What If? Poster
Marvel's first animated anthology series "What If" is off the charts insane with its twist and turns to the original Marvel Cinematic Universe storyline. The first episode kicked on the Disney+ streaming platform on August 11 and blew every Marvel fan's brain to smithereens.
The first episode of "What If" explores the alternate timeline when Peggy Carter was the first Avenger aka Captain America or Captain Carter. The ominous mood was set in the original Marvel Cinematic timeline where on Earth, during World War II, the Nazi army marches across Europe leaving death and destruction. The allied armies banned together to create a new kind of soldier – a Super Soldier, the last hope that humanity has at winning the war. At humanity’s darkest hour, a skinny kid from Brooklyn, Steve Rogers, becomes Captain America. After turning the tide with World War II, he made the ultimate sacrifice restoring peace and saving this universe.
But in another universe, a single choice created a whole new hero.
After Paris falls, and London potentially next, Agent Peggy Carter tells Steve Rogers the Super Soldier Program, and he specifically, could end the war. When Dr. Erskine( the doctor that created the serum) asks Agent Carter if she’d be more comfortable in the booth, she declines and states she’d prefer to stay in the room with Steve. This is the moment that created a new universe.
Following a Hydra ambush, Steve Rogers is dramatically shot in the abdomen as the assailant tries to run out with a vial of the Super Soldier Serum. Peggy shoots the Hydra agent and rushes to Steve’s side. Howard Stark warns that the power levels for the machinery are dropping and if they don’t act now, they lose the project completely. Despite Colonel Flynn’s protests, Agent Carter jumps into the chamber and Stark injects the Super Soldier Serum into Peggy turning her into the super-soldier.
This is the pivotal point that flips the narrative on its heads and reveals the typical sexism that Agent Carter now Captain Carter will face as a woman in the 90s. In a debriefing, Peggy and Howard reveal how Hydra, the Nazi's very own supernatural sciences division, had invaded Tønsberg, Norway. The gamma signatures detected in that town have enough power to blow everything to the kingdom come in 60 seconds.
Johann Schmidt seeks out the Tesseract, the jewel of Odin’s treasure room, “fabled to hold the power to rewrite the very laws of physics and unlock doors across the universe.”
Stark proposes sending a team to Europe to intercept the Tesseract from Hydra’s grasp, which Flynn refuses to send anyone over “some glorified battery." ( the sexism I was talking about, PS. Captain Carter is stronger than Captain America as if you closely notice she was injected with an extra vial of the super soldier serum)
Dismissing Colonel Flynn’s small-minded command, Howard Stark gifts Agent Carter an upgraded USO uniform along with a shield.
With her newfound power, Peggy singlehandedly takes down all the Hydra forces in a killer montage of high-impact action sequence showcasing her strength and protecting scientist Arnim Zola traveling with the precious Tesseract cargo. Captain Carter delivers the Tesseract to a shocked Colonel Flynn and satisfied Stark.
With the power source now in their possession, Stark uses the Tesseract to build a device to allow Steve Rogers to join in on the war efforts. Yes, you guessed it right we see Steve Rogers fight alongside Peggy Carter in an Iron Man-style robot.
Captain Carter and Rogers devise a plan on their own to save Steve’s childhood friend, A humbling loving moment. Bucky Barnes and his unit were taken prisoner by Hydra. Peggy tells Steve he owes her a dance. Peggy frees Sergeant Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, and the rest of the 107th infantry division unit from a Hydra facility introducing herself as Captain Carter and letting Bucky know Steve Rogers sent her.
With Hydra tanks approaching them, Captain Carter and the 107th receive air support assist from Steve Rogers armored in The Hydra Stomper suit created by Howard Stark. Together, they topple the Nazi and Hydra forces across Europe. What a delight to see Captain Carter fighting alongside Steve kicking Nazis to the curb.
Johann Schmidt ( the ultimate bad guy) is unbothered by the Führer’s fury and unwilling to listen to his demands, stating, “a god does not answer to a man.” Removing his mask and revealing his true form, Schmidt now as the Red Skull declares, “The Third Reich will fall and Hydra will rise from its ashes.”
In an effort to finally end the war, Captain Carter, Steve Rogers, and The Hydra Stomper, and the 107th plan to assault a train carrying Red Skull(Operation: Where Eagles Dare). Famously, ziplining onto the train, Bucky nearly falls off the train but Peggy pulls him up as he jokes that she nearly ripped his arm off. Unfortunately, the train was a trap filled with explosives which are detonated when Steve enters the train. Peggy and Bucky mourn the supposed loss of Steve. I know every Marvel Fans mind went to the thought that what if Steve will become the Winter Soldier.
The taxing coaxing intel out of Arnim Zola, a determined Peggy learns that Red Skull believes he can unleash an interdimensional force that will lead Hydra to world domination, and if that fails, world annihilation. Captain Carter cautions if they proceed with her plan to take down Red Skull at Castle Krake, that while they may not succeed in ending the world or survive, they will at least stop Hydra. Stark, Bucky, and the rest of the 107th are all in, for Steve.
Using the Tesseract’s power, Red Skull opens a portal for Hydra’s champion. Unfortunately for Red Skull, the monster he unleashed crushes him in front of Captain Carter and Stark. Meanwhile, Bucky and his troop discover Hydra had taken Steve and the Hydra Stomper hostage.
As Howard pushes several buttons to send the monster where it came from, Captain Carter takes on the beast herself. Peggy receives a much-needed assist from Steve and the rest of the team. In order to push the monster back to its origin, Peggy has to use all her might to push its tentacles through the portal armed with her sword, vibranium shield, and her sheer strength. However, once she and the beast are through the portal, the machine explodes. All that remains is the Tesseract and a heartbroken Steve Rogers, no true the hearts of Marvel fans were also broken.
Coming through the portal, Captain Carter arrives on the other side with the beast destroyed ( chopped up like calamari) where she’s greeted by Nick Fury and Clint Barton. She asks for Steve Rogers, to which Fury regretfully informs her that the war ended almost 70 years ago…
The narrator of his whole episode is The Watcher who does not, cannot, will not interfere.
Reality is not a straight line. Every passing moment is a chance for a new offshoot—a new variation. In fact, there are more realities than you can possibly fathom—an infinite number of What Ifs.
The Watcher can see what few others can’t, the totality of the multiverse across all time and space. He’s your guide to these vast new alternate worlds.
Let me know what were your favorite moments from Episode 1.
Comments