While it might have meant the wider viewing public totally missed its existence, Marvel’s decision to drop What If…? season 2 daily over the holidays at least ensured the MCU’s 2023 ended on anything other than The Marvels.
In fact, if you use Rotten Tomatoes as your metric, What If…? is the highest-rated MCU production of the past 12 months, with its 84% critics score even higher than Guardians 3 or Loki season 2. This is curious, however, as the general consensus goes that the animated anthology show’s sophomore run was something of a mixed bag, with many episodes not quite hitting home. That said, certain installments either matched or surpassed the best of 2021’s first season.
So let’s ponder the question… what if we ranked all nine episodes from worst to best?
9. “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
“Die Hard but with the Avengers Tower in place of Nakatomi Plaza” is a genius idea on paper, but unfortunately this episode somehow sticks the landing even less than Hans Gruber when he was thrown out a window. Jon Favreau’s Happy and Kat Dennings’ Darcy could, in theory, be strong enough characters to build an episode around, but the two actors are let down by a deeply unfunny and corny script. The Avengers going into battle in Christmas costume is a great visual, though.
8. “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”
It’s a time-honored tradition for TV shows to stick their weakest episodes somewhere in the middle of the season, but What If…? apparently didn’t get that memo, as this ho-hum Blade Runner riff kicks off season 2. Karen Gillan is as committed as ever as Detective Pikachu Nebula, and the alt-Guardians of the Galaxy team she forms is entertainingly eclectic, but this gloomy cyperpunk noir story was a curious choice to launch a season premiering at such a jolly time of year.
7. “What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”
We’ve been waiting for this one for a long while. Pushed back from season 1 due to the pandemic, even though the season 1 finale is still a sequel to it, this ep finally reveals the unlikely friendship between an alternate Tony Stark and Gamora who topple the Grandmaster’s reign on Sakaar. Like Happy’s Christmas episode, this one sports a premise that should soar — it’s basically “Thor: Ragnarok meets Mad Max” — but it never quite captures the energy it needs. Still, I’m never going to turn down more Jeff Goldblum.
6. “What If… The Avengers Assembled in 1602?”
Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 comic was tailor-made for a screen adaptation, but sadly this What If…? twist on it junks much of the excellently plotted original, which is rich with superlative world-building and historical detail, for Shrek-like gags spoofing medieval times and Captain America dressed up like Robin Hood (who, by the way, was around during the 1100s, not the 1600s). Verily, tis a rambunctious romp of a half-hour play, to be sure, but egads this should’ve been a whole lot more special.
5. “What If… Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”
This one would’ve been a much smarter choice for a season opener. Personally, I enjoy What If…? best when it tries to squeeze a full-on blockbuster into 30 mins — a flawed exercise, yes, but an entertaining one. This episode is one of the most successful of that type, then, by assembling a 1990s Avengers team, complete with era-appropriate stars like Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne, and Annette Bening (well, OK, just a really good soundalike). A return to this universe in season 3, please.
4. “What If… Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper?”
What If…? is essentially a backdoor Captain Carter show at this point, something that many fans bristle at, but as someone who still laments the fact that Agent Carter was cancelled two seasons in I’m not going to complain. A sequel to season 1’s Hayley Atwell-starring riff on The First Avenger, this ep ostensibly offers a twist on The Winter Soldier, although things take a pleasingly unexpected turn when it morphs into a Black Widow reboot instead. Here’s to a season 3 Captain Carter: Civil War episode.
3. “What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?”
Say what you like about What If…? but you can’t fault its ambition. Pitting Captain Carter and Kahhori (more on her in a minute) against season 1’s Strange Supreme, season 2’s finale is essentially a mini-Avengers: Secret Wars, what with its multiversal stakes that involves a whole universe getting rebooted. Does it make a lick of sense? Not really. But is it stuffed with fan-pleasing cameos and Easter Eggs? Yes, and that’s what really counts when it comes to Marvel crossover events.
2. “What If… Hela Found the Ten Rings?”
When Cate Blanchett’s Hela was confirmed to be returning in the What If…? season 2 trailer, we thought we’d discovered the show’s new big bad. So it was a delightful surprise when Hela’s comeback actually turned out to be a redemption story. An intriguing mash-up of Thor and Shang-Chi, with lashings of Doctor Strange, the Goddess of Death’s total 180 degree morality shift might be too swiftly told to be entirely believable, but this remains one of the show’s most inventive and original episodes in either run.
1. “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?”
I suspect that once What If…? concludes for good, possibly after its third season, we’ll look back at this one as the series’ crowning achievement. The very first piece of MCU media to introduce a totally unique superhero not hailing from the comics, this season 2 episode debuts Kahhori, a Mohawk woman who becomes imbued with wondrous powers by the Tesseract that she uses to fend off Spanish conquistadors. Told entirely in Kanyen’kéha, the Mohawk language (with the occasional line in Spanish), Kahhori’s episode is a wonderful concept brought to life with intelligence and creativity. This is what the MCU needs more of.
