Ranking All The What If...? Episodes

I said this in the review of season three but What If...? may be the single biggest missed opportunity for the MCU. Still, among the weakness were a few strong episodes so here are all the episodes ranked from worst to best.

26. What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?

I assume this comes as a shock to no one since I believe I have said that I almost stopped watching this show after this episode. It is ridiculous on just about every level and was the easiest choice to make on this list. It makes me wonder what idea was shelved permanently so we could see a hulked-out Happy in Stark Tower do a Die Hard.

25. What If... Thor Were an Only Child?

This should also come as no shock since this was the episode in season one that almost made me abandon the show entirely. The only reason that this is not the bottom is because Captain Marvel beats the tar out of Thor. This episode coming in season one when the show had the most promise is probably the biggest issue because, in a way, it set the tone for what the show would end up being.

24. What If... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?

Most of the episode is kind of nonsense but the way it deals with tears in the fabric of reality is kind of cool so it gets a little bit of a pass. The problem is that the mystery of the anomaly feels like the B-plot and the A-plot is just "look at old-timey versions of characters you know."

23. What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?

As a sequel to What If... Thor Were An Only Child?, the episode functions pretty well. Plus, by the end it evolves into a lite parody of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and I can deal with that. I just don't want to think about the biological implications that lead to end have the end result of Darcy giving birth to an egg. This episode only exists to set up Birdie who isn't entirely needed in the finale and this episode could have been an X-Men thing to set up Goddess of Thunder Storm.

22. What If... The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

"Hey, can we do a Gundam homage?"
"Sure just try to tie it in somehow. If it's tenuous at best, don't worry about it too much."

Also it's very weird that She-Hulk isn't here for this episode. Like, I get that it's set about a decade after Captain America: The Winter Soldier so in this series of events it's unlikely that Jennifer Walters ever became She-Hulk but the fact that Walters herself isn't even referenced is a slap in the face to that team.

21. What If... Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster?

20. What If... Nebula Joined The Nova Corps?

This episode is all style, minimal substance. Love the cyberpunk/Blade Runner aesthetic but the episode feels out of line with a lot of what was established about Xandar and the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy.

19. What If... What If?

Remember the season one finale of Loki where the majority of the episode is Loki and Sylvie discussing the potential fate of the sacred timeline with He Who Remains for a good amount of the episode. That's still one of the singular best episodes of something created by Marvel Studios on Disney+. That's what this should have been but instead it's a massive fight with over the top action and reasonably nice visuals.

18. What If... The Watcher Disappeared?

The bigger issue with this two part finale is that, aside from the fact that we are dealing with The Watcher's repeated interference, it doesn't feel like a wrap up to the show in a way that it should. I'm not entirely sure why Birdie is here at all, and for that matter Storm feels tacked on as if someone was like "hey didn't Storm use Mjolnir at some point?" and then threw it in at the last second. This episode is an avenue to give Captain Carter her heroic sacrifice in the finale but even that does not feel right. Oh yeah, Kahhori is here too.

17. What If... Zombies?!

Going to be honest, I don't think we needed to backdoor Marvel Zombies as an animated show so this was also a waste of an episode.

16. What If... The Emergence Destroyed The Earth?

We've seen Riri Williams once in the MCU so far. She was in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I don't think she would need to be encouraged by The Watcher to not give up on saving what's left of the world after merging her body with Vision. Absolutely reductive for a character who is getting her own show next year and the second time we see her she needs to be given a pep talk to beat the crap out of Mysterio.

15. What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?

The idea of a team coming together to fight Infinity Ultron is pretty cool but the team is not great for the threat being addressed. Too many members of the team don't feel strong enough to be up to the task and, at the end of the day, Strange Supreme and Gamora probably could have done it without the help of the others. The other big issue is that this episode and its predecessor (and the finale of season two) kind of breaks the cardinal rule of the infinity stone, namely that they specifically do not work outside the universe they are from (see Loki).

14. What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?

This is definitely the strongest of the season finales we do get to see a bunch of the artifacts from around the MCU make appearances as Captain Carter and Kahhori have to fight Strange Supreme and a bunch of other multiversal variants. Cool idea, interesting execution.

