What if... Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper?

"What If... Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper?" is the fifth episode of the second season of the Disney+ streaming television series What If...? and the fourteenth episode of the series overall. It aired on December 26, 2023. It was written by A. C. Bradley and directed by Bryan Andrews. The episode follows Captain Carter's return to her home universe after their battle with Ultron and it is based on Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Black Widow.
==Synopsis==
After the long-lost Hydra Stomper is recovered, Captain Carter's mission to save her old flame, Steve Rogers, sets her on a collision course with new enemies.
==Plot==
In 2012, Captain Carter is fighting the Chitauri invasion in New York, alongside the Avengers. While the Avengers fend off the army, Carter and Natasha must deal with Loki at the top of Stark Tower. They defeated him and won the battle. In 2014, Carter picks Natasha up from a run in Washington, D.C. after receiving a mission from Nick Fury.
Back in the present day, Peggy returned to her home universe and reunites with Black Widow. She shows Captain Carter the Hydra Stomper and Peggy gets a glimpse of the face, revealing it to be a young Steve Rogers. 
Captain Carter and Black Widow confront Nick Fury in his office and Carter is furious that he knew all this time that Steve was alive as he told Carter that Rogers died years after the war ended, during a mission. Carter realises Widow also knew this but didn't tell her, making Peggy feel betrayed. Natasha says she didn't mention anything to Carter because she didn't want to break her heart again after seeing what Rogers had become. Angry, Carter leaves Widow and Fury in his office. 
Meanwhile, the elderly Bucky Barnes pushes for more financial aid to Sokovia, until Brock and his STRIKE team burst in, to warn the secretary that his life is in danger. Carter gets involved on his assassination, allowing Rumlow and his team to move Bucky to safety.
After an explosion, Carter and Widow flee and take the Hydra Stomper armour with them to a safe house. Widow explains that the suit can't be removed from Steve's body because it means he will instantly die. Peggy asks how Steve is able to still look young after so many decades and Natasha explains that Rogers was experimented on by Hydra and brainwashed him. A few seconds later, the Hydra Stomper awakens and offers to take them to the Red Room where Natasha trained, to save Steve and destroy the armour. Peggy is overwhelmed to see Steve again, but Natasha explains that the man in the suit is not the same Steve Rogers Peggy once loved. Seeing the connection between Carter and Rogers, Black Widow agrees to take Rogers' word, who takes them to the Red Room.
Once they all arrive, Natasha is less than thrilled to see her fellow Black Widow's and their leader Melina. Melina reveals she worked on the Hydra Stomper to guide Widow and Carter to the Red Room and that she was the one who found Steve and brainwashed him. The Hydra Stomper is reactivated and turns to fire at Captain Carter who is forced to fight him, while Natasha fights the fellow Black Widows, who injure her.
Peggy finds Natasha on the ground in pain after Widow sends the Hydra Stomper up in the air with her grappling hook. The Hydra Stomper seemingly dies as the Red Room is destroyed. Carter and Widow flee and are later seen in an underground car park. Peggy tells Natasha that she believes Steve is alive and decides to go and search for him, which her friend encourages. However, just as Captain Carter is about to leave, she is sucked into a portal as Black Widow tries to save her, but fails. The Watcher and Widow both express their concern for Carter as even the Watcher doesn't know where she ended up.
Captain Carter eventually finds herself in another world surrounded by an alternate Nick Fury and Wanda Merlin, who has been asked to bring Carter to their universe to save their queen. Frustrated that she doesn't get time off, Captain Carter calls out for the Watcher.
==Cast==
*Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/The Watcher
*Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury/1602 Fury
*Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter/Captain Carter
*Lake Bell as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
*Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow 
*Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers/HYDRA Stomper
*Sebastian Stan as Secretary Bucky Barnes
*Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff
*Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch/Wanda-Merlin
*Bernard White as Councilman Jakuna Singh
==Trivia== 
*In this universe, Wasp (who, according to A.C. Bradley, is Hope Van Dyne) is present at the Battle of New York instead of Hulk. This is because, due to Captain Carter, the feminist movement kickstarted after the war, putting women in powerful positions much earlier. 
**Much like how What if... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes? depicts Hank Pym being a founding member of the Avengers, Wasp is shown to be a founding member in the Captain Carter universe, much like the comics (albeit with Hope in this universe, instead of Janet in the Wasp role).
*Melina comments how she is a fan of Captain Carter's film. This echoes what Red Skull says to Steve in Captain America: The First Avenger, who says he's a big fan of Steve's films.
**Natasha also adds that the film is a musical, which may be a homage to Steve getting his own musical in the Sacred Timeline.
* This episode features an alternate version of the battle of New York in 2012. Instead of Captain America being front and centre of the Avengers line up, it is now Captain Carter. Also instead of the Hulk being present, the Wasp is there instead. 
**In the original comics, it was the Wasp who was part of the original 6 Avengers instead of someone else.
*This episode has a two year time jump. It starts in 2012 during the battle of New York and then jumps to 2014, when Peggy collects Natasha for their mission.
*Bucky is 97 years old as the Secretary of State, but it's unknown how he managed to live that long in Peggy's timeline since he wasn't experimented on or frozen in time, like in the original timeline.
===References to Captain America: The Winter Soldier===
* As Steve & Peggy talk at the Sokovia base, "It's Been a Long, Long Time" plays. The same song is heard when Steve finds Fury in his apartment in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Steve & Peggy get their dance in Avengers: Endgame, and in the first season finale of Loki. Like The Winter Soldier, the song is interrupted by an ambush.
*Steve Rogers from Peggy's timeline is revealed to have survived the explosion during the ambush on the HYDRA train in the 40s and has become known as the HYDRA Stomper, a brainwashed assassin, just like Bucky Barnes was controlled and shown in the film.
*Peggy comes to collect Natasha in Washington DC after her run, just like Natasha did with Steve in the film, following his run with Sam Wilson.
*Captain Carter confronts Nick Fury in his office about him telling her that Steve died, mirroring Steve's conversation with Fury in the film, on Project Insight. 
*Bucky Barnes from Peggy's timeline is revealed to be the Sectary of State and hosting a meeting via holographic projections, the same way Alexander Pierce did, and the same title he had in the film. 
===References to Black Widow===
*The leader of the Red Room, Melina Vostokoff, appers.
*Natasha mentions the Red Room and her past with the Black Widow programme.
==Gallery==
What If...? - 2x05 - What if... Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper - Black Widow and Captain Carter.png
What If... 2x05 - What If Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper - Avengers .png
What If - 2x05 - Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper - Old Man Bucky.png
What If - 2x05 - Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper - Target Locked on Bucky.png
What If... - 2x05 - What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper - Portal to 1602.png
What If... - 2x05 - What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper - Nick Fury & Wanda Merlin.png
Category:What If...? episodes