An image released ahead of the premiere of Marvel's animated What If...? series shows Peggy Carter as the world's first super soldier. The show will be the first animated series tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and one of many shows slated to appear on Disney+ in the upcoming months as part of phase 4 of the MCU. What If...? will be an anthology series focused on putting twists on the Marvel stories fans already know well. This will include Bucky Barnes (voiced by Sebastian Stan) fighting a zombified Captain America, T'Challa (voiced by the late Chadwick Boseman) being taken into space instead of Peter Quill, and, of course, Peggy Carter (voiced by Hayley Atwell) taking the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers.
What If...? is based on a comic series of the same name which was first published in 1977 and asked the question, "What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?" Since its publication, the anthology series has been released 13 times. In both the comics and the show, Uatu the watcher serves as a narrator. Uatu is a member of an alien race dedicated to watching and monitoring other species across space and will be voiced by Jeffrey Wright. Only three stories have been announced for the first season of the show, but fans can continue to guess what else the ten-episode season will have in store based on the numerous MCU actors returning to provide voice work for the series.
The image (via EW) is presumably a screenshot from the first episode of What If...?, in which Peggy Carter will take the serum to become a super soldier instead of Steve Rogers. This will mean that instead of Captain America, it looks like a version of Captain Britain will be stepping up to kick some Hydra butt in WWII. The image shows Carter wielding a red, white, and blue vibranium shield. Instead of the usual star, however, the Union Jack juts out from the center. Peggy's uniform continues this pattern with a Union Jack on the chest and red and white stripes on the arms working as a continuation of this motif. This will be the 10th Marvel property that Atwell appears in as Carter, but the first one in which her character takes the Super Soldier Serum.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, Atwell's character serves as a foil and love interest to Steve Rogers. She is introduced on the military base where Steve undergoes his training and promptly punches a soldier in the face for his sexist talk. Unlike Steve, she has military and combat training going into the situation. This should make for a very interesting take on the story where fans can see a super soldier with the training of John Walker and the heart of Steve Rogers. It is unclear what this will mean for Steve Rogers in the episode, but the character is confirmed to be making an appearance at some point in the series, even if it's just as a zombie.
What If...? will be released on Disney+ this August, though no specific release date has been given yet. The show will premiere after season 1 of Loki and before Ms. Marvel, which is set to release in late 2021. Season 1 will consist of 10 episodes, and a season 2 is already in the works, signaling Marvel's confidence in the series. This won't be the first time Marvel takes a chance on a lesser-known comic series to adapt, and hopefully will not be the last either.
Source: Entertainment Weekly