Key Story Points

•Bruce Banner's attempt to burn off the Hulk instead creates a kaiju-level threat that takes a decade and a Mega-Hulk to put down — and he stays behind to rule it.

•Agatha Harkness siphons a Celestial's power through Golden Age Hollywood stardom, defeats Arishem, and chooses show business over conquest.

•Red Guardian stops the Winter Soldier from killing Howard and Maria Stark in 1991, turning him into a Cold War-era ally instead of an assassin.

•Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis's egg hatches into Byrdie, a human-duck hybrid pursued across the multiverse.

•Riri Williams leads Earth's survivors against Quentin Beck's drone army after the Emergence destroys the planet.

•The Watcher is put on trial by other Watchers for repeated interference, and the Observational Plane starts breaking apart.

•Captain Carter's variant team recruits an Ultron variant who sacrifices himself helping rescue the Watcher.

•Captain Carter dies getting the team to Strange Supreme's universe; the Watcher permanently brings Kahhori, Byrdie, and Storm on to watch the multiverse with him, ending the series.

The full story

1. the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers? — Bruce Banner tries to burn the Hulk out of himself with gamma radiation and instead creates a kaiju-scale 'Apex' monster. The Avengers spend a decade fighting it in mechs before Banner becomes a Mega-Hulk to end it — and stays behind to rule the gamma monsters he's made.

2. Agatha Went to Hollywood? — Agatha Harkness becomes a Golden Age film star to run a ritual siphoning a Celestial's power, absorbing several Eternals along the way and facing down Arishem himself — then chooses show business over conquest.

3. the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier? — In 1991, Red Guardian stops the Winter Soldier from killing Howard and Maria Stark. The two become unlikely allies, and Red Guardian is fighting alongside the Avengers by the Battle of New York two decades later.

4. Howard the Duck Got Hitched? — Howard the Duck marries Darcy Lewis and has an egg half the multiverse wants. When it hatches into a human-duck hybrid named Byrdie, the two spend the episode just trying to keep their kid alive.

5. the Emergence Destroyed the Earth? — Earth is destroyed by the Emergence. Quentin Beck builds an 'Iron Federation' of drones out of the wreckage, and Riri Williams leads what's left of the heroes to bring him down.

6. 1872? — Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop search the Old West for his missing sister and find she's become the Hood, enslaving Chinese immigrants — and the Watcher, caught interfering once too often, is put on trial by other Watchers as the Observational Plane starts breaking apart around him.

7. the Watcher Disappeared? — With the Watcher on trial, Captain Carter leads a team of variants — Kahhori, Byrdie, and a Storm wielding Mjolnir — against the multiverse's growing threats, recruiting an Ultron variant who sacrifices himself getting the Watcher back.

8. What If...? (series finale) — The Watcher's trial ends with Carter's team rescuing him. Carter herself dies getting them to Strange Supreme's universe, where Strange uses the moment to finally strip the other Watchers of their power. The Watcher, done pretending he's only ever observed, brings Kahhori, Byrdie and Storm on permanently to watch the multiverse with him.