[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of Marvel's What If...?, "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?"]
For the last nine weeks, we've been treated to the sort of unique narrative experiment you don't often get from a massive film and TV franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each episode of Marvel's What If...?, created for television by A.C. Bradley, explored an alternate reality featuring the beloved characters facing new battles and new possibilities. Most of the stories veered towards darker endings, making this not a kid-friendly animated series, but there was some fascinating storytelling that came out of it.
By the end of the season, What If...? became much more of a complete narrative, thanks to a finale that stretched across the multiverse (feels like that word might become kinda important pretty soon...). But it's still worth celebrating each individual installment of what... might have been.
9. "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" (Episode 4)
This one isn't ranked so low because of its extremely downbeat ending, but because of how the basic premise underlines something that I've been yelling about on Twitter recently: Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) talent for magic is matched only by an ego that leads him to make very, very bad decisions. Watching the alleged Sorcerer Supreme descend further and further into madness as part of his quest to gain the power he needs to prevent his beloved Christine's death is basically a slow-motion trainwreck, with the character at his least likable. It's a key episode to the season, setting up Strange's role in the finale, but also the first real disappointment.
8. "What If... Zombies!?" (Episode 5)
There were definitely zombies in this! And there were some fresh character interactions between folks like Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). But it fell a little flat, as if its only reason for existing was the opportunity to see Earth's Mightiest Heroes get zombie-fied. (To be clear, that part was pretty cool.)
7. "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" (Episode 6)
This is about the point in the season where the constant killing of Tony Stark (Mick Wingert) became genuinely funny. But this was also the episode where one of What If...?'s biggest possibilities became clear: Giving us more time with fascinating characters with more storytelling potential than we realized. Narratively this one's a bit disjointed, mostly because Killmonger's goals are a bit vague and the ending is maddeningly incomplete. But damn, is it good to have more of Michael B. Jordan in the MCU, even in animated form.
6. "What If... Thor Were an Only Child?" (Episode 7)
This was a fun romp, as raising the question of what it meant to the prime universe's Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to have Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as a brother ended up being a great excuse to make Earth the location for an intergalactic kegger. While narratively not very substantial, watching Thor and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)have a very different kind of meet-cute was very enjoyable, as was Captain Marvel (Alexandra Daniels) and Thor's epic throwdown.
5. "What If... Ultron Won?" (Episode 8)
The best aspect of this episode is the breaking of the fourth wall as well as the walls between universes, which transforms The Watcher into — for the first time — an active participant. Ultron (Ross Marquand) doesn't just conquer his own universe, he becomes self-aware enough to fight the Watcher himself, meaning that after nearly a full season of Jeffrey Wright's distant narration, he gets thrust into the action. That's only one portion of the episode, which is otherwise centered on Black Widow (Lake Bell) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) making one last desperate play to stop Ultron — but really, it's all pre-finale build-up, and feels incomplete as a result.
4. "What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" (Episode 1)
A great way to kick off the series, with every element that would define the show firmly locked in place — wild yet believable alternate universe, voice cast jam-packed with familiar names, and just a bit of a hint of a bigger story brewing behind the scenes. Plus, for anyone still mourning the end of Marvel's Agent Carter, this was a bit of a salve to that still-tender wound. I've lost track of the number of times that the MCU has found a way to bring back Hayley Atwell in some form, but honestly I hope they never stop.
3. "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?" (Episode 9)
While the least-anthology-y of the bunch, bringing together characters from the previous episodes — plus a bonus Gamora from a new-to-us universe — to take down Ultron, it's a beautifully animated adventure that does a solid job of tying every previous installment together. No one was necessarily looking towards What If...? to tell a serialized story across the season, but it did stick the landing.
2. "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?" (Episode 2)
This is a wild combination of elements which really worked for me, just because this was the sort of crossover we'd be very unlikely to see in any other circumstances, and the nature of this particular What If meant some very different results for these characters. (For months now, I've been thinking about Thanos the chill-ass gardener who just thinks his plan would.") Plus, Chadwick Boseman's voice work was really impressive — amongst all of the MCU live-action performers to participate in this, he stands out as one of the best to make the transition to animation, making his passing hurt all the more.
1. "What If... The World Lost its Mightiest Heroes?" (Episode 3)
The closest the MCU has gotten to a full-on Columbo-esque murder mystery, and a captivating one on top of it. While the actual answer to the question of whodunnit felt like it came a bit out of nowhere, the entire investigation, largely resting on the shoulders of Black Widow, was the first indication of just how dark this show was capable of getting — even though, as all stories should, it ended with just a glimpse of hope.
(Hope the concept, that is. Hope the character? Dead as hell.)
Marvel's What If...? is streaming now on Disney+.