MCU What If...? - 9 Biggest Takeaways From Episode 2

Before long, episode two became so much more than answering the question for which it was named. It started when Kraglin and Taserface collected T’Challa from Wakanda instead of Peter Quill from Missouri, but the new Ravager sent a ripple effect throughout the universe.

While it took the collective efforts of all of the MCU heroes to put a stop to Thanos in one universe, after having half of all living creatures dead for five years, T’Challa was able to convince him to put aside his genocidal quest with just one conversation. As such, this answered the question of what would happen if Thanos never tried to collect the Infinity Stones.

This came in the form of a power vacuum in the outer reaches of space, with the Mad Titan’s place at the head of the table up for grabs. The one who stepped forward and seized the moment, with the Black Order under his command, was the Collector.

Taneleer Tivan was previously something of a joke of a villain in the MCU, having his collection destroyed by the Orb, and being murdered by Thanos himself before ever really posing too much of a threat. In this universe however, he was an incredibly powerful kingpin, and the big bad of space.