Disney+ Unveils New MCU Timeline Order, Including WandaVision's Spot After Marvel's What If

By Russ Milheim Updated:
MCU Timeline What If Disney Plus

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.

What If, Marvel, MCU
Marvel

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.

- In This Article: What If...? (Season 2)
Release Date
December 22, 2023
Platform
Actors
Jeffrey Wright
- About The Author: Russ Milheim
Russ Milheim is the Industry Relations Coordinator at The Direct. On top of utilizing his expertise on the many corners of today’s entertainment to cover the latest news and theories, he establishes and maintains communication and relations between the outlet and the many studio and talent representatives.