Marvel’s What If…? Season 1 Episode 1 has finally been released on Disney+. The series offers a unique take on each of the marvel characters and their alternate storylines.
Based on the longest-running comic series of the same name, What If…? is created by A.C. Bradley, and Bryan Andrews directs it. It is the first-ever comic series that Marvel Studios have produced.
The series gives us an idea of the alternate timelines in the MCU and how every major moment from the Marvel Cinematic Universe would occur if things would have happened differently.
Produced by Marvel Studios, the series stars Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher, who narrates the whole series alongside the MCU actors based on which the roles are established.
Considering how Marvel is planning to create the Multiverse in MCU phase 4 plus with the cliffhanger ending of the Loki series, there is no better time to watch the What If…? series.
We have also watched episode 1 of the series, and here is what we have witnessed on Marvel’s What If…? Season 1 Episode 1.
What If…? Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: Captain Peggy Carter’s Origin Story
The What If…? Season 1 Episode 1 starts off with Watcher explaining what we can expect from the series, and then as the episodes start, it provides an alternate take on Captain America.
The first episode tells us what happened when the super serum, which was used to make Captain America, was given to Agent Carter instead.
The episode tells us about Agent Peggy Carter’s backstory and also riffs on the themes of Feminism and identity, the love story with Steve, and her struggles after becoming Captain America.
It starts when Hydra Agent Heinz Kruger launches an attack in the Facility before Steve Rogers is injected with the super-soldier serum.
Kruger first kills Dr. Erskine and then shoots Steve Rogers, who was in a weak state and wasn’t taken in the machine that would have injected the super serum on him. Steve was severely injured after being shot by Kruger, and then Peggy quickly jumps into the scene and kills Kruger.
Colonel Phillips also died in the attack, so Bradley Whitford now jumps on to the scene and orders Howard Stark to go into the machine and inject the super serum on himself so that the million-dollar projects don’t go to waste.
But Howard Stark refuses to do so, and hence the only option in the room available was Peggy Carter. Peggy jumps into the machine before Flynn could stop her gets injected with the super-soldier serum.
Although the super-soldier serum was successful on Steve, it was not the same case for Peggy. She didn’t get support from the people because she was a girl, and she used to feel distressed due to stereotyped and prejudiced thinking at that time.
What If Season 1 Episode 1 Captain Peggy Carter’s Origin Story (Credits Disney+)However, Steve, who was now recovering from the injury shot, tells Peggy that he believes in her and thinks she will become a good Captain America. Steve also tells her she is as much a hero that she thinks she is both on the inside and on the outside.
Though in the series, Steve is no longer captain America as he is just an ordinary guy, but Peggy and Steve’s love is stronger than ever.
Now, on the other hand, Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. the Red Skull, obtains the Tessaract, and this time the danger was too great to keep Peggy at the sidelines, and then with the bit of help of Howard, Peggy was assigned to the mission once again to retrieve the Tessaract.
And finally, we saw the iconic moment of Peggy Carter wielding Captain America’s Shield. After taking the captain America shield, Peggy manages to defeat Red Skull and capture the Tessaract and Armin Zola.
With the Tessaract now in possession, Howard Stark now creates a prototype of an Iron man suit and names it HYDRA Stomper and gives it to Steve Rogers, who now uses it to help Peggy whenever she goes on a mission.
As she suits up like Captain America and goes all out on winning war, Steve always supports her every time, proving that Steve is truly a wife guy.
Peggy was also managed to save Bucky, who was turned into Winter Soldier in the original Captain America movie after his train fall.
Unfortunately, it was Steve as HYDRA Stomper who was caught by the train explosion; as Peggy mourns Steve’s death, we got to know that Steve was alive and was taken hostage by Red Skull to get the Tesseract.
Red Skull planned to get the Tessaract and unleash the Champion of Hydra, an inter-dimensional force that intends to destroy the whole world. But he eventually got squished in the tentacles of his champion, and Peggy stopped the inter-dimensional monster by pushing it back to the portal and sealing it.
Peggy sacrifices herself and asks for a promise from Steve on a real dance date which Steve did in another world.
And as the portal spits her out, we saw Nick Fury and Hawkeye in the present-day means, unlike the “Captain America: First Avenger” movie where the scientist found steve frozen in the iceberg. Here Captain Peggy Carter arrives through the portal instead.
But whatever the timeline, the one thing we are sure of that is Peggy and Steve’s undying love for each other no matter where they are, both of them are destined to be together no matter what.
What If…? Season 1 Episode 1 Review
What If…? Season 1 Episode 1 provides a unique view on both Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter. As in the series, Peggy is Captain America, and Steve takes a back seat, but he doesn’t get left out in the series; soon enough, Howard Stark makes him an Iron Man prototype which is known as HYDRA Stomper.
Steve helps Peggy in whichever way possible by using the Hydra Stomper. However, his character is much more different in What If…? than in “Captain America: The First Avenger” movie. But we all can agree that his personality and traits remain the same even here as well.
What If Season 1 Episode 1 Provides Unique Perspective on Steve Rogers and Captain Carter-(Credit Disney+)Coming to Captain Peggy Carter in episode 1 of What If…? her story has been showcased beautifully, although the duration of the episode of short made things a little rushed but the good news is executive producer Brad Winderbaum has stated that we will get to see more of Agent Carter in the future seasons of What If…?
Coming to the review What If…? Season 1 Episode 1, we can say that episode 1 was filled with action-packed scenes and iconic characters presented differently, which made us nostalgic while watching episode 1.
I believe the What If…? was definitely required for fans as this will give us some idea on the Multiverse, plus we might expect to see some new characters arriving as well, which will play an important role in the Multiverse.
The First Episode was just released today, on August 11, 2021, it is available exclusively on Disney+, and for the second episode, we will have to wait till next week as the second episode will arrive on August 18 2021.
Marvel’s What If Teaser Released: Represents Six Alternate MCU Stories
