In this series opener we see what might<\/em> have happened if Steve Rogers hadn\u2019t been given the super-soldier serum, and it had instead passed to his colleague and romantic interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). As it turns out, \u2018Captain Carter\u2019 did as good a job of fighting off HYDRA as Captain America ever did (arguably a little better), in an episode that offers a whistle-stop reinterpretation of 2011\u2019s Captain America: The First Avenger.<\/p>\n But is this the last we\u2019ll see of Captain Carter? The episode suggests not \u2013 and with Marvel about to delve even deeper into the multiverse in future films, this could just be the start of her MCU journey. We\u2019ll go into some more detail below, but beware \u2013 we\u2019re in spoiler territory, so save this for later if you haven\u2019t seen the first What If\u2026? episode yet.<\/p> The first instalment of the anthology series ends with a parallel sacrifice to the original Captain America movie \u2013 though this time, it\u2019s Peggy giving up everything to save the world while Steve is left behind, and instead of being frozen in ice she\u2019s pulled through an inter-dimensional portal as she fights off a tentacled monster.<\/p>\n However, like Steve she finds herself in the 21st century with Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), bemoaning what she\u2019d left behind even as she looks forward to an uncertain future. Said future seems likely to unfold in future episodes of What If\u2026?, with Atwell rumoured to reprise the role in later episodes of the series even as it moves on to other Sliding Doors moments in the MCU (by which we don\u2019t mean storylines exclusively starring Gwyneth Paltrow).<\/p>\n Exactly how this will work is less clear, as it\u2019s explicitly suggested that the Nick Fury and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) that Carter meets at the end are from her own universe rather than the main MCU, with Hawkeye recognising the famed World War Two hero instantly. Perhaps more interdimensional crossover is on the cards, with more of the alternate heroes (like Chadwick Boseman\u2019s Star-Lord) crossing paths as the series continues.<\/p>\n And it might not even end there. Persistent online rumours have suggested that Atwell could also play Captain Carter in a future live-action Marvel project, specifically Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness<\/a>, which may feature many alternate \u201cvariants\u201d of Marvel characters we know and love (a concept already introduced in Disney Plus series Loki<\/a>).<\/p>\n In which case, this quick animated introduction could be just the start of Peggy Carter\u2019s next journey. The MCU has an opening for a new super-soldier, after all\u2026<\/p>\n Marvel\u2019s What If\u2026? is streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes released on Wednesdays. Learn more about the What If cast<\/a> and read our What If review<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out our dedicated Sci-Fi<\/a> hub for more news and features or find something to watch with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hayley Atwell might not be done with Marvel after all. **Contains spoilers.** <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2943,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/could-what-ifs-captain-carter-return-to-the-mcu-in-live-action.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Hayley Atwell might not be done with Marvel after all. **Contains spoilers.**","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/2942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""What\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/Captain-Carter-f51faae.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Captain\\"")
<\/div>\n![\""Hayley\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Peggy_Carter_Hayley_Atwell_Captain_America-430f246.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Peggy_Carter_Hayley_Atwell_Captain_America\"\\"")
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