'Marvel's What...If?' may reimagine Steve Rogers as HYDRA and might even see him in a face-off against Stark and Bucky
'Marvel's 'What If...?' is set to be the studios' first animated content on Disney+ and it reimagines theories that would have showed the characters and their arcs in a new light. 'What If...?' will be a collection of 23 stories (the same numbers as the movies) told by Uatu the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) who has the ability to see across infinite realities.
Chris Evans' Steve Rogers aka Captain America has been instrumental in the MCU. If it was Robert Downey Jr. who began the whole saga by announcing himself as Iron Man, Cap was the first Avenger who went under the ice. He may have gone back to live out his life in the past in 'Avengers: Endgame', but the man with the shield has led the superheroes as an able and just leader. This article is our prediction on how 'What If...?' may change Cap's character arc completely.
Captain America: The First Avenger
What If...Peggy Carter was the one to wield the shield?
This theory is pretty easy. For starters, Hayley Atwell‘s Peggy Carter receives the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers becoming Captain Carter and dons a Union Jack-themed costume and a shield. It is interesting to see Peggy get this role since she has her roots going back to England. According to the comics, she was originally a code-breaker from England. Following her brother's death, she joins the Special Operations Executive, occasionally referred to as SOE, a secret British espionage agency active during World War II. This was followed by a longer stint with S.H.I.E.L.D.
'Avengers: Endgame' too had references to Britain. Remember the scene when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) travel back in time to the S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ to retrieve the Tesseract? A scene shows Steve hiding in Carter's cabin where she is seen discussing events in Britain that would require her attention.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
What If...it was Cap who fell off the train and not Bucky Barnes?
The train scene may just change the way we looked at Bucky. In 'The First Avenger', the Howling Commando is shown to have met an unfortunate end when he falls off the train when Cap and his team look at capturing Arnim Zola (Toby Jones). The 'Winter Soldier' focussed on the relationship between Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Rogers and maybe the 'What If...?' could see a sort of role reversal. Maybe Rogers would have died and Bucky crashes the plane. Meanwhile, HYDRA could try and bring Cap back to life— an experiment that ends disastrously. Perhaps, this could also explain the footage shown at D23 where Bucky is facing off a zombie Cap.
Captain America: Civil War
'What If...Tony didn't sign the Sokovia Accords instead of Rogers?
Stark and Bucky in one team is an unimaginable tale, but it would have meant the former would never know it was Bucky who was responsible for killing his parents. Rogers was firmly against signing the Accords and perhaps here, it may have been the other way round. Given Bucky and his episodes, he may have agreed to sign in so that he could return to normal. What's more terrifying is Bucky and Stark vs Rogers in the end!