Review: Marvel’s What If…? “What If…Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The series showcases events that occurred differently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series premiere has Peggy Carter becoming the world’s first Super Soldier when Steve Rogers is critically injured.

Our Take:

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking things to a whole new level thanks to the glorious season finale of Loki. Spoiler alert: the multiverse was born. Before we see how it’ll affect the other films in phase four moving forward, Marvel Studios has another series on Disney+ that’s set in the gigantic, money-making universe. The catch? It’s the studio’s first television series to be fully animated. Whether the show is set in the MCU or not remains to be seen, as far as I’m aware. But after watching Loki and reading about the follow-ups to Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man, it might as well have.

The first episode puts viewers up to speed by introducing the show’s narrator, The Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright), who explains the concept of What If during its title sequence. Then he introduced the viewers with a brief recap of Captain America: The First Avenger. It was then followed by the events that massively changed thanks to Peggy Carter’s (Hayley Atwell) decision to stay during Steve Roger’s (Josh Keaton) Super Serum experiment. The episode is more or less an animated retelling of the 2011 superhero film that launched Chris Evans to stardom, with some significant differences, of course. For example, instead of Rogers becoming Captain America, Peggy Carter gets the chance to carry the shield and show the world that women can fight too.

Not only was the “Captain Carter” episode a strong starting point for the show’s multiverse concept, but it is also a suitable depiction of sexism in World War II. One of the main reasons for its success was its animation style. The series used cel-shaded animation to capture the likeliness of the MCU actors, the action, and the backgrounds. The final result is a marvelous inspiration from the films and comics that looked more effortful than cheap. It can look a bit cartoony during a couple of moments, but aside from that, it flawlessly recaptured the essence and style of The First Avenger uniquely.

Another main reason was the expanded role of Peggy Carter. Carter was a nicely developed and strong ally/love interest to Steve Rogers that’s backed up by Haley Atwell’s performance. After serving as a supporting role in the MCU and as a main character in the short-lived show Agent Carter, it’s nice to see this character back in the spotlight as the Super Soldier. The episode maintained the qualities that made Carter a compelling character, and Atwell once again did a great job manifesting that role regarding her vocal performance.

As mentioned earlier, the episode is a retelling of The First Avenger. However, it made an effort to keep the story as distinctive as possible without becoming a complete rehash of the film. Yes, it did feature some memorable scenes from The First Avenger, such as the Hydra train infiltration. However, it also featured some new scenarios that made the story more fresh and exciting, including Steve’s Hydra Stomper and Red Skull (voiced by Ross Marquand) summoning a Kraken-like creature from another dimension.

Overall, the “Captain Carter” episode in Marvel’s What If is a well-deserved showcase for Haley Atwell’s Peggy Carter that honors the Captain America story without rehashing it. Despite a couple of hit-and-miss moments, including Howard Stark’s (Dominic Cooper) brand of humor, it’s an eye-popping and nicely executed introduction to the multiverse thanks to its voice cast, animation, and storytelling. There are many more stories to tell in Marvel’s multiverse aside from Carter’s, and I can’t wait to see them unfold in the upcoming weeks.