With three Disney+ shows down, Marvel Studios' first animated series is finally in the spotlight.
What If...? has been met with highly positive reactions after the show aired its very first episode, which followed an alternate chain of events set during Captain America: The First Avenger that resulted in the birth of Captain Carter.
As crazy as some twists and turns are in Carter's adventure, the episode is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the hypothetical situations that the show will explore. These situations include scenarios such as Tony Stark being saved by Erik Killmonger, or Ultron being the one to gather all of the Infinity Stones. Viewers are going to be in for a wild ride over these next few weeks.
But what if someone wanted to sit down and watch the MCU from the beginning in chronological order? Where would What If...? sit in that ranking? Well, Disney+ is here to help with that, now that they've officially updated their Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline to include The Watcher's favorite tales:
MCU TIMELINE ORDER UPDATED
Disney+ has updated its timeline for all the MCU films and shows to include What If...?, where the show can be seen placed between WandaVision and Loki.
The order for the MCU now stands:
1.) Captain America: The First Avenger
2.) Captain Marvel
3.) Iron Man
4.) Iron Man 2
5.) Thor
6.) The Avengers
7.) Thor: The Dark World
8.) Iron Man 3
9.) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10.) Guardians of the Galaxy
11.) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
12.) Avengers: Age of Ultron
13.) Ant-Man
14.) Captain America: Civil War
15.) Black Widow
16.) Black Panther
17.) Doctor Strange
18.) Thor: Ragnarok
19.) Ant-Man and the Wasp
20. Avengers: Infinity War
21.) Avengers: Endgame
22.) Loki
23.) What If...?
24.) WandaVision
25.) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
WHAT IF THE TIMELINE MATTERED
Marvel Studios' What If...? is likely placed right after Loki because of the destruction of the Sacred Timeline, which creates the multiverse that the new animated Disney+ takes advantage of.
In all honesty, What If...? could have been placed anywhere in the timeline, seeing as its stories take place across many different periods of time to mention they are entirely separate timelines, meaning when those events take place don't really matter at all to the wider MCU.
But when it comes to pure viewing order for the audience, then its placement makes a lot of sense. Not that it's completely necessary to watch Loki before What If...?, but the show's explanation of timelines, multiverses - the whole nine-yards - it's all very helpful in understanding what The Watcher is showing the viewing audience.
It's not like Disney would try to place each episode of What If...? in their proper hypothetical spot in the MCU Prime's timeline, though it would be pretty neat for them to do. Audiences will just have to rely on the fanbase to put that together for them if they want to want everything in that type of chronological order.
