Marvel's Disney+ Shows: The 8 Best And 8 Worst Episodes

When Marvel Studios first announced that it would be creating and producing multiple shows and miniseries exclusively for Disney+ that would tie into the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU) and utilize many of its biggest stars and characters, it seemed like a daunting task. After all, previous attempts at making MCU tie-in shows under Marvel Television, such as "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," were often lucky to have a one-episode cameo from supporting heroes such as Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif. However, after the release of the incredible "WandaVision" in 2021, it became clear that Marvel Studios was serious about bringing its characters to life on the small screen.

With the release of the final episode of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" Season 1 airing on October 13, 2022, Marvel is taking a hiatus from releasing any new series until 2023. This makes it the perfect time to look back at all eight Marvel Disney+ series and determine which are the best and worst episodes of each one. Since this list will only be looking at the episodic shows, Disney+ specials like the recently released "Werewolf by Night" are not included.

The series finale of "WandaVision," aptly titled "The Series Finale," plays out in a similar fashion to many of its big-screen counterparts. The heroes fight the villain in an all-out battle. There's destruction, opposing monologues, and plenty of expensive CG effects. Normally this isn't a bad thing, but for a show as creative and unique as "WandaVision," it's a bit of a letdown to see the story devolve into another pretty generic Marvel climax, albeit a spectacular one.

Whereas "WandaVision" starts off spoofing traditional sitcom tropes and trends, "The Series Finale" serves as the trendsetter for all Disney+ Marvel shows going forward, for better or worse. While the "big battle" finales definitely have their place, they've come to overwhelm many of Marvel's shows that might have been better served with a quieter finale. Luckily, "The Series Finale" isn't all bad. The action scenes are well produced and exhilarating to watch, and most of the character arcs are given a satisfying conclusion ... at least until they're picked back up again in "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

Unlike many of Marvel Studios' Disney+ shows which start really strong and fizzle out at the end, the worst episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" is arguably its first one. Much of the first episode is spent playing catch-up with the two titular heroes, showing what they've been up to separately since the events of "Avengers: Endgame" before finally bringing them together. The setup, while necessary, feels a bit slow at times.

That being said, "New World Order" is not a bad episode by any means. It speaks to the strength of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" that its lowest rated episode on IMDb still manages a 7.6 and delivers on multiple emotional character moments, even when the action isn't quite up to par. It is fun, however, to see the return of the nefarious Georges Batroc from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" during the episode's opening action sequence.

In "Lamentis," Loki and Sylvie (a variant of Loki) get trapped on the moon Lamentis-1 in the year 2077. Unfortunately, they arrive just before a nexus event in which a planet collides with Lamentis-1 and destroys it. With their TemPad out of power, Loki and Sylvie are forced to make their way to an evacuation shuttle which has the ability to recharge the TemPad and allow them to escape. This becomes more challenging than it probably needed to be when Loki makes a commotion on a train and gets them kicked off.

"Lamentis" feels like a prolonged side-quest that doesn't really belong in the overarching narrative. While the episode does give Tom Hiddleston some good character moments as Loki, the drawn-out escape mostly feels like a slog. It doesn't help that the scenes on Lamentis-1 all use an ugly filter that throws off the show's unique color palette and sense of style.

One of the biggest challenges of "What If... ?" is that its format demands that the writers find a way to tell a new story starring several major heroes in just over a half hour. Most of the episodes succeed in this challenge, but there are a few that suffer from rushed storytelling, leading to plots that feel like jumbled, incoherent messes. "What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?" is perhaps the worst offender. Its tale, which has the Avengers killed off one-by-one, never takes its time to establish the mystery behind these deaths and the ending is unearned and unsatisfying.

