Every episode of What If...?: Season 1 ranked

 

Hello, Everybody! The season finale of What If just dropped, which gives me the perfect time to officially rank all the episodes of Season 1. Consider this your spoiler warning if you haven't watched the show yet.

What If is an animated anthology show where Uatu the Watcher, voiced by Jeffrey Wright, is narrating our heroes stories told in the canonical Multiverse.

9. What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?

In the series premiere of What If, Peggy Carter, an Agent with the SSR, who later becomes SHIELD, receives the serum in place of Steve Rogers, with Peggy becoming Captain America, or Captain Carter. While the episode wasn't exactly bad, it just felt like a rehash of Captain America: The First Avenger with lines of dialogue from the previous movies being incorporated. In a way, these characters were forced to say these lines. However, that doesn't mean that I had fun watching this. And come on, how can you "fake" Steve's death and then have him reappear at the end? 

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

Again, not a bad episode, I actually really loved it. There were a lot of cameos including the Skrulls, Nebula, Surtur, Howard the Duck, Drax, etc. This was basically Marvel Easter egg heaven. Boi, that Thor and Frost Giant Loki brother bond moment was hilarious! I also loved Thor and Jane's chemistry wayy better in this show. With all that goodness and humor, there's really not much of a story here. Yes, Thor would be a goofball if that first Thor movie was different but I would've wanted some kind of poignancy.  That Thor and Captain Marvel was pretty cool! It was all good until we were clapped back into reality when Cosmic Ultron showed up.

7. What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes

This was when the animated series and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going to go into very dark places. Taking place during Phase 1, Nick Fury works on bringing together Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but they all die, well, not all at once, anyway. I just kept asking myself, who would do this? It was revealed that Hank Pym was behind the deaths, all because SHIELD intentionally covered up Hope van Dyn's death and Hank becomes the Yellow Jacket. This was done before in the comics when Hank became the villain and a piece of work for our Marvel heroes back in the day. This was a good episode, I just thought that it was insensitive to kill off the Avengers.

6. What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?

This is a BIG SPOILER if you haven't watched the finale yet! After the crazy episode where Ultron went GOD mode and fights Uatu, he's forced to break his own oath of not interfering in the Multiverse to bring together T'Challa, Peggy, Thor, Gamora, Killmonger, Thor and Supreme Doctor Strange to stop him. I thought this episode was pretty awesome, it's just that Gamora felt soo overshadowed and we didn't even get a What if episode about her! Like, how did she stop Thanos?! Is she a Mad Titan, is she a not so mad Titan? And I couldn't really get what Tony Stark was doing there, really. I wasn't even surprised when Killmonger decided to betray the team and have the infinity stones for himself. 

5. What If... Zombies?!

This is a loose adaptation of Robert Kirkman's Marvel Comic and it honestly did not disappoint. Taking place during Infinity War, Bruce Banner crash lands on Earth in the Sanctum Santorum, only to find out that New York City is deserted and is infested with... zombies?! Spider-Man, Bucky, Okoye and Hope all help Bruce and search for a cure. I love movies and shows with zombies which is why this is one of my favorites, every time Scott Lang shows up, there's bound to comedy, and wait... is that Zombie Thanos?! And we finally got confirmation that Uncle Ben exists in the franchise!

4. What If... Ultron Won?

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron wasn't exactly the best villain due to his confusing Avengers extinction plan. But in What If, Ultron fused with Vision and became a powerful cosmic being after slicing Thanos in half like he was deli meat! And then steals the infinity stones for himself. OH MY GOD. Ultron became a straight-up menace, I'm talking Madara Uchiha levels of bad-assery! He was all like, excuse me, I'm going to go cause Ragnarok myself. Carol Danvers, you did one thing right, and that is sacrificing yourself for the universe, Frieza style! It was teased from the beginning that Uatu would have to interfere, and did just that when Ultron discovers and they both have a fight that goes across other universes including... Star Wars?! And wait, Steve Rogers is the President?! 

3. What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart?

In Doctor Strange(2016), Stephen Strange gets into a car accident and loses the ability of his hands, but, Rachel McAdams' character, Christine, dies in the car accident with Stephen in this devastating episode of What If. Now, he still goes Tahmertahj to learn the mystic arts and become the Sorcerer Supreme, but he abuses the power of the time stone to bring back Christine, but with every attempt, it all ends with the same result, she dies. This goes back to scene in the movie where Mordo warns Strange of the consequences of using that infinity stone, including time loops and reliving the most dreadful moment of your life forever. Strange then becomes Supreme Doctor Strange by consuming all forms of cursed beings to bring back Christine which causes his universe to implode. I have been more heartbroken by this episode. And I think this is the best characterization of Doctor Strange I've seen, and proved that Benedict Cumberbatch is an incredible voice actor.

2. What If... T'Challa Became a Star Lord?

Chadwick Boseman did most of the recording for T'Challa in What If before passing away from his illness. Let me tell you, this episode did not disappoint! Prince T'Challa is abducted by ravagers when he was a kid instead of Peter Quill, who became a janitor no less!😂 T'Challa was honestly a better Star Lord than Peter was! He brought peace throughout the galaxy, became a guardian and even stopped Thanos by having a conversation. I'll say this, Nebula got HOT!🔥 I didn't even know that it was her. The Howard the Duck appearance was soo great, Thanos fighting his own children was awesome and The Collector was a pretty great villain. Chadwick's voice was very soothing and inspiring, making this one of the best posthumous vocal performances ever.

1. What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark

Remember, one single moment can change everything in this show. In the opening sequence of the first MCU movie, Iron Man, Tony is injured and is taken in by the Ten Rings. But, Killmonger steps into the action and chucks the same missile that hurt Tony! Meaning, that Tony never became Iron Man, and is still is the same arrogant and egotistical businessman that he is. Bro, he snitched on Stane real quick! You wanna why I think this is the best episode of What If? It's the animation, the iconic performance from Michael B. Jordan, the anime references(I love that Michael's a real-life anime fan and that he personally requested that his outfit would like Vegeta's and that his robot army would have a Gundam design), how Killmonger is working for both sides and deceiving each one, and that fight scene in Wakanda. Bro, Killmonger even killed T'Challa, then Rhodey and Tony dies yet again! Tony fans have been hurting. He even made King T'Chaka look like a dummy and made him the Black Panther! At least Killmonger got the sunset that he wanted. The episode further proves that Erik Killmonger is one of the best MCU villains ever! 

And that's my ranking! What do you guys think? Tell me in the comments what your favorite episode is!