Who Plays Steve Rogers In What If? (& Why Chris Evans Didn't Return)

Warning: Spoilers for What If...? episode 1 to follow, including Steve Rogers' journey.

The first episode of Marvel's What If...? takes viewers on an alternate history version of Captain America: The First Avenger – but with Chris Evans not returning for the animated Disney+ TV show, who voices Steve Rogers? The fourth TV series to fit within the MCU, What If...? asks exactly that question, retelling the stories of Marvel's superheroes as depicted in movies so far as though something different had happened at a key moment in those stories, to send them spinning off in an entirely different direction.

What If...? episode 1 "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" hinges on the decision of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) staying in the room while Steve Rogers undergoes his transformation into Captain America. That results in all the present viewers staying in the room, including Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) and Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage). The episode shows that Kruger sets off his bomb in the room, shoots Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), and steals a vial of Super-Soldier Serum. Steve, still the "skinny kid from Brooklyn," confronts Kruger and is shot. Peggy dispatches Kruger, recovers the serum, and ends up having to take Steve's place in the transformation chamber, urged on by Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), and becomes Captain Carter.

But Peggy taking Steve's place because he was shot by Kruger doesn't end the former Captain America's story. Rogers has a significant role throughout the episode, piloting a Tesseract-powered mechanical suit similar to Tony Stark's Mark I, but created by Howard Stark – named the Hydra Stomper. What If...? episode 1 shows many moments similar to the original story told in Captain America: The First Avenger, but with an intriguing twist. Steve Rogers remains the skinny kid, but fights with Peggy on the battlefields of Europe as the Hydra Stomper, and the two share several intimate moments that confirm that Rogers and Carter truly were soul mates, and go on to face Red Skull and a monster summoned using the Tesseract. For What If...? Steve Rogers – no longer Captain America – is voiced by Josh Keaton, a decision likely made because Chris Evans' time in the MCU has come to a close, or for scheduling reasons.

Steve Rogers in the Hydra Stomper armor in What If

Speaking with Uproxx, What If...? director Bryan Andrews spoke briefly about why certain members of the cast didn't return to voice their iconic MCU roles while so many others did (the cast list is extensive, with everyone from Chadwick Boseman and Mark Ruffalo to Tilda Swinton returning). He said, "All of these people are extremely talented and they’ve got a lot of stuff going on. And we figured we probably wouldn’t be able to get everybody, just because scheduling is so difficult." So it appears that if any MCU cast didn't return for their characters, including Chris Evans and other notable absentees Robert Downey, Jr and Scarlett Johansson, the main reason is down to scheduling conflicts (though Dave Bautista claims no one at Marvel asked him to return as Drax). While MCU fans might be disappointed by the change, Andrews was dedicated to making sure the characters in What If...? believable, ensuring that each voice actor, whether old or new, brought something to the role – and it's something experienced voice actor Josh Keaton has certainly achieved.

Josh Keaton has decades of voice acting experience in TV, movies, and video games, and this isn't even his first time voicing a character from Marvel Comics, or for Disney. His major credits include voicing Young Hercules in Hercules (1997), Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane (a.k.a. "Space Dad") in Voltron: Legendary Defender, and even Spidey/Peter Parker himself in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated TV show. He has a major role in What If...? episode 1, but it's yet to be seen whether Skinny Steve Rogers returns once again in the series, or if Josh Keaton voices other characters on the show. With What If...? already confirmed for season 2, it's not unlikely that MCU fans will get to see more of Josh Keaton's Steve Rogers.

Next: Why A Marvel-Star Wars Crossover Is A Terrible Idea (Even In What If…?)

New episodes of What If...? release every Wednesday on Disney+.