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208.
I went for a bit of a big walk early this afternoon to try and catch up to my friend's Fitbit steps and now I'm tired and bored. I thought this was a great cocktail to write down some of my thoughts on What If...? so far.
I do come from enjoying the way The Flash introduced the Multiverse in season 2 and I've approached this series with the knowledge set from that show. I know MCU hasn't developed its Multiverse yet, but… whatever, DCTV has laid the groundwork brilliantly.
I thought this episode was fun, but I overall didn't like it. I enjoyed it because I'm now a self-converted Bucky fangirl and it was great to see the potential of his character if he had survived the train... But I feel like this episode wasn't different from TFA... which I felt missed the whole point of the series?
• I was hoping that Peggy's choice to take the Serum would be similar to Steve's wherein she was selected for it. I didn't expect that she would be sick like Steve, but I had been anticipating that it wouldn't have followed the events of TFA right up until the moment the Serum was almost injected in him.
While I suspect it's IC for Peggy to inject herself in order to save them all, I... kind of wish that this universe had intentionally wanted to inject Peggy and saw women as vital members of the army. With her choosing to inject herself… she came off really arrogant. I understand that Peggy can be arrogant (I saw it in Agent Carter on several occasions), this level of arrogance was a lot for me. Her displays of arrogance are often defying orders or going around someone to achieve what she needs to achieve, and it often involves her wit and cunning, but this… It felt very much like "Well, I've decided I'm the one for the job here" where I feel like Peggy was not established as someone who thought she should take the Serum. I don't even think TFA even hinted at any desire she had at wanting to take the Serum. She never showed any interest in it at all, and then to have her take the Serum because they were being attacked was a wild, strange decision for her to make for me. Protecting the Serum vials? Sure. Taking the Serum? Hard for me to believe. I think Peggy would take at least a vial and protect it and possibly blow up the machine than take the Serum herself.
I'm not a Peggy fan and I don't study her character when I watch these films and episodes as closely as I study other characters, but I just felt that it was an abrupt choice for her character. It didn't make sense. And I just wish that the episode decided to change the world a lot more than it did—women can be leaders in the army in the 1940s as this is a world of fiction, come on!
Which leads me to… I understand that we do era pieces and have to stick to what was accurate of that time, but if you're going to do a Multiverse, why can't you do one where Peggy Carter is a respected soldier and was hand-selected to take the Serum? As I had finished watching Agent Carter's first two seasons, I felt like this was just a rehash of the show where all the white men claimed Peggy should sit down and pop out babies instead of using her intelligence, wit and cunning to help them win the war.
This is fiction. You are establishing a built-in AU in your canon. Change it up, for fuck's sake!
• I felt like Steve's presence in this episode was too much. He was overpowering to the point where I felt like Peggy was being overshadowed by him. If you remove Peggy from TFA, you'll still get the same sort of story as she isn't entirely all that pivotal to Steve. Yes, she is his love interest, but Steve can—and has—existed outside of her. She is not entirely pivotal at the end of the day! Yes, she's an encouraging force for him. Yes, Steve wants to impress her. Yes, Peggy helps him with Tommy Lee Jones when he finds out Bucky has been taken prisoner. Yes, Peggy is a representation of his acceptance as a person and brings out Steve's humanity in an otherwise superpower hero story (and so does Bucky, for that matter)… But none of those moments was so intricately tied to Peggy that they couldn't have been replaced by someone else, you know? And I felt like Steve really should've taken a backseat where he was either not included in the series or he wasn't as strong of a presence as he was. He still got to save the day. He was still a pivotal player in the Hydra Stomper suit. If you're going to have Steve not be Captain America, then you really need to follow through on that. He was still Cap even though he was scrawny and didn't have the shield.
I'm admittedly not the biggest Steve fan, but I can enjoy him when he's at his best. This episode was not a Steve episode, yet you couldn't have the episode play out without him. To me, that makes it not Peggy's story.
