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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded greatly through its many Disney+ series, which have introduced new characters and plotlines to the franchise in depth better than some solo films could. With She-Hulk: Attorney at Law wrapping up its controversial run this month, fans can look back at the biggest successes of Marvel’s episodes so far.
Since the launch of Disney+, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced various new titles on the streaming platform, bridging the gap between its theatrical releases with character-driven superhero series that tell stories too expansive to condense into a two-hour film.
Beginning with WandaVision, the MCU has released seven original series to Disney+ over the last two years. While fans have been enthusiastic regarding each of these miniseries, certain episodes have proven to be worthy of particular praise.
Updated October 19th, 2022 by Jordan Iacobucci:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded greatly through its many Disney+ series, which have introduced new characters and plotlines to the franchise in depth better than some solo films could. With She-Hulk: Attorney at Law wrapping up its controversial run this month, fans can look back at the biggest successes of Marvel’s episodes so far.
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15/15 “What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?”
What If…? 1×09, (8.4)
The final episode of What If…? continued where episode 8 left off, with Ultron running rampant throughout the Multiverse. Pushed to his breaking point, the Watcher breathes his solemn vow to never interfere in the events he observes, gathering together heroes from across the various previous realities explored in the series to form the Guardians of the Multiverse.
This episode was truly a favorite among fans as it followed in the MCU’s tradition of bringing together vastly diverting plotlines into one epic team-up. Featuring the return of several fan-favorite characters from previous episodes, the finale of What If was truly a culmination of everything the series had done so far.
14/15 “Ronin”
Hawkeye 1×05, (8.5)
In the penultimate episode of Hawkeye, Clint Barton must finally come to terms with his crimes as the vigilante Ronin as he faces Maya Lopez, whose father he killed. Meanwhile, Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova officially meet for the first time as the latter seeks to kill Barton.
This episode provided some much-needed catharsis between Maya and Clint, allowing the former character to undergo a redemption that will lead into her own Disney+ series, Echo. Additionally, fans found themselves particularly appreciating the blossoming friendship between Belova and Bishop, which has proven to be a standout facet of Hawkeye’s run.
13/15 “For All Time. Always.”
Loki 1×06, (8.6)
The final episode of Loki’s first season certainly had high expectations from fans as Loki and Sylvie entered the fortress at the end of time. The episode did not disappoint, seeing the introduction of Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, and setting up the villain to take on the Avengers in The Kang Dynasty.
“For All Time. Always.” is one of the greatest finales in the MCU’s Disney+ history, avoiding a CGI-filled final battle and instead focusing on the future of the franchise. The episode’s ending still has fans buzzing as they try to discern exactly what will happen when the god of mischief returns in a second season of the hit series.
12/15 “Glorious Purpose”
Loki 1×01, (8.6)
As the introduction to one of the most rewatchable Disney+ series yet, “Glorious Purpose” starts Loki’s run off strong, picking up the god of mischief’s story immediately after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Loki is arrested by the TVA, where he meets Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius, who attempts to get to the bottom of the character’s various emotional issues.
Though some fans took issue with the “speed-running” of Loki’s character development from villain to hero, viewers would be hard-pressed to argue that the episode isn’t brilliantly written. The conversations between Loki and Mobius are truly some of the best-written lines in MCU history, delving into the very core of Loki as a character.
11/15 “The Variant”
Loki 1×02, (8.7)
The second episode of Loki involves the eponymous god of mischief finally jumping into the action as he joins the TVA on a hunt for one of his more mischievous variants. He eventually tracks his quarry down, learning that it is actually a female variant known as Sylvie.
While the series is still gaining its feet by the time its second episode ends, fans couldn’t help but be swept away by the time-traveling mayhem that ensues therein. A far cry from the more laid-back season premiere, the second episode of Loki proves just how fun a series it can be.
10/15 “The Whole World Is Watching”
Falcon And The Winter Soldier 1×04, (8.7)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier dealt heavily with the lofty legacy left behind by Steve Rogers, the original Captain America. Characters like Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and John Walker all battled to live up to that legacy as they saw fit, with their struggles coming to a violent head in the fourth episode of the miniseries.
While not everything about Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes’s spinoff series worked, “The Whole World Is Watching” included everything that did, from the escalating rivalry between the two eponymous heroes to the increasing instability of John Walker. The episode even ends with one of the most shocking and gruesomely impactful scenes in the entire MCU, which remains seared in fans’ heads to this day.
9/15 “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!”
WandaVision 1×06, (8.7)
WandaVision, the very first of the MCU’s endeavors on Disney+, has also proven to be one of the MCU’s most rewatchable series so far. Its sixth episode, a Halloween special, explored the surprise appearance of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff, while Vision began to unravel the mysteries surrounding his wife and the town of Westview.
With the sixth episode of WandaVision, the many mysteries of the series began to unravel as Wanda’s hex became more transparent both to Vision and to the viewers. The episode balances its sympathy for Wanda with the true horrors of what she has done, presenting an incredibly interesting moral dilemma that later episodes would expand on.
8/15 “We Interrupt This Program”
WandaVision 1×04 (8.7)
As the title suggests, WandaVision’s fourth episode took a stark deviation from the story told over the previous three episodes, introducing viewers to the ongoing FBI and SWORD investigation of the Westview Anomaly. The episode introduced Teyonah Parris as an adult Monica Rambeau, as she, Agent Jimmy Woo, and Dr. Darcy Lewis sought to understand and infiltrate Wanda’s hex.