The killer is later revealed to be Yellowjacket, only the suit is worn by Hank Pym instead of Darren Cross. Pym, the original Ant-Man, commits the murders to get revenge on Nick Fury for recruiting his daughter Hope and getting her killed. All of this information is dumped at the end of the episode in a monologue with no build-up. In addition to the weak story, the episode has other issues. While much of the voice acting on "What If... ?" comes from MCU actors returning to their on-screen roles, this episode relies heavily on replacement actors. This isn't a problem in every respect — in particular, Lake Bell does a stellar Natasha Romanoff — but the overall use of replacements feels out of place in a show that primarily uses the original MCU actors.

"So This Is Christmas?" is another of Marvel's finales that prioritizes big reveals and action scenes over satisfying story resolutions and character development. This is disappointing, as the episode introduces Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin officially into the MCU. D'Onofrio's portrayal of Kingpin became a fan favorite after his nuanced performance in the "Daredevil" series. Sadly, the character doesn't quite have the space to replicate the explosive menace D'Onofrio conjures on "Daredevil." 

While Jack Duquesne is set up as a red herring, it turns out the show's main villains are Kingpin and Kate's mom Eleanor Bishop all along. Because the show tries to save the reveal until the last episode, Kingpin and Eleanor receive very little setup or motivation for their actions. Luckily, most of the action is good, and seeing Clint and Kate battle together in their new Hawkeye costumes is a lot of fun. In addition, Kate's comedic battle with Yelena Belova is one of the show's best scenes. While the villain plots ultimately fall flat, Kate and Clint's stories come to a satisfying conclusion, so the episode still succeeds more than it fails.

There are no bad episodes of "Moon Knight," but "The Friendly Type" is the closest thing the season has to a throwaway episode. Much of the episode's plot revolves around Marc Spector and his wife Layla meeting with Anton Mogart, an antiques collector who owns a sarcophagus they need to complete their investigation. Unsurprisingly, Mogart betrays them, leading to some solid action scenes before the two manage to escape into the desert.

While actor Gaspard Ulliel does a fine job at making Mogart foreboding, the character just isn't written in an interesting way. His betrayal of Layla feels like a foregone conclusion from the get-go, and it takes far too long for the show to build into the ensuing battles. Thankfully, those fights are still a lot of fun to watch, and the final scene of the episode — which sees Khonshu changing the night sky — is visually astounding.

"Time and Again" is at once a fantastic, emotional episode and a pacing disaster in a show that is already far too short. The first two thirds of the episode take place in 1942 and feature Kamala's great-grandmother Aisha. Her story, which involves her taking refuge from the Djinn in a small village and falling in love, is powerful. However, the audience is abruptly pulled back into the present during the last few minutes, where a doorway to the Noor Dimension has been opened. Najma, the show's main antagonist, then sacrifices herself to close the door.

Not only does this bring the main antagonists' story to an abrupt end before the show's finale, but it also takes too much time away from the show's lead and the main cast as a whole. While an episode almost entirely focused on characters that don't appear in the rest of the show can work in a season with 10 or more episodes, a six-episode season means that the show already has very little time to develop its wonderful cast. While Aisha's story is well done, the show would have been better serviced building up its leads, or the show's main antagonist, who had far too little screentime.

While "Just Jen" is not as bad as its dubious IMDb score might have you believe, it's still an underwhelming half-hour that is easily the most forgettable story in the first season of "She-Hulk." The episode follows Jen as she's invited to be a bridesmaid at the wedding of a friend who she hasn't been close with in some time. Much to her dismay, her friend asks her to present as Jen and not She-Hulk, which becomes more complicated when Titania also shows up at the wedding.

As a less action-heavy episode, it stands to reason that "Just Jen" should work on a deeper character-building level. Unfortunately, the episode doesn't succeed at this, with too much time spent building a relationship between Jen and another guest named Josh (who is, shockingly, not what he appears to be). The episode has a golden opportunity to expand on Jameela Jamil's woefully underutilized Titania, but instead, it leaves her motivations as a one-dimensional revenge plot. Luckily, the show's humor is still intact, and Tatiana Maslany still makes Jen Walters easy to root for.