• I did like the nods towards TFA, but, again, I wish that it had been a different take on Peggy being Captain Carter. I felt like I had seen all of these nods in Agent Carter which, despite being Steveless, still heavily carries Steve and exists in his shadow.
• I wish we got more Bucky/Peggy and Bucky in general. It was great to see him flourish as a leader in the small amount of screentime that he got. I do wish that TFA had given him the role of actually being a leader (especially since Steve literally knows fuck all yet is allowed to order an army around despite having no experience...?) and we got to see Bucky be a soldier. I enjoyed his moments.
I personally would've liked it if they had made Bucky/Peggy the ship in this, but I also understand that they wanted to showcase that Peggy would've found Steve attractive no matter what body he happened to inhibit and that she likes Steve, not Captain America. While I believe Peggy/Steve is not the OTP MCU wants us to believe they are (they never spend time together and they don't know one another, yet they are Epic True Love when, really, they just like the idea of one another and their mutual attraction), I kind of would've preferred a different ship entirely. But I guess they're the Iris/Barry of the Multiverse? (Highly doubtful.)
I do find it fascinating how Bucky would've fallen off the train as soon as he landed on top of it. Why was that? Was the weather different? Was it because Peggy's presence meant Bucky slipped earlier? But what I find most fascinating is that Peggy was able to quickly save Bucky—and I imagine it's because of where this took place. If he had been holding onto the railing as he did in the OG timeline, then I imagine it would've played out as it had with Steve. (I did like the meta that Peggy could save Bucky while Steve couldn't. It made Peggy vital to that role and Bucky's survival. She could do what Steve could not.)
• Other characters had a great presence in this episode and I was happy to see Stark return. I did think Steve was voiced by Chris Evans, but apparently this wasn't true? Either way, I did enjoy the voice work a lot. (BUCKY GOT TO BE FUNNY!)
• The alien boss fight was weird to me. Perhaps because I wasn't paying attention by the end, I just felt that was entirely out of place. And Red Skull's defeat was so quick? It was very anticlimatic.
Overall, I enjoyed the animation and the fact Peggy Carter was still so recognisable despite being Captain America. I do wish that they had changed the trajectory of this AU more and took away Steve's power role in this. It was a Peggy Carter episode that should've featured guest star Steve Rogers, but I felt that she had to share the spotlight with Steve to a heavy degree. Steve has existed without Peggy on numerous occasions, even in TFA where her role was designated as his love interest. I wish that they had played that in here with their roles reversed.
THIS episode is exactly what this series should be about! The circumstances of T'Challa's story (and consequently the Ravagers') was so different to what we know in the OG timeline, but every single person who was involved in it was still so recognisable. I really enjoyed this episode a lot.
• It's amazing to see that T'Challa is a powerful presence of love, acceptance and kindness in this episode. T'Challa has the respect Peter Quill never earned as Star Lord. I really, really liked how T'Challa's mere presence and character changed so much around him—and I doubt he had to be directly involved to be such a positive change on the universe.
The relationship with Yondu was what I felt GOTG2 tried to convey when Yondu decided to sacrifice himself in outer space. I don't believe for a fact that Yondu particularly respected or loved Peter as healthily as the film had wanted us to believe. He loved Peter in a very toxic, abusive way. T'Challa and Yondu were so healthy, and I have to wonder if it's because T'Challa was a well-rounded young boy (and perhaps a little older than Peter was) when he was abducted.
• NEBULA IS A FUCKING SNACK.
Yes, I walked out of this episode shipping Nebula/T'Challa. No, I will not sit down. THEIR CHEMISTRY. This is a pairing I did not expect to ever think of! But the mutual respect, the chemistry between Karen and Chadwick (both of their voices are so soothing), and the way T'Challa and Nebula seem to give one another the space to breathe and exist... Hold my flower! I STAN.
