What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger? is the first episode of the first season of What If...?.
==Synopsis==
When Steve Rogers is seriously injured, Peggy Carter becomes the world's first Super Soldier.
==Plot==
Project Rebirth was underway in the midst of World War II, aimed at transforming Allied troops into super-soldiers to greatly assist the efforts against the Axis powers. Steve Rogers, the first super-soldier, turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allies before sacrificing himself to save countless civilians from harm.
The Watcher observes as a new universe begins to diverge substantially when Peggy Carter declines to retreat to the viewing booth as Steve Rogers prepares to undergo his transformation, leading other people present to do same as her. While witnessing Abraham Erskine present his super-soldier creation process, HYDRA agent Heinz Kruger, who became nervous due to the number of people present, prepared to detonated a bomb on the platform Erskine is. Carter discovers a suspicious object planted by Erskine's feet and sees Kruger pulling out a detonator before the transfusion can begin.
Carter is unable to prevent the resulting explosion, which kills Erskine. 
The frail Rogers attempts to fight Kruger, but is shot down. Before Kruger can flee with a vial of the Super Soldier Serum, Carter kills him and recovers it. With Rogers unable to resume his transformation and Howard Stark refusing to step in, Carter volunteers in his place to save the project, becoming a super soldier. This comes to Colonel John Flynn's chagrin, who laments at the money that was spent to transform not a man, but a woman.
Flynn, intending to use Carter's blood to recreate Erskine's serum, insists that women are not meant to fight on the front lines of war. Carter is left infuriated with his comments. She trains with Rogers in another room, who reveals to her that his best friend Bucky Barnes had been deployed to Europe as part of the 107th Regiment. Carter, Stark, and Flynn brief on the significant gamma signatures picked up in Tønsberg, Norway, where HYDRA leader Johann Schmidt and his forces had invaded for the Tesseract. Carter and Stark deduce Berlin as HYDRA's destination for the ancient relic, but Flynn refuses to send his troops to intercept it. Unfazed, Stark decides to create battle gear for Carter, meeting up with her at a bar to deliver her a modified USO costume and a circular vibranium shield.
Carter ambushes HYDRA alone in Berlin, capturing Arnim Zola and securing the Tesseract for the Allies. She pressures Flynn to promote her to the rank of Captain while entrusting the cube to Stark, who uses it to empower a gigantic armored suit he had built for Rogers. Captain Carter and Rogers use intel to locate the 107th Regiment in HYDRA captivity, where Captain Carter launches a lone assault to free Rogers' comrades. Rogers arrives in his mech to assist their escape, leaving Captain Carter, Barnes, and the regiment impressed. The war begins to tilt in the Allies' favor, with Captain Carter leading the charge. All the while, Flynn claims to have always supported Carter and had sponsored the creation of Rogers' mech, called the HYDRA Stomper, in a phone call with the President. 
Adolf Hitler, furious with the Allied advances into Axis territory, orders Schmidt to Berlin. However, Schmidt betrays the Nazi Führer, declaring that HYDRA will surpass the Third Reich as it falls. Meanwhile, Carter and Rogers share an intimate moment at a bar, and prepare to share a kiss when Stark interrupts them with a vehicle Barnes had stolen. Heading to the , the HYDRA Stomper positions himself at the front of a HYDRA train while Captain Carter, Barnes, and the Howling Commandos prepare to infiltrate and capture Red Skull to end the war. But while attempting to gather a visual on Red Skull, the HYRDA Stomper instead finds the front of the train loaded with explosives, which detonates. Everyone else manages to escape unharmed, but mourn the apparent loss of Rogers.
The devastated Carter then interrogates Zola for information regarding Red Skull, learning he plans to use the Tesseract to summon an interdimensional force to conquer the world. Zola also reveals Red Skull's location at Castle de Krake, where Captain Carter and her men plan an assault to stop HYDRA. Stark, while not a fighter himself, is brought onboard to operate any mechanisms inside.
With the Tesseract, Red Skull opens a portal to bring a tentacled monster to Earth, the Champion of HYDRA. As Captain Carter and Stark watch on, Red Skull taunts them, but he is immediately killed by the beast. Elsewhere, Barnes and the Howling Commandos locate the HYDRA Stomper armor undamaged in a lower area of the castle. They find Rogers alive and help him reactivate the suit without the Tesseract as a power source. The HYDRA Stomper then flies away to reunite with Captain Carter.
