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Notice! This post contains SPOILERS for What If...? Season 3, Episode 4
And if...? Season 3, Episode 4 is the strangest MCU Christmas episode there has ever been and probably ever will be. After all, it really doesn't get any weirder than Thor and WandaVision Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) lays an egg after marrying Howard the Duck (Seth Green), which subsequently sends the entire universe into a frenzy. As a result, there's some very strange ground to cover, especially with the episode's absolutely bizarre ending.
Set on the same timeline as And if...? Season 1 episode featuring “Party Thor” in a reality where the God of Thunder was an only child, the original episode saw Darcy and Howard the Duck getting half-price nachos after a party in Las Vegas. Now, it's been revealed that the pair got married in Las Vegas and Darcy laid the egg on an incredibly auspicious day in the MCU. With that in mind, here is an analysis of And if...? Season 3, Episode 4, its ending, and the biggest Easter eggs and references we found in this wild new episode.
And if...? Spoilers for Season 3, Episode 4 and Main Story Conclusions
"What if... Howard the Duck got married?"
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Following And if...? In the Season 1 episode "Party Thor", it is revealed that Darcy Lewis and Howard the Duck got married and gave birth to an egg, all thanks to meeting half-price nachos in Las Vegas (where they also married a Elvis impersonator).
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Living on Earth where humans and aliens have now found a way to coexist after the Thor Party's antics, "The Ducks" are invited to stay aboard the Grand Master's cruise ship, although it is quickly revealed that it is a ruse so that he may eat his unborn child.
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After the Ravagers steal the egg, Darcy and Howard learn from S.H.I.E.L.D. that it is widely believed that their baby possesses power and cosmic significance, as it was born on the day of the Convergence (even Nick Fury and Phil Coulson fear what could happen to the universe if the egg falls into the wrong hands).
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Taking Yondu's egg, Kaecilius and his fanatics perform a ritual to transform the child into a host body for Dormammu, only for Darcy and Howard to interrupt the ceremony followed closely by SHIELD and a force of Skrulls.
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Escaping with the egg, Darcy and Howard hide in Jontunheim, which Frost Giant Loki is trying to turn into a ski resort.
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Darcy and Howard end up on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and several of the MCU's enemies, who want the egg for themselves, only for the egg to begin hatching, releasing a powerful cosmic energy that destroys several of the MCU's greatest evils as the Ducks' hybrid baby emerges. .
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SHIELD decides to trust Darcy and Howard to take care of their powerful baby on their own.
And if...? Season 4 ends with a big MCU fight
Marvel at its most unbalanced
The end of And if...? Season 3 Episode 4 will no doubt be very strange for most MCU fans. Featuring some of the most dangerous and powerful MCU characters of all time, seeing them fight over a literal human/duck hybrid egg with all the gravitas of a Looney Tunes the fight is actually quite surreal. Even though it's an alternate reality to the main MCU, seeing SHIELD, The Ravagers, The Grandmaster, The Dark Elves, Zeus, The Black Order, and Thanos himself in one place and trying to claim an egg is so unbalanced and totally weird, a big mess that you can't help but enjoy while being perplexed.
It only gets weirder when Darcy and Howard start singing their baby's chosen lullaby, "I Was Made for Lovin' You" by Kiss. This motivates the inner child to finally hatch with a release of massive cosmic energy, confirming that his birth into the Convergence has resulted in a very powerful baby, one who is more than a match for all these villains, as seen with the vaporization of hundreds from enemies including Kaecilius, Malekith, and even Thanos. As such, Nick Fury decides to leave the Ducks alone rather than take his son into custody to keep the world safe, resulting in the strangest happy ending in this alternate MCU.
And if...? The Biggest Easter Eggs and References from Season 3, Episode 4
Referencing And if...? Season 1, Secret Invasion, Thor: The Dark Worldand various MCU villains
There are some crazy MCU references, Easter eggs, and appearances made in And if...? Season 3, Episode 4. Here are all the biggest ones we found:
“DJ Espuma” - Darcy and Howard know the Grandmaster as "DJ Foam", having served as Thor's DJ at several of his parties in the original. And if...? Season 1 episode (which naturally included a lot of foam).
Galaga - Trying to chase the Ravagers through space, Darcy tries to reassure herself and her piloting skills by saying "It's like Galaga"the classic arcade game that Tony Stark first references in 2012 Avengers.
The Convergence - Darcy and Howard's baby is so important because they were born at the Convergence, the day when all the kingdoms and planets align as seen in Thor: The Dark World.
Cecilio - First seen in 2016 Doctor StrangeKaecilius and his fanatics appear, continuing to serve Dormmamu by sacrificing the egg as a new host body for the Lord of the Dark Dimension.
Olympic Gods - Yondu mentions that he received offers from the Olympian gods for the egg, a tease that pays off when Thor: Love and Thunder Zeus arrives at the end of the episode.
"Dormammu does not negotiate" - Refusing to negotiate a new price with Yondu, Kaecilius states that his sire does not negotiate, a reference to the year 2016. Doctor Strange when the titular sorcerer forces Dormammu to make a deal with him using the Time Stone in the main MCU.
What if Season 1's Frost Loki - Giving his friends a safe haven in Jotenheim, the Frost Giant Loki is the same variant seen in And if...? Season 1, who was simply Thor's "brother from another mother", rather than his real adoptive brother as seen on Earth-616.
Fury, Coulson and Skrulls - Nick Fury and Phil Coulson are supported in this new episode by a force of Skrulls, tying into Nick Fury's decades-long history with the shape-shifting aliens, as established by Captain Marvel and Secret Invasion.
Malekith and the Dark Elves - The Dark Elf Malekith and his forces arrive in Jotunheim to claim the egg for themselves, further tying the episode to Thor: The Dark World and The Convergence.
Thanos and the Black Order - Initially coming for a "company retreat", the Black Order calls on Thanos himself when they discover the cosmically powerful egg, although Thanos is less than thrilled when he initially hears why he was summoned.
"Shine!" - The Grandmaster refers to Zeus's lightning as sparkles during the fight over the egg, just as he does with Thor's lightning in 2017. Thor: Ragnarok.
New episodes of And if...? Season 3 launches daily at 3am ET/12pm PT on Disney+.
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- Release date
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February 14, 2025
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- Release date
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July 25, 2025
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- Release date
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July 24, 2026