The 10 Most Powerful MCU Characters Introduced in What If…?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for What If...? season 3.

Marvel Studios introduced some of the most powerful characters in MCU history in animation And if...? series. Spanning three seasons between 2021 and 2024, Marvel Animation's And if...? explored some wild and wonderful alternate universes across the MCU multiverse and introduced a multitude of interesting, exciting and bizarre variants of some of Marvel's most iconic characters. And if...? The expansive concept created the opportunity for some incredibly powerful and far-reaching characters to appear where live action might not have done them justice.

Among some of the most memorable variants introduced into the MCU in And if...? three seasons were T'Challa's Star-Lord, Happy Hogan's Freak, the Mech Avengers, and Xu Xialing's Hood. However, There are many more variants in And if...? who have demonstrated abilities that cement them as some of the most formidable and unparalleled characters in all of the MCU. This makes these And if...? The characters' potential move to live-action is even more exciting, especially since many of their live-action counterparts have already been established in the MCU.

10

Byrdie

Byrdie debuted in What If...? Season 3, Episode 4, 'What If...Howard the Duck Got Hung Up?'

Before making his live-action MCU debut in the upcoming 2025 film The Fantastic Four: Getting StartedNatasha Lyonne joined And if...? last season to voice Byrdie, the hybrid daughter of Darcy Lewis and Howard the Duck. Byrdie's powers began to present themselves when she was still in egg form in And if...? season 3, episode 4, where she emitted a massive amount of energy to take down the armies of villains fighting for her possession. Byrdie returned as an adult alongside Captain Carter, Kahhori and Storm in And if...? the double ending of season 3 and became even more powerful.

In his adult adventures, Byrdie showed off his flying skills and technical knowledge, but received his greatest improvement at the hands of the Watcher. After taking the Watcher's oath, Byrdie received his extradimensional abilities, which enhanced his natural human/duck hybrid powers. It's unclear whether Natasha Lyonne will play Byrdie in The Fantastic Four: Getting Startedor a new MCU character, but our site's possible live-action debut in another upcoming MCU project is very exciting after And if...? season 3.

9

Mega-Hulk

Mega-Hulk debuted in What If...? Season 3, Episode 1, 'What If... The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?'

Bruce Banner is already one of the strongest characters in the MCU, but And if...? the season 3 premiere gave him an incredible power upgrade. "What if... the Hulk fought the Mech Avengers?" saw Banner enhance his gamma radiation-based abilities with a gamma bombwhich immensely increased his size, allowing him to take on the army of Hulk monsters he previously unleashed on the world. A combination of the Hulk and Godzilla, Mega-Hulk marked a dramatic and terrifying change for Bruce Banner.

Even as Mega-Hulk, Bruce Banner managed to maintain a semblance of his humanity, as his friendship with Sam Wilson allowed his violence to be toned down and the world to be saved. This could have paved the way for Marvel Studios to finally explore a live-action adaptation of the 2007 film. World War Hulk event, or any other notably Hulk-centric storyline from Marvel Comics. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner has been severely underused in the MCU in recent years, so it's great to see this extremely powerful Hulk debut in the MCU..

8

Kahori

Kahhori debuted in What If...? Season 2, Episode 6, 'What If...Kahhori Reshaped the World?'

Kahhori was introduced in And if...? Season 2 as an original character created for the animated series, with no counterpart in Marvel Comics or currently in the live-action MCU. A member of the Mohawk Nation, Kahhori received her incredible gifts after being exposed to the energy of the Tesseract, which crash-landed in pre-colonial America in Kahhori's reality.. She quickly harnessed her new powers and became the most formidable member of her new tribe, and used these gifts to help Captain Carter fight Doctor Strange and form a team alongside Captain Carter, Byrdie, and Storm.