As the Champion continues to grow in size, Captain Carter and Stark devise a plan to push it back into the portal. As Stark reverses the portal's suction, Barnes and the Howling Commandos arrive to help, but are incapacitated when the beast emits a deafening screech, forcing the HYDRA Stomper to escort them to safety outside. With the monster preventing the portal's closure, Captain Carter resorts to push it in herself. The HYDRA Stomper attempts to stop her from sacrificing herself, but the suit runs out of power, leaving him helpless. Before Captain Carter crosses through the portal, she and Rogers arrange a date for the dance.
The Tesseract is all that remains, and Rogers is left stricken with grief. Elsewhere, Captain Carter emerges from the portal and encounters Hawkeye and Nick Fury, who reveals to her that World War II had ended seventy years ago. Although saddened with the amount of time that had passed, Captain Carter was content with the fact they had won the war.
==Cast==
Starring Cast:
*Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/The Watcher
*Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter/Captain Carter
*Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
*Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark
*Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine
*Toby Jones as Arnim Zola
*Bradley Whitford as John Flynn
*Ross Marquand as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
*Darrell Hammond as Roeder
Guest Stars:
*Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers/HYDRA Stomper
*Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
*Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
*Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
*Isaac Robinson-Smith as Brick
*Andreas Beckett as Additional Voices
*David Cowgill as Additional Voices
*Terri Douglas as Additional Voices
*Matthew Lindquist as Additional Voices
*Arthur Ortiz as Additional Voices
*Helen Sadler as Additional Voices
*Shane Sweet as Additional Voices
*Matthew Wood as Additional Voices
*Unknown actor as Church Keeper
Non-Speaking Characters:
*Steve Rogers/Captain America (Recap)
*Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Recap)
*James Montgomery Falsworth
*Gabe Jones
*Jim Morita
*Jacques Dernier
*Heinz Kruger
*Chester Phillips
*Brandt
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*Earth
**New York City, New York
***Strategic Scientific Reserve Brooklyn Facility
**Tønsberg, Norway
***Castle Rock Tower
** London, England
***Strategic Scientific Reserve Headquarters
***Whip & Fiddle
**Nazi Germany
***Berlin, Nazi Germany
***Castle de Krake
***Austria
****HYDRA Base Camp C3
**Mojave Desert, Nevada
***Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility
**Arctic (prelude)
**Paris, France (map and mentioned)
**Valberg, Norway (map)
**Sem, Norway (map)
**Vear, Norway (map)
**Eik, Norway (map)
**Teie, Norway (map)
**Munkerekka, Norway (map)
**Vestskøgen, Norway (map)
**Smidsrød, Norway (map)
**Tandstand, Norway (map)
**Børgheim, Norway (map)
**Føynland, Norway (map)
**Husøy, Norway (map)
**Husvik, Norway (map)
**Presterød, Norway (map)
**Ringshaug, Norway (map)
**Ireland (map; prelude)
**Netherlands (map; prelude)
**Switzerland (map; prelude)
**Belgium (map; prelude)
**Denmark (map; prelude)
**Italy (map; prelude)
**Slovakia (map; prelude)
**Hungary (map; prelude)
**Yugoslavia (map; prelude)
**Poland (map; prelude)
**Romania (map; prelude)
**Bulgaria (map; prelude)
**Spain (map; prelude)
**Estonia (map; prelude)
**Soviet Union (map; prelude)
***Lithuania (map; prelude)
***Latvia (map; prelude)
*Sun
*Moon
*Mars
*Odin's Vault (mentioned)
===Events===
*World War II
**Assassination of Abraham Erskine
**Destruction of Castle Rock Tower
**Capture of Arnim Zola
**Liberation of Allied Prisoners of War
**Attack on HYDRA Facilities
**Attack on the Schnellzug EB912 Train
**Attack on Castle de Krake
*World War II (prelude)
===Items===
*Super Soldier Serum
*Vibranium
**Captain Carter's Shield
*Captain Carter's Uniform
*HYDRA Stomper Armor: Mark I
*Infinity Stones
**Tesseract
***Space Stone
*Johann Schmidt's Prosthetic Mask
*Tesseract Cradle
*Rebirth Pod
**Vita Radiation
*Zip-Line Gun
*Tesseract Accelerator
*Captain America's Shield (prelude)
*Captain America's Uniform (prelude)
===Concepts===
*Wormhole
*Yggdrasil (carving)
===Vehicles===
*Johann Schmidt's Coupe
*Schnellzug EB912
*HYDRA Truck
*Lindworm-5 Motorbike
*Jeep
*
*
*
*
*Valkyrie (prelude)
===Sentient Species===
*Watchers
*Humans
*Asgardians (mentioned)
*Titans (indirectly mentioned)
===Creatures===
*Champion of HYDRA
*
* (depictions)
* (depictions)
* (depictions)
===Organizations===
*
**United States Army
***107th Infantry Regiment
****Howling Commandos
**British Army
*Strategic Scientific Reserve
**Project Rebirth
*HYDRA
*Schutzstaffel
*S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
*
*
* (mentioned)
===Mentioned===
*Adolf Hitler
*Odin
*Franklin D. Roosevelt
*Thanos (indirectly)
*
*
==Music==
Song title 	Artist 	Location(s)
Manhattan Calling 	Extreme Music 	
*
Midnight Serenade 	APM Music 	
*
( cover) 	Benny Goodman 	
*
Captain America’s Theme	Alan Silvestri	Captain Carter and the Howling Commandos agree to storm the Castle de Krake.
