What If…? in general isn’t supposed to feature major cliffhangers. Other than the ongoing story of a universe, these are supposed to be done-in-one stories that show alternate takes on the MCU multiverse. But What If…? Season 2, Episode 5 ends with a big twist. So where — or when — is Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell)?
Before we get into that, a brief bit of a recap on the episode, “What If… Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper.” In the half-hour, we get a sequel to Season 1’s “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?” If the original episode was all about subbing Peggy Carter in for Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger, this episode is Captain America: The Winter Soldier but with Peggy Carter in the lead. That is until the halfway point, when it starts to bring in elements of Black Widow, as well.
The action pretty neatly gets wrapped up with Steve Rogers (Josh Keaton) sacrificing himself to save Captain Carter and Natasha Romanoff (Lake Bell). That is until Peggy and Natasha are walking back to their car, and Peggy is sucked into a red portal, surprising even The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright).
Peggy next opens her eyes somewhere, somewhen in the woods. There are stars in the sky, and as she gets her bearings someone who looks like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) enters. “That is she,” Fury says. “The one who can save our Queen?”
That’s when what looks like Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) enters. “More,” Wanda says. “She will save our world.”
“So much for taking a night off,” says Peggy. “Watcher? Watcher!”
…and that’s where we leave her!
What If…? Season 2, Episode 5 Ending Explained:
Though Peggy doesn’t know where she is, we do. She’s in the year 1602, and we’ll most likely see her next in Season 2, Episode 8 of What If…? Based in part on the comic book series Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, the story took the characters we know from Marvel Comics and transposed them to Shakespeare’s time. There are a lot of twists and turns in that story, but one thing that becomes apparent by the end of the eight issues is that this is not, technically, an out-of-canon story.
Given how things are set up here, it will also be interesting to see how exactly What If…? adapts that comic; or not, as Gaiman at least has said he was not involved in making the episode in any way. It will also be interesting to see if this is 1602 in Captain Carter’s universe or, more likely given The Watcher is confused, this is a new, unknown part of the multiverse.
Also, a little side-note, but yes, that is Samuel L. Jackson and Elizabeth Olsen doing the voice acting for Nick Fury and Wanda respectively at the end of the episode. And Olsen is credited as Wanda-Merlin, not Scarlet Witch. We’ll certainly find out more when the eighth episode of the season premieres on December 29.
What If…? Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Sounds fun, right? But when can you watch it? The weird way Marvel and Disney+ are rolling out these episodes is one per day, over the holidays. So the answer is: pretty much non-stop.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Marvel’s What If…? Season 2, and when they premiere:
- Friday, December 22, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 1 – “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”
- Saturday, December 23, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 2 – “What If… Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”
- Sunday, December 24, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 3 – “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
- Monday, December 25, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 4 – “What If… Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster?”
- Tuesday, December 26, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 5 – “What If… Captain Carter Fought The Hydra Stomper?”
- Wednesday, December 27, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 6 – “What If… Kahhori Reshaped The World?”
- Thursday, December 28, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 7 – “What If… Hela Found The Ten Rings?”
- Friday, December 29, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 8 – “What If… The Avengers Assembled In 1602?”
- Saturday, December 30, 2023: What If…? Season 2, Episode 9 – “What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?”
