Everything That Happened in Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Series Premiere
Marvel Studios’ first animated series debuted yesterday and it is spectacular.
Marvel’s animated multiverse story What If…? has premiered its first episode this week. We finally have our first look at how one simple choice can change an entire timeline!
Blink and Captain America Peggy Carter (Marvel Puzzle Quest) in the multiverse story Exiles #3, art by David Marquez, courtesy of Marvel Comics
Episode 1 Synopsis (With spoilers!)
We begin our story with our narrator, the Watcher Uatu, an ancient alien being who watches over Earth. He also sees divergent realities.
This alternate reality story begins as Dr. Erskine prepares to administer his super-soldier serum to Steve Rogers. He invites Peggy to step into the booth before the procedure starts, but she declines and stays. Peggy notices the enemy assassin in the crowd and attempts to foil him before he’s able to hurt anyone. Unfortunately, Steve gets shot, so Peggy is given the serum before the entire experiment is forsaken.
Super-soldier Peggy is an awesome sight– she’s tall, strong, and every bit as strong as her Earth-199999 counterpart. But Colonel Flynn is big mad about a woman receiving the serum, and, convinced Peggy isn’t a soldier, he benches her.
Captain Carter in What If… courtesy of Marvel Studios
But nobody puts Peggy in a corner. When she hears that Johann Schmidt is searching for a major energy source, she volunteers to go retrieve it. Howard Stark, in a delightfully insubordinate gesture, brings Peggy her uniform and the iconic vibranium shield. As he slaps them down on the bar, she says “Your covert skill needs work.”
The first fight scene in What If? feature some very rich animation. The fight choreography and facial expressions are so detailed. Every explosion is stunning. Thank you, cel-shading animation; I think I love you.
Peggy’s fixation with being covert is a nuanced but important occurrence. As a woman working with the military at that time, she was severely limited by the sexist attitudes around her. In a later scene, she and Steve discuss what it’s like to suddenly feel seen and heard after having to fight to be respected.
Anyway, Peggy retrieves the Tesseract after decorating the ground with some Hydra face. When she brings it back, Howard uses it to build a large, vintage-chic suit similar to Tony’s Iron Man. When Steve tells Peggy about his pal Bucky and the rest of the 107th being held captive, Peggy shields up and goes in for another rescue.
Steve suits up in the Hydra Smasher, courtesy of Marvel Entertainment
As Peggy and the 107th escape, we meet Steve’s Hydra Smasher suit, which he calls his “dancing shoes”. After that, Captain Carter, Steve, Bucky, and the rest of the 107th become a team.
During a later train heist, Steve and his suit are captured by Schmidt, who’s got a whole new skincare routine! Looking fresh and overly-exfoliated, Red Skull uses the energy from Steve’s suit to open a portal.
The tentacled monster isn’t Shumagorath but was instead inspired by the Abilisk in Guardians 2. Whatever this ancient monstrous cephalopod is, it instantly grabs Red Skull and squeezes him into tomato paste. In order to send the monster back through the portal, Peggy has to push it back herself. Promising Steve his Saturday dance, she closes the portal.
The episode ends as she comes to in 2011, greeted by Nick Fury and Hawkeye.
Episode Highlights
Howard Stark and Peggy giving off major friend chemistry. When he interrupts Peggy and Steve’s kiss, that is some corny best friend energy. The two characters give each other a necessary hard time, but Howard is Peggy’s hype-man from the beginning.
When Bucky almost falls off the top of the train, Peggy grabs him by the arm, pulling him back up. Bucky yells “Thanks, you almost ripped my arm off!” But Bucky doesn’t lose an arm in this timeline… or does he?
Inventor and actress Hedy Lamarr
Howard’s joke about spending a weekend with movie star Hedy Lamarr was delightful. While the Stark men are known to cavort with models and movie stars, Lamarr was actually a real-life inventor. In fact, she developed the foundational technology that makes Bluetooth possible. She and Howard would have had a lot to talk about.
New Episodes of Marvel’s What If…? drop on Disney+ on Wednesdays.
