Warning: This article contains spoilers for What If...? episode 5.

In Marvel's What If...?, the Marvel Cinematic Universe confirms just how dangerous the Dark Avengers will turn out to be. What If...? episode 5 revealed how the MCU would react in a zombie apocalypse, and it wasn't great. The episode changes the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp, showing Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne bringing back a zombie-like virus from the Quantum Realm. The virus spreads throughout the world, taking the lives of numerous characters, including Captain America (voiced by Josh Keaton), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). After securing the Mind Stone from Vision (Paul Bettany), the few remaining heroes head to Wakanda to use the stone's power to find a cure.

Marvel seemingly already has the makings of a future Dark Avengers team, a.k.a. a group of heroes with possibly nefarious purposes, and it's all due to Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a.k.a. Val. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Val made a surprise debut to recruit John Walker (Wyatt Russell), a former Captain America, to her side. She follows up that appearance with a post-credit moment in Black Widow. In the scene, Val chats with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who's already one of her recruits. Now, Val's offering Yelena the chance to go after Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), blaming the arrow-slinging hero for Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) death.

Related: Why So Many Of The MCU's Celestial Beings Never Interfere

Though indirectly, What If...? subtly confirms how menacing the Dark Avengers would be. In What If...? episode 5, the Avengers are the catalyst for the zombie apocalypse spiraling out of control. "It was the Avengers' heroism that sealed humanity's fate," Jeffrey Wright's The Watcher states in the episode, adding, "Because once Earth's Mightiest Heroes joined the infected, no one else stood a chance." While zombies are already enough of a world-ending issue, giving them superpowers makes the situation exponentially worse. Though the Dark Avengers wouldn't necessarily spread a zombie virus, it seems the group could also spell the end for humanity.

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The episode shows just how threatening a united group of villains would be. Thus far in the MCU, there haven't been many villains working together towards one goal. Though Thanos (Josh Brolin) brought the Black Order to his side in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, his minions didn't have much of an impact overall. But The Watcher says it all in What If...?. Once the Avengers were corrupted, humanity didn't stand a chance in the apocalypse. If a united group of superpowered individuals is enough to protect the Earth, it's also enough to destroy it.

There are still several moving pieces before the Dark Avengers arrive. In the comics, the Dark Avengers come together in the wake of the Secret Invasion storyline, with Norman Osborn forming the team. Many of the elements from the original story, such as the Norman Osborn component, wouldn't work in the current MCU. However, a Secret Invasion series is already on the way, and Val has begun her recruiting process. With that in mind, Earth's Mightiest Heroes better start assembling because the Dark Avengers certainly are.

More: Marvel’s MCU Dark Avengers Movie Cast (As We Know It)

Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

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