The first episode of Marvel’s What If…? on Disney+ explored an alternate timeline where Peggy Carter is injected with the Super Soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers. With superhuman strength and resilience, she goes on to become Captain Carter, defeat Red Skull, and save the world. It’s a stylish adventure with great action sequences that gives the spotlight to one of the MCU’s most inspiring women, but it misses the mark on one important aspect of her character. In its effort to genderbend the Captain America story and keep things as close to the original story as possible, Peggy and Steve fall in love precipitously, and without proper development. Perhaps it's simply a touch of Disney magic that has destined these two characters to end up together in every timeline, but there’s something fundamental about their relationship that What If…? completely misses.
In both Captain Carter and the first Captain America film, the bond between Peggy and Steve is formed before either character’s transformation. Peggy is an extraordinarily capable and qualified woman who is treated like little more than a secretary by practically every man she meets, apart from Steve. Not dissimilarly, Steve faced his own kind of prejudices growing up as a short, scrawny boy, and it's that assumed inferiority that bonded these characters together. They’re both heroes who are willing to sacrifice for their ideals and stand up to bullies, but I argue that it is the adversity they face that bonds them. It’s not just that Steve is kind and respectful to Peggy when other men are not that endears him to her, it’s also their shared experience; Peggy as a woman in 1940s America, and Steve as a scrawny manlet in an era where standards of masculinity were absolute.
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But then Steve becomes Captain America, the epitome of masculinity. With his new body and abilities, Steve ascends to the ranks of alpha male tough guy. He now has the power, both physically and politically, to assimilate with the oppressors and become the bully that he — and Peggy — once stood up to. But, as we all know, the kid from Brooklyn never forgets where he came from, and Steve retains his heart and character. He never lets the power corrupt him, and that, if you ask me, is why Peggy fell in love with him.
Their connection was born when he was Small Steve, but it wasn’t until he became Captain America that their love blossomed. Not because she couldn’t be with twink, but because he stayed true to who he was when he was given the power to change. It’s not nearly as hard to have compassion and fight injustice when you’re at the end of the stick, but when the stick was put in Steve’s hand, he proved who he really was. That’s when Peggy found trust and the two fell in love.
This is where Captain Carter runs afoul. The half-hour episode shows Peggy’s romantic intentions just moments after she’s given her powers in a scene that mirrors their first car ride together in Captain America: The First Avenger. In the film, Steve is embarrassed after calling Peggy a “beautiful dame,” then admits that he doesn’t know how to talk to women because no one is lining up to dance with a guy they might step on. When Peggy asks if he’s ever danced, he explains that he’s waiting for the right partner. On Captain Carter, Steve jokes with Peggy that Colonel Flynn could send her on a USO tour (like the ones Steve went on at the beginning of The First Avenger) and that she shouldn’t feel bad about taking the Super Soldier serum from him because he was never much of a dancer anyway. “Maybe you haven’t found the right partner,” Peggy says, and the two share a knowing look. It's a scene that only makes sense in the context of the film it's reflecting, but it completely abandons the original intention of the line.
From there, Peggy does a bunch of badass hero stuff (way better than what Captain America did) and we don’t see Shrimpy Steve until he shows up in battle wearing Stark’s proto-Iron Man armor. Later, the two share a celebratory drink and talk about what it’s like for her to finally have some respect. “It must be nice,” Steve says. “I’m still that skinny kid from Brooklyn, now just in a big metal suit.” Peggy reassures him, telling him he’s more than just a suit and that he is her hero. Steve tells her that she’s his hero too, and the couple nearly kiss before they’re interrupted by Stark and the call to action. Steve blows up on the train in the next scene and isn’t seen again until the final moments as Peggy pushes the kraken back into the portal and makes the obligatory Saturday night plans with him.
It’s a disappointing revision to their relationship that fails to acknowledge what brought them together in the first place. This story takes for granted why Peggy loves Steve and simply shoves them together without proper development or impetus, expecting the audience to go along with it and accept that because their love is possible, it must be immutable. By treating Steve and Peggy like puzzle pieces that innately fit together, Captain Carter completely loses what makes their relationship so special. It’s not that Peggy could never have fallen in love with Steve without his powers or impressive physique, but What If…? makes no attempt to reinvent — or at the very least, recreate — the conditions and events that brought them together.
Steve and Peggy are so much more than simply two great characters that go great together, and this story needed more than a wink and a nudge to the past without any of the context or meaning. It’s a disservice to both of their characters, and a huge miss on an otherwise cathartic adventure in the multiverse.
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