling on her shoulders.
The despair and angst throughout are fantastic, although the episode does slip into a few clichés, and it would have been nice to see more of the uniquely super-powered zombie variants to set it aside from traditional fiction. The original comic has it so that the heroes can still talk while they have the virus, and that could’ve added a more original layer to Marvel’s zombies. Again, run time had to be considered, but surely many fans were left hoping to return to this universe in some medium, and they got their wish whena spinoff was announced, so a rousing success.
11What If… Thor Were an Only Child?
Season one ofWhat If…?was filled with grim, dark alternate realities where heroes died in countless numbers. The seventh episode of the season decided to have a bit of fun with and cut loose in a nice riff onFerris Bueller’s Day Offmeets and many 80’s teen comedy romps, with a spoilt version of Thor attempting to at first throw a ‘wild rager’ and then hide it from his mother. Thor has become the “funny” Avenger thanks to his depiction in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder, and this episode finds a way to do a run remake of his first film but with the comedy audiences know from later Thor.
What If…?can be many things, and this episode showed the creators they could play around with the formula and have some fun with the multiverse. Not everyone has to be a major tragedy or a major pivot, sometimes you’re able to just have a good laugh, and this episode was a nice light-hearted good time until the epic and tragic two-part finale.
10What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?
After how well-received the first episode with Strange Supreme was, it was only a matter of time until he was back in the series in a big way. Serving as the finale for season two, this episode brings together Captain Carter and Kahhori as the duo look to stop a grief-ridden Strange from another attempt at bringing back his universe. Strange’s plan involves using powerful heroes and villains from throughout the multiverse to fuel his forge to bring back Christine, with Kahhori being one of them.
Related:What If…? Season 2’s Most Intriguing Mystery Cleared Up By the Series Writer
It all culminates in an insane final battle where Kahhori and an infinity stone-wielding Captain Carter are gifted weapons from other characters to try and defeat Strange, who’s being possessed and tormented by a demon manipulating him into doing these things. It works well as a follow-up to Strange’s first episode and embraces the absurdity of the series. Strange’s sacrifice to rebuild his world the proper way turns the tragic character into a hero in his final moments, taking out the biggest threat to Christine: himself.