Taking a break from the typical sitcom tribute of other episodes, “We Interrupt This Program” does the leg work to explain some of the mysteries surrounding Wanda’s hex while also setting up a surprisingly compelling partnership between Rambeau, Woo, and Lewis. Its explanation of the strange events surrounding the previous three episodes is masterfully told, all while presenting new mysteries for future episodes to unravel.
7/15 “What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands?”
What If…? 1×04, (8.8)
The MCU’s first animated anthology series, What If…?, explored the endless possibilities of the multiverse. One exploration centered around Doctor Strange’s loss of Christine Palmer, leading the Sorcerer Supreme to hoard power for himself to save her, destroying his own reality in so doing.
Of What If’s various standalone episodes, this is undoubtedly the best. With the entire original cast of Doctor Strange reprising their roles for this story, the series truly grows into itself, telling a heartbreaking cautionary tale that leaves its protagonist broken and alone. In the end, Strange Supreme’s dark path is a hauntingly beautiful endeavor into the concepts of grief and power.
6/15 “Asylum”
Moon Knight 1×05, (8.9)
The Oscar Isaac-led Moon Knight introduced fans to a new superhero in the MCU whose personal struggles had resulted in a case of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The fifth episode of the series saw Marc Spector and his alternate personality, Stephen Grant, explore their own psyche in search of self-actualization and acceptance as they journeyed through the Duat.
In this episode that explains the origins of Marc Spector’s various alternate personalities, fans are taken on an emotional journey that deals with incredibly heavy topics. This masterfully written story put Marc Spector’s past into perspective and gave fans one of Oscar Isaac’s finest performances to date, signaling a bright future ahead for his time in the MCU.
5/15 “Journey Into Mystery”
Loki 1×05, (8.9)
The penultimate episode of Loki’s first season picked up where the previous episode’s cliffhanger had left off: with Loki trapped in the Void with several variants of himself. Over the course of this episode, Sylvie and Mobius would search for Loki, eventually teaming up with the god of mischief and his variants to find and infiltrate the mysterious castle at the end of time.
“Journey Into Mystery” seizes on the opportunity to have as much fun as it can with the concept of Loki’s variants coming together at the end of time. The inclusion of Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki is a highlight, with his ultimate sacrifice becoming one of the show’s most talked-about scenes. By the episode’s end, audiences are more than prepared for the groundbreaking finale.
4/15 “Previously On”
WandaVision 1×08, (8.9)
The eighth episode of WandaVision’s emotional nine-episode run involved the witch Agatha Harkness seeking to understand Wanda Maximoff’s power. As such, she and Wanda embark on a journey through Wanda’s mind and memories, forcing the Avenger to relive her greatest traumas leading up to her casting of the Westview hex.
Wanda Maximoff is the undoubted stand-out character of the MCU’s Fourth Phase, thanks in part to her captivating journey in this episode. For the very first time, fans see the horrors of her life, beginning with the sudden and violent deaths of her parents and her brother’s murder at the hands of Ultron. All this leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes in WandaVision when Wanda and Vision discuss the nature of grief itself.
3/15 “On A Very Special Episode…”
WandaVision 1×05, (8.9)
The fifth episode of WandaVision parodied Full House in tone, all while furthering the show’s ultimate theme of acceptance of loss and the beauty of grief. It is most memorable, however, for its shocking cliffhanger ending, in which Evan Peters appears at the family home in Westview, claiming to be Wanda’s long-dead brother Pietro.
“On This Very Special Episode” includes some fun allusions to one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, while also building the tension between Wanda and Vision, who has become aware of his wife’s misdoings in Westview. With the introduction of Peters as Quicksilver, this episode marks the turning point in WandaVision, as things begin to heat up heading for the finale.
2/15 “What If Ultron Won?”
What If…? 1×08, (9.0)
The two-part finale of What If’s first season asked viewers what Ultron’s victory might have looked like. In the first of this two-episode season finale, Ultron gains all six Infinity Stones, transcending reality and embarking on a rampage throughout the multiverse. This shocking and terrifying event proves weighty enough to cause the Watcher to finally break his oath and interfere, bringing together the Guardians of the Multiverse.
While this episode proved controversial to some fans who felt Ultron’s rampage minimized Thanos’s contribution to the MCU, the story nevertheless received high marks from critics. The story masterfully breaks the rules established in previous episodes, thereby establishing Ultron as a major threat to the fabric of reality itself. The episode also featured a number of story threads that could lead to plenty more What If…? scenarios in season 2.
1/15 “The Nexus Event”
Loki 1×04, (9.0)
The fourth episode of Loki continued to build on the relationship between Loki and his female counterpart, Sylvie. After escaping an apocalypse by creating a nexus event, the two variants are finally brought before the elusive Timekeepers, only for their plans to go awry, leading to a shocking cliffhanger wherein both Loki and Mobius are pruned.
Loki is, at its core, a very emotional series exploring the nature of the god of mischief himself. Its fourth episode capitalizes on this theme as answers are given to some of the early episodes’ lingering questions, as the Timekeepers are revealed to be fakes, Sylvie and Loki begin to fall in love, and the premise of the TVA is questioned. It all ends with a stinger teasing the arrival of several Loki variants.
Next: The 20 Best MCU Quotes
