The first episode of What If…? has finally hit Disney+ and with it comes a whole new era of Marvel Cinematic Universe storytelling. Not only is the series is animated — marking the first animated project in the MCU — but it’s also a dive headfirst into the endless ocean that is the multiverse.
And yet, that said, the more things change, the more they stay the same: just because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is trying its hand at a new medium does not mean it’s going to completely rewrite their way of doing things, which means that the premiere episode of What If…?, just like all of the MCU entries we’ve come to know and love over the last decade-plus, is chock full of hints, nods, and winks to the greater Marvel lore.
From Steve’s multiverse-spanning dancing skills (or rather, lack thereof) to a potential Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness connection, these are all of the Easter Eggs we could find in the first episode of What If…?: “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Marvel’s What If, Season 1, Episode 1, “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”]
Table of Contents
Peggy vs. the Punching Bag
As Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is training for the first time as a super soldier, similar to Steve Rogers’s introduction in The Avengers, the force of her hook knocks the punching bag clean off of its chain, sending it flying across the gym.
Could Be Worse: Could Be the USO
While keeping Peggy Carter company during her weightlifting session, Rogers (Josh Keaton) points out that while Peggy may not be happy with her situation, it could be worse as Colonel Flynn could “stick her on one of those USO tours.”
USO Tours, of course, were how Steve Rogers’ newfound superpowers were first utilized after taking the super serum, as he was largely paraded around as a mascot before taking the responsibility to fight into his own hands.
A Familiar Flip and Throw
Just like Steve Rogers did countless times with his iconic shield, during her first post-serum training session, Peggy kicks a weight up to herself in the same fashion that Steve does before disc-tossing it into the wall.
“I never was much of a dancer anyway.”
Even in this alternate universe, Steve Rogers is in desperate need of a dancing lesson as he admits to Peggy that he “never was much of a dancer anyway.” This fittingly prompts Peggy to reply that maybe Steve just hasn’t “found the right partner”, an obvious reference to their romance in our main timeline.
Bucky Barnes: “You almost ripped my arm off!”
Hopefully, for both his sake and the sake of geopolitics, Bucky’s life in this universe is far kinder than the life we’ve come to know in the main Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline.
He certainly seems to be on a better path this time around, at least as far as his limbs are concerned, for in this universe, instead of losing his arm and having it replaced with a titanium (and later Vibranium) one, Bucky merely fears having his arm ripped off as he half-jokes that Captain Carter’s serum-powered strength almost ripped it off.
Bursting Through the Door with the Howling Commandos
One of the main images that Marvel Studios has been using to tease the Captain Carter episode of What If…? featured Peggy and the rest of the crew bursting through a door and into gunfire just like Steve Rogers did in Captain America: The First Avenger, and it was even more fun to see in motion.
Dropping the Shield and Fighting
While Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter both may have eventually become super-soldiers, they were both fighters, in their own unique ways, long before that. That scrappiness comes to a head when Peggy Carter — similar to Steve Rogers going toe-to-toe with Georges Batroc in the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — decides to drop her shield to square up with a mouthy HYDRA henchman just to prove that she’s the superior warrior with or without her fancy Great Britain flag-painted Stark-tech.
Shuma-Gorath
This is it: the big one. While What If…? has only debuted one episode, that lone episode may have already connected to the larger Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, particularly the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
While nothing has been confirmed, there have been long-running rumors that Shuma-Gorath, an ancient, god-like evil, would be the villain of Multiverse of Madness. Furthermore, while the beast that appears at the end of What If…?’s first episode is not specifically named, its tentacle-heavy form suggests that the creature is, in fact, Shuma-Gorath.
First introduced in 1972, Shuma-Gorath is one of the more omnipotent threats in Marvel Comics, as the squid-looking ancient demon is as old as time itself and is considered to be one of the primal power of Chaos (who, like Thanos’s love of Death, is a physical embodiment of the state).
As far as the closing of “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?” tells us, there’s nothing to suggest that Shuma-Gorath did not survive his confrontation with Captain Carter, as it was merely banished back from whence it came. Perhaps, similar to Captain Carter waking up 70 years later, Shuma-Gorath also finds itself within the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s present day, thus leading to its appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Peggy Carter’s Sacrifice
Albeit far more science-fictional and multiversal than crashing a warplane into the frozen tundra, Peggy Carter’s ultimate sacrifice is similar to that of Steve’s as she not only gives up her own life (or so she thinks) for the greater good, but the final exchange between the pair revolves around the fact that she owes Steve a dance lesson, which is almost word-for-word how the two say goodbye in the main timeline, all the way down to the knowingly untrue promise that they’ll have that lesson “next Saturday.” Even in animation, the relationship between Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers remains simultaneously heartbreaking yet hopeful.
New episodes of Marvel’s What If… launch weekly on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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