What If…? Essential Viewing?

I tried to watch all of What If…? Back when it first came out but I just found it to be such a slog that I put it down with no desire to pick it back up. But now with Marvel Zombies being popular I’m interested!

What episodes of What If…? should I watch? I’d like to feel like I still watched the thing but without having to actually watch the whole thing.

I’m also wanting to throw it in with a Loki rewatch and a Quantumania and Marvel Zombies watch. What order should I do all of this in? Thanks!

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evapotranspire2025-10-27 05:08

You know, it really depends on your preference. Some of my favorite episodes (like What If Thor Was an Only Child? and What If Howard the Duck Got Hitched?) are other people's least favorite episodes.

Since spoilers aren't really an issue at this point, you could try scrolling through episode ratings and synopses before deciding which ones to watch. Mostly, order doesn't matter - there are just a few episodes per season that interconnect and form the milestones of an ongoing story with Uatu, Carter, and Strange.

My general don't-miss-it recommendations would be:

S1: E1, E4**, E8, E9;

S2: E6, E7, E8, E9***;

S3: E6, E7,.E8.

If you're interested in Marvel Zombies,. you'll also want to catch S1 E5.

** Widely regarded as one of Marvel's best episodes of animated TV.

*** I didn't love this episode per se, but it connects to the plot in S3.

Vakobi2025-10-27 05:09

Thank you for taking the time to write all of this down! Would you watch Marvel Zombies directly after Episode 5?

evapotranspire2025-10-27 05:12

No problem! Watch order (re: Zombies) is up to you. Marvel Zombies has a similar flavor to What If - I thought it all seemed like one big extended What If episode, more or less. So sure, you could jump into Zombies right after S1 E5 if you wanted to.

sentient_luggage2025-10-27 05:34

Okay please understand i am NOT knocking you by asking this:

What about the Howard episode made it one of your favorites? I didn't hate it like some did but also wouldn't put it anywhere near the top. It was silly fun for me. Did you catch something I missed or did it just resonate on a different level or was it something else entirely? Genuinely curious.

eagc72025-10-27 05:41

its all on taste, i've seen people that love the episode because they loved that Marvel did something so crazy and weird. as What If is the one place that they can do these kinds of stories.

While for others that weirdness is what may put them off.

evapotranspire2025-10-27 07:03

u/sentient_luggage - thanks for asking!

I like the Howard and Darcy episode because it's a unique combination of zany, exciting, funny, and touching. Hard to do all four of those things well in one story... especially a story that is less than 30 minutes!

More specifically, I like...

* Howard and Darcy's odd-couple dynamic. They ricochet off each other perfectly, with just the right amount of sarcasm and affection.

* Frost Giant Loki! There's never a bad time for more Loki... especially when we get to see him as an entrepreneur constructively talking things through with his dad Laufey.

* The denouement. I was scared for their little family as they huddled in the snow waiting to die. I didn't forsee what was going to happen, and (as a parent of young kids myself) I got a bit of a lump in my throat when the Watcher said "Parents are the real heroes."

People who hated the episode, I think, mostly focus on the supposedly scandalous interspecies dating aspect (while ignoring the other times that's happened in the MCU). That's not a big deal in my opinion - it is a fictional universe, after all.

sentient_luggage2025-10-27 07:31

Thank you for your thoughtful (and bullet pointed, hey kids take note, this is how it's done) reply.

I'm going to rewatch. The Loki-Jotunheim dynamics were what kept me in the episode. I'm a mythology guy so that was my in.

I think you're right about people who hated the episode, but I also think it's easy to hate on Marvel Studios these days. Hell, it's easy to hate everything. Hating on things is a popular opinion. It's, what do they call it? Engaging.

Thank you for responding, man. You give your kids the same sort of honesty of opinion that you gave me and they'll be well equipped to figure themselves out.

