Marvel Studios made its first foray into the world of animation this week with the debut of Marvel’s What If…? on Disney+. Even though it’s animated, and takes place in alternate realities, What If…? is officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon. So when the show arrived on Wednesday, Disney+ actually updated the order of its official MCU Timeline to include What If…?, showing that it’s part of continuity. However, the place the series took on the timeline may not be what some fans expected.
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When you head to the Marvel home page on Disney+, you can scroll down a few rows to see a section titled “Marvel Cinematic Universe in Timeline Order.” Every Marvel Studios project on Disney+ is accounted for on this timeline (the Spider-Man movies aren’t available on the streamer and therefore aren’t included). What If…? is now part of that list, being placed towards the end of the timeline, right between Loki and WandaVision.
This may be a little confusing, given that the first episode takes place during World War II, the same time as Captain America: The First Avenger. But it’s important to remember that every episode is a different story, all of which are being told by The Watcher. As a whole, What If…? doesn’t exist until after the end of Loki, when He Who Remains revealed that the timeline was no longer protected, connecting it to the grander multiverse.
All of the different episodes of What If…? will take place in different time periods, but the narration of The Watcher is key to finding its place on the timeline, at least according to Disney+.
Here’s the official order as it’s listed on Disney+:
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain Marvel
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- The Avengers
- Thor: The Dark World
- Iron Man 3
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Widow
- Black Panther
- Doctor Strange
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki
- Marvel’s What If…?
- WandaVision
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Did you expect to see What If…? at the end of the MCU timeline? Where do you think Eternals will fall when it arrives? Let us know in the comments!
New episodes of Marvel’s What If…? arrive every Wednesday morning on Disney+.