==Videos==
“Steve” Official Clip - Marvel Studios’ What If…? - Disney+
“Are You Seeing This?” Official Clip - Marvel Studios’ What If…? - Disney+
==Trivia==
*Howard Stark mentioned that he spent a weekend with . Lamarr was the inspiration for the character of Whitney Frost in the second season of Agent Carter.
*The episode indirectly references several other Marvel animated series episodes.
**The plot with the Red Skull summoning creatures from other worlds to win World War II comes from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episodes Meet Captain America, The Red Skull Strikes!, and If This Be Doomsday!.
**The Tesseract-powered armored suit first appeared in the Avengers Assemble episode By the Numbers where the Red Skull used the Tesseract as a power source for the stolen Iron Man Armor: Mark XLIX.
*When the Howling Commandos prepare to attack the HYDRA train, Captain Carter calls that action Operation Where Eagles Dare. That's a reference to the 1968 war film Where Eagles Dare.
*According to The Watcher the point of divergence in this universe was Peggy Carter's decision to stay in the experiment room during the SSR's attempt to turn Steve Rogers into a super soldier. However, the universe depicted in this episode already had differences with the details of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, many of them established before the point of divergence.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger Heinz Kruger activated the bomb after the successful end of the experiment. In the episode Kruger activates the bomb before the experiment and shoots Rogers, forcing Peggy to take his place in the Rebirth Pod.
**After the destruction of Project Rebirth Colonel John Flynn takes control of the SSR, replacing Chester Phillips who died in the explosion in this new timeline. John Flynn does not appear in Captain America: The First Avenger. His first appearance was in Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter where he served as Peggy's post war superior officer in the SSR but his war service and connection to Project Rebirth were never mentioned. In Agent Carter Flynn's military rank is Captain, not Colonel.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger Johann Schmidt and his HYDRA troops invade Tønsberg and steal the Tesseract in March 1942. In the episode this event is set after the destruction of Project Rebirth in June 1943, at least fifteen months later than in the original universe. In the film HYDRA invades Tønsberg and tear down the wall of Castle Rock Tower using their giant Landkreuzer. In the episode they just use a German Tiger I tank. In the film Johann Schmidt is dressed in a black Nazi SS uniform. In the episode he is dressed in a green HYDRA uniform. In the film Schmidt opens the Viking sarcophagus and discovers the fake Tesseract inside. In the episode he goes directly toward the Yggdrasil mural and finds the real Tesseract. In the film Schmidt personally kills the Church Keeper. In the episode the Church Keeper is killed by HYDRA soldiers.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger the SSR did not know about the Tesseract and its powers until Captain America brought Howard Stark a pack of Tesseract-powered bullets from the HYDRA Base Camp C3 in November 1943. In the episode the SSR already has books on the Tesseract right after Peggy Carter became a super soldier in June 1943.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger Johann Schmidt brings the Tesseract from Norway to his base in the Alps so Arnim Zola could conduct experiments on it. In the episode Arnim Zola is the one who carries the Tesseract through Germany which enables Peggy Carter to intercept him in Berlin and capture both him and the Tesseract.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger the Tesseract transported Red Skull through space when he touched it; the first and only person that did it in the film. In the episode Peggy Carter touched it and nothing happened. However, this could be explained with Avengers: Infinity War, where Red Skull hints that he was banished because of his evil, which is totally contrary to Peggy Carter's nature.
**In Captain America: The First Avenger HYDRA's main base is an underground fortress in the Alps. In the episode HYDRA's main base seems to be Castle de Krake in Schwarzwald (the Black Forest). In the film HYDRA's flag is black with the red symbol. In the episode it's a red, white, and black Nazi-styled flag.
==References==
==External Links==
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ru:Что если... Капитан Картер была первым мстителем?
es:What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?
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