Marvel isn’t letting 2023 end without one last festive treat for the MCU fandom. Coming over two years after the first season debuted in fall 2021, What If…? returns for its second season this December.
Just like the first run, What If…? season 2 will consist of nine more episodes of the animated anthology series that takes place in a different universe in the MCU multiverse each time, with Jeffrey Wright’s the Watcher our ponderous guide through these vast, new realities. New episodes will drop daily on Disney Plus, from Dec. 22 through Dec. 30.
There’s still so many surprises to unwrap once those episodes get here, but at least we now know the big idea behind each installment thanks to Marvel officially unveiling all nine titles.
What If…? season 2 episode titles revealed
If you’ve been paying attention to every report and update about What If…? season 2, you may have come across some of these titles already, but here is every confirmed episode name, revealing the canon-changing event that causes this universe to differ from the Sacred Timeline:
- Episode 1: “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”
- Episode 2: “What If… Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”
- Episode 3: “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
- Episode 4: “What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”
- Episode 5: “What If… Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper?”
- Episode 6: “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?”
- Episode 7: “What If… Hela Found the Ten Rings?”
- Episode 8: “What If… The Avengers Assembled in 1602?”
- Episode 9: “What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?”
Explaining the What If…? season 2 episode titles
Episode 1 is a spiritual sequel to the first season’s “T’Challa as Star-Lord” episode as it also imagines a version of the galaxy where Thanos is no longer a threat, this time allowing Nebula to become a hero earlier and join the Nova Corps. Another twist on Guardians is found in episode 2, which depicts an Ego-controlled kid Quill forcing an early ’90s version of the Avengers to assemble (see above).
Episode 3 is the much-promoted holiday episode that sees Jon Favreau’s Happy Die Hard-ing his way though Avengers Tower, with Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer in the Alan Rickman role. Episode 4, meanwhile, is the “Iron Man in Thor: Ragnarok” installment that was supposed to be in season 1 but was pushed back due to COVID interrupting production.
Episode 5 is the follow-up to season 1’s post-credits scene, the equivalent of The Winter Soldier for Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter. Episode 6 could well be the highlight of the season as it’s set to introduce a brand-new original-to-screen hero in the form of Kahhori, a Mohawk woman on a quest to discover her power. The episode will be entirely spoken in the Mohawk language.
Cate Blanchett returns as Hela (at last!) for episode 7’s Shang-Chi spinoff while episode 8 adapts Neil Gaiman’s seminal Marvel 1602 comic, which reimagines the Marvel universe taking place in the time of the first Pilgrims. Last but not least, Benedict Cumberbatch’s dark-hearted Doctor Strange Supreme from season 1 returns in the mysterious finale.
We don’t need to ponder the question of whether we’ll be tuning into these new episodes over the holidays.