13. What If... 1872?

I like what they do with Kate and Shang-Chi, especially with Shang-Chi and his relationship with his sister, but this episode feels like it needed to come out after Ironheart so we have a sense of who The Hood is in the MCU's characterization. It also highlights how much both Kate Bishop and Shang-Chi got shafted in this show.

12. What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?

I love the idea of the Collector as a bad guy because he's been kind of wasted as a character despite the fact that he's first introduced to audiences as someone trying to gather the infinity stones. I just don't think you can negotiate with someone like Thanos to get him to abandon his plan, I'd have preferred a Thanos double-cross.

11. What If... Agatha Went To Hollywood?

This episode is reasonably strong but it falls out of the top ten because of two things. Number one, the dance off sequence between Agatha and Kingo during the initial meeting, while an interesting blend of styles, looks a little lifeless and I can't quite put my finger on how. Number two, the resolution happens and Agatha stands down after getting the power of both Tiamut and Arisham because she just wants to be famous. This feels at odds with her established character motivations in Agatha All Along and, even if it was a subtle set up that never came to pass, setting her up for a fight with Death with these powers would have been a better ending.

10. What If... Hela Found the Ten Rings?

This episode is actually pretty solid despite being sold as a romance between Wenwu and Hela. Instead it is a retelling of Thor with Hela exiled and working with Wenwu as she aspires to regain the throne of Asgard. It's a surprisingly strong episode in an otherwise lackluster season.

9. What If... The Red Guardian Stopped The Winter Soldier?

My favorite thing about this episode is how much it highlights the issues with the canon surrounding what's going on with the Super Soldier program between the end of Captain America: The First Avenger and Iron Man. When exactly was Red Guardian given the super soldier serum? Where did it come from exactly? Why did the Soviets need to steal it from Howard Stark if they already had their own? Who cares, it's a road trip comedy with Red Guardian and Winter Soldier. I'd like to see how this impacts the rest of the MCU (like Civil War for example) but since the show is over we won't ever see that.

8. What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

This episode is relatively strong, even if it requires some leaps in logic to get through. I do love evil, vindictive, murderous Hank Pym in a Yellowjacket suit and the episode sets up an interesting further adventure that, again, is never expanded on. It's cool to see Fury in a leading role, it's a shame we never got to see an entire show on Disney+ last year where he's the lead.

7. What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

This show had such promise and this episode proved it. It's a pretty simple set up (Steve doesn't become Captain America, Peggy gets the treatment and becomes Captain Carter) and the changes make sense within the events of the movie and the episode itself. It's a shame the rest of the show didn't live up to this standard.

6. What If... Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?

It's fitting that the Captain Carter version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier is better than her version of Captain America: The First Avenger. Working her story into the story of the Red Room is interesting, especially since this show seems hellbent on tying The Winter Soldier into the Black Widow program, even though I don't believe that's even been alluded to in the main canon.

5. What If... Ultron Won?

One of the things this show never really handled that well was the dark ending to movies. There aren't enough episodes about what happens in alternate timelines where the heroes are unsuccessful (or say for example, What if the other half were killed by Thanos). The plan in Avengers: Age of Ultron to create Vision was really a colossal risk so an episode exploring what happens when that plan fails is interesting story fodder, especially

4. What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

This episode deserves a top five spot because it plays off both Black Panther and Iron Man by intertwining Killmonger's revenge plans against Wakanda with Tony Stark's abduction and rescue in Iron Man. The only reason it is so low is because it ends on a great cliffhanger and instead of following up, we got to watch a ton of Howard the Duck.

3. What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

This is the best alternate Avengers set up that's been done on this show. A team up of Thor, Goliath, T'Chaka's Black Panther, Hank Pym's Ant-Man, and The Winter Soldier in 1988 to try and take down celestially-powered Peter Quill is a perfect use of this format.

2. What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands?

This episode shows a deep understanding of MCU Doctor Strange in a way that the show doesn't understand any other character. A man so committed to bending the laws of reality to get his way that he would corrupt himself and destroy everything to get what he wants beautifully sets up Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

1. What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World?

The way Kahhori's story is handled is perfect. Take an entirely new character, give her powers in a way that is indelibly seeped in the lore of the MCU, and tell a personal story about her using them in a heroic fashion. 10/10. No notes.