Thokturn2025-10-27 06:12

Gotta be honest I found what if to be the biggest marvel slog and only got worse after s1, if you're on the fence might as well try but if you're not enjoying it put it down

clashrendar2025-10-27 14:23

My favorite episodes of What If are the ones that use the alternate storyline to enhance the in-canon events and relationships. Like Steve and Peggy still falling in love even though she got the Super Soldier serum and he didn't. Or T'challa's goodness inspiring entire galaxies.

My least favorite were some of the episodes near the end that just had weird shit going on.

dbkenny4262025-10-27 19:39

It's okay to not like something. If it's not for you, it's not for you.

marvelcomics222025-10-28 12:59

Watch the Marvel Zombies episode, then Marvel Zombies. Then go back to What If...?, read the synopses, click on what seems interesting.

Petrichor022025-10-28 15:27

Here's a simplified overview of each episode:

1x1 - Part of the show's overarching story.

1x2 - Introduces a character that will play a major role in the first season's overarching story.

1x3 - The second least relevant to the first season's overarching story, but it is referenced in the season finale. Also my favorite episode of the season, and one of the few What If...? episodes that I would recommend to people who aren't interested in the show.

1x4 - Part of the show's overarching story.

1x5 - The least relevant episode for What If...?, but this is the episode that Marvel Zombies is a sequel to.

1x6 - Introduces a character that will play a major role in the first season's overarching story.

1x7 - Introduces a character that will play a major role in the first season's overarching story and begins setting up the big conflict of the season.

1x8 - Part of the show's overarching story.

1x9 - Part of the show's overarching story. Make sure to watch the post-credit scene.

2x1 - Referenced in one of the later overarching story episodes, but you could skip without missing anything major.

2x2 - Skippable, but one of my favorite episodes of the entire show. Can skip, but recommend watching.

2x3 - Another episode that is basically skippable but still a fun episode/worth a watch. There will be a reference to this episode in one of the later overarching story episodes, but it's a pretty small reference. You just won't recognize a background cameo character if you skip this one.

2x4 - This episode was originally planned to be part of Season 1, but they had to move it here. It introduces one of the characters that plays a major role in the Season 1 finale, but it also vaguely spoils what happens in the Season 1 finale, so if you're not afraid of vague spoilers and want that character's introduction, you could watch this episode anytime before 1x7, or you could watch this episode here to get that character's introduction, or you can just skip it entirely since it doesn't do much else for the overall story. This episode also has a post-credits scene, but it's not one that moves any of the stories forward.

2x5 - Part of the show's overarching story and follows up on the 1x9 post-credit scene.

2x6 - Introduces a character that becomes part of the show's overarching story.

2x7 - Enjoyable but skippable.

2x8 - Mostly skippable, but the ending leads into the show's overarching story.

2x9 - Part of the show's overarching story. Contains a reference to Loki S2's finale, so don't watch until after you've finished Loki.

3x1 - Skippable.

3x2 - Skippable.

3x3 - Enjoyable but skippable.

3x4 - Technically a sequel to 1x7 and introduces a character who plays into the show's overarching story. But you could skip this episode, miss that introduction, and it wouldn't affect things much at all. That said, if you can get over the central conceit that starts the episode off, this is one of the better episodes of the show, IMO.

3x5 - Mostly skippable but does contribute to the show's overarching story near the end.

3x6 - See 3x5.

3x7 - Part of the show's overarching story.

3x8 - Part of the show's overarching story.

So if you want to do a skip list version of What If...? along with Loki, Zombies, and Quantumania, I think I would recommend this order:

* Loki S1
* Quantumania's post-credits scenes
* WI S1
* Zombies
* Loki 2x1 - 2x4
* Quantumania
* Loki 2x5 - 2x6
* WI 2x2 (optional), 2x3 (optional), 2x5, 2x6, 2x8, 2x9
* WI 3x3 (optional), 3x4 (optional), 3x5, 3x6, 3x7, 3x8

Please let me know if you have any questions.

_pixelcounterbot_2025-11-01 00:38

What If does not need to be watched. It shouldn't even be on the timeline. Honestly the only essential things are the movies and loki