And if...? The season 3 double finale saw Kahhori empowered with the Watchers' abilities after taking the oath of Uatu. This enhanced his Tesseract-powered powers, which include superhuman strength, speed, agility, healing, energy projection, and telekinesis, among others. There have been calls for Kahhori to debut in live-action since her appearance in And if...? 2nd seasonand the end of And if...? season three may have made that transition even more likely for the new cosmic superhero.

7

Doctor Strange Ultimate

Doctor Strange Ultimate debuted in What If...? Season 1, Episode 4, 'What If...Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?'

And if...? Season 1, Episode 4 explored a universe in which Doctor Stephen Strange attempted to break the Absolute Point of Christine Palmer's death. His attempts to harness enough power to shatter this Absolute Point turned him into a monstrous amalgamation of several frightening creatures.twisting his body and mind, and the breaking of an Absolute Point led to the destruction of his entire reality. Strange Supreme returned as Guardian of the Multiverse before attempting to restart his own universe.

Strange Supreme became an absolute villain in And if...? 2nd season, but a moment of clarity saw him sacrifice himself and use his own soul to reset his shattered reality. This universe was revisited in And if...? season 3 finale, which revealed that, there, Strange Supreme has absolute power. Despite his death, Strange Supreme is still seen as one of the most powerful and influential characters in the entire multiverse, with the power to nullify even the Watchers' abilities, so the possibilities for Benedict Cumberbatch's live-action Doctor Strange are over. to expand.

6

Vision by Riri Williams

Riri Williams' vision debuted in What If...? Season 3, Episode 5, 'What If...The Emergency Destroyed the Earth?'

Before returning to live action in the upcoming 2025 film Iron Heart series, Dominique Thorne reprized it Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Riri Williams role in And if...? season 3. Williams was introduced as the central hero operating in the fragments of an Earth devastated by the emergence of the Celestial Tiamut and a war won by a nanite-enhanced Mysterio. Mysterio used his new technological powers to control Vision, but Riri Williams even took down the synthezoid and used its equipment to transform into a human/synthezoid hybrid.

This evolution made Riri Williams one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, as she harbored Vision's powers, which are almost incomprehensible. This upgrade allowed Williams to see through Mysterio's illusions and eventually defeat the original Spider-Man villain.with the help of the Watcher, bringing hope back to the broken world of And if...? season 3, episode 5. Riri Williams is set to return to live-action in 2025, and White Vision will follow in 2026, so it's possible this Ironheart and Vision crossover could soon return to the MCU.

5

Zombie Scarlet Witch

Zombie Scarlet Witch debuted in What If...? Season 1, Episode 5, "What If...Zombies?!"

Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch is already one of the most powerful and unparalleled characters in the MCU, which makes the introduction of variants even more dangerous like And if...? The zombified Scarlet Witch is even more terrifying. "What if... Zombies?!" season 1 debuted this frightening villain, who fell victim to the quantum virus and was transformed into a zombie, but maintained her Chaos Magic abilities like other zombified characters. Zombie Scarlet Witch looks completely unbeatable, which should shape the story of the next MCU Marvel Zombies series.

In the MCU, Wanda Maximoff's Scarlet Witch is not only a witch, but her Mind Stone enhancements grant her the ability to shape reality at will. She put it to the test in WandaVision establishing the Hex around Westview, New Jersey, and playing sitcom-style sets inside, and became a bona fide villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While many await Scarlet Witch's live-action return, the upcoming return of the zombified Wanda will satiate viewers' appetitesand she could be even more powerful than her live-action counterpart.

4

Celestial Agatha Harkness

Celestial Agatha Harkness debuted in What If...? Season 3, Episode 2, 'What If...Agatha Went to Hollywood?'

And if...? The second episode of Season 3 was the first of the animated series to feature Kathryn Hahn's original Salem witch, Agatha Harkness. This story imagined Agatha traveling to Hollywood to obtain enough energy from the Eternals to make her able to absorb the power of the Celestial Tiamut and prevent her emergence. After teaming up with Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo, she was successful, allowing herself to become a celestial being.which marked a significant update for the popular and beloved MCU witch.

With the power of the Celestial Tiamut and all of the Eternals at her disposal, Agatha Harkness has cemented herself as perhaps the most formidable character in her home reality. She uses these powers to defeat Celestial Arishem, but then makes the brave decision to abandon her new abilities and become a true movie star alongside Kingo.. Of course, this won't stop Celestial Agatha Harkness from possibly appearing in the live-action MCU, which would be a fantastic way to move forward from 2021. Eternals and 2024 Agatha all the timenone of which have confirmed sequences.

3

Infinity Stones Captain Carter

Infinity Stones' Captain Carter debuted in What If...? Season 2, Episode 9, 'What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?'

Even though this choice from Marvel Studios has received some criticism, Hayley Atwell's Captain Carter has become one of Marvel's most consistent characters. And if...? it allowed the entire series to have a clear plot. Peggy Carter became a super soldier instead of Steve Rogers in the universe explored in And if...? first episodeand she gained more and more power with each new adventure she embarked on. This ultimately led her to harness the power of the Infinity Stones in And if...? the end of season 2, which turned her into one of the most powerful figures in the MCU.

When she came back And if...? Season 3, Episode 7, "What If... the Watcher Disappeared?", Captain Carter abandoned the Infinity Stones. Even so, she soon received another significant upgrade when she took the oath of the Watchers, leading to her epic and heartbreaking sacrifice to save her friends. Hayley Atwell has already portrayed a variant of Captain Carter in live-action, and it would be fantastic to see her bring a new iteration to lifemaybe in 2026 Avengers: Judgment Day following confirmation of his casting in the Phase 6 crossover film.

2

Infinite Ultron

Infinity Ultron debuted in What If...? Season 1, Episode 7, 'What If...Thor Was an Only Child?'

While the Infinity Stones managed to transform Captain Carter into an even more powerful hero than she ever imagined, the Stones also helped one of Marvel's most iconic supervillains become a threat to the entire multiverse. In your home universe, Ultron successfully uploaded his consciousness into Vision's body and claimed the Infinity Stones from Thanos.. This gave him the power necessary to destroy his entire universe and, after listening to the Watcher on the Observational Plane, he waged war against the multiverse, being defeated only by the combined power of the Guardians of the Multiverse.

James Spader was recently confirmed to reprise the role of Ultron in the next MCU film. Vision series, but an animated variant of Infinity Ultron returned before it. And if...? Season 3's Ultron never listened to the Observer on the Observational Plane, so it remained alone in its empty universe for eonsand this loneliness convinced him to help Captain Carter and her team when the Watcher found himself in trouble. Ultron absorbed a fragment of the Observational Plane, finding himself capable of accessing the Fifth Dimension, but even this did not make him strong enough to stop the Watchers.

1

Uatu, the observer (and his team)

The Observer debuted in What If...? Season 1, Episode 1, 'What If...Captain Carter Was the First Avenger?'

Although any number of these And if...? Although characters could compete for the title of Most Powerful, few came close to the power of Uatu the Watcher. Jeffrey Wright voices this all-powerful and omniscient cosmic being in every episode of And if...?narrating the stories of the entire multiverse that he watches from his post on the Observational Plane in the Fifth Dimension. The Watchers are an extremely powerful race with almost unmatched powers, but And if...? season three saw several heroes receive incredible and coveted gifts from the Watchers.

The Watcher gifted his superior abilities to Captain Carter, Kahhori, Storm, and Byrdie in And if...? season 3 finaleallowing them to harness the power of the Watchers while also displaying their own natural powers. This debuted the MCU's most powerful superhero team, which makes the prospect of them making the move to live-action very exciting. If the Observer joins this team permanently after And if...? In season three, audiences will finally be able to see the Watcher in action in the MCU proper, changing the franchise's power rankings forever.

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