• I am so surprised by Thanos being a calmer, less tyrannical presence in this. I have to wonder why? Are we crediting it to T'Challa? How did T'Challa and Thanos meet? Why did they meet? When did Thanos begin his quest for the Infinity Stones? He had a throwaway line in Wakanda where he said he had a plan for world dominance and Okoye described that as genocide. But where in Thanos' personal timeline did he deviate from becoming a warlord?
I did really enjoy the different take on Nebula and Thanos' relationship, and I have to wonder if it's because Gamora's absence paved the way for a healthier relationship between the two of them. Without Gamora to compare Nebula to (and consequently abuse her endlessly), Thanos seemed to praise Nebula as his favourite. I'm guessing Gamora died on her home planet? Or perhaps he never went to her home planet to begin with? I found this change so fascinating—and this is EXACTLY what this series should be!
(And isn't it just terrifying and devastating how Thanos would love and care and be so kind to Nebula if Gamora wasn't there? It's neither woman's fault, but it's so fascinating and it's a great look into Thanos' personality and his abusive tendencies.)
I did also find it really interesting how Thanos' Children (or Proxima Midnight?) was not... a child of Thanos. WHAT HAPPENED? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I NEED TO KNOW MORE!
• I do personally think T'Challa's upbringing, the Wakandan way of life, and the fact T'Challa had a family searching for him endlessly really changed the way that this particular moment in time developed. T'Challa is a man surrounded with positive and healthy love. Quill was alone and abandoned. I think the sole fact that T'Challa was not made to be Ego's son is the big pivotal reason why his experience with Yondu and as a Ravager changed the OG story so significantly.
I also found it interesting how T'Challa never lost his accent. Home, heritage, and heart are clearly three big key components to his character. Quill never had those things to cling onto that wasn't his music (and I suppose Yondu).
• I don't particularly care for the Quill and Ego exchange at the end of the episode. I imagine Quill will get his own episode? It'd be curious to see how his life would've turned out if Yondu didn't kidnap him. Did his mother still die from Ego's-infected cancer? I would care more about Peter if he had developed as a character from GOTG, but I find him to be the same moron that he was in the beginning of that movie. (I can deal with characters who are genuinely hopeless and funny, but I feel like Peter has become significantly one-note. Pratt doesn't help matters.) The only Quill I like is Infinity War Quill as he has layers and seems to be less one-note.
• How could I not mention the dedication to Chadwick? I really appreciate how much love was in this episode. From the beginning to the end, this episode was Chadwick's and a love letter to him. From all the beautiful purple to how T'Challa was such a good force and the way that he remained so true to the man that we know him to be as Black Panther... I hope we get to see him one last time in this series.
Overall, this was fantastic. I now see what this series is capable of. I really enjoyed the significant change and the way that the characters (even fucking Thanos!) were still so recognisable. I will definitely be rewatching this one again.
I do come from enjoying the way The Flash introduced the Multiverse in season 2 and I've approached this series with the knowledge set from that show. I know MCU hasn't developed its Multiverse yet, but… whatever, DCTV has laid the groundwork brilliantly.
EPISODE ONE: CAPTAIN CARTER
I thought this episode was fun, but I overall didn't like it. I enjoyed it because I'm now a self-converted Bucky fangirl and it was great to see the potential of his character if he had survived the train... But I feel like this episode wasn't different from TFA... which I felt missed the whole point of the series?
• I was hoping that Peggy's choice to take the Serum would be similar to Steve's wherein she was selected for it. I didn't expect that she would be sick like Steve, but I had been anticipating that it wouldn't have followed the events of TFA right up until the moment the Serum was almost injected in him.
While I suspect it's IC for Peggy to inject herself in order to save them all, I... kind of wish that this universe had intentionally wanted to inject Peggy and saw women as vital members of the army. With her choosing to inject herself… she came off really arrogant. I understand that Peggy can be arrