Ryan Shoots First: What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger? (S1 E1)
Marvel is back after a few weeks off from the Loki finale with their shiny new sandbox to play in. What If… ? plays off the premise of the limited comic run that what if one simple decision had gone different from the world we know. That world in this show being the established MCU.
FREE OF SPOILERS
Episode 1 asks what if the super soldier serum instead of being given to Steve Rogers instead went to Agent Peggy Carter. I enjoy how the show doesn’t just stop at the premise of the episode but goes down to a very innocuous small decision. A simple choice we all make every day that completely changed the established universe. That moment in question for this episode was interesting and instantly had me wondering what those branch moments will be in future episodes. Also genius to debut this after Loki cause if not we would all be wondering why the TVA didn’t show up at all these nexus events.
The animation for the series is top notch and this episode presents a unique style and crisp action that seems to blend 2D and 3D animation. Also Marvel has spared no expense bringing voice actors out to reprise their live action roles. Even going so far as to bring in Stanley Tucci to do like 2 lines of dialogue. The episode of course focuses on Peggy herself who once again is voiced by Hayley Atwell who is never far from reprising the role whether it be in animation, movie or limited series for Basic Cable. She has command over the character and seemed to really enjoy exploring this new found power for her character and the freedom it afforded to her after seeing the way she was treated by superiors in the film universe and boy does she let the men in her way have it. She kicks some serious ass in this short, I won’t say she would have made a better Cap but I will say she could teach him some moves. What If will not redefine the MCU in ways like Loki but it will span some really interesting stories and a TON of Hot Toys and cosplay.
SPOILER ZONE
One of the coolest aspects of the episode was seeing Peggy and Steves relationship, it actually is very similar to their relationship in the MCU proper. And I really like that because it shows they both are such strong characters not only did the super soldier serum not change much about them but it shows their attraction and chemistry goes beyond any power and wouldn’t change if the dynamic was flipped. They both are so strong in themselves even the branching universe couldn’t derail their connection. And since Steve is still around after the failed Hydra mission it was really clever to have Howard Stark develop the original “Iron Man” which they call Hydra Stomper. It made sense that Howard would be able to do it and now I am wondering what the heck will Tony’s life be like in this universe. I really thought when we saw the train scene redone that Steve would be the one to end up being the Winter Soldier instead of Bucky. That would have been a heck of a twist. Speaking of twists, the actual tentacle monster felt pretty darn random but it was an interesting way to get Captain Carter in the future without copying what Steve did. I am really interested in watching fan reactions to these episodes and seeing which characters fans really get behind and want to see more of and which ones are left alone. Will Marvel let them all be one offs? Who can say but for now we will tune in and play the Marvel Hypothetical FunTime Hour otherwise known as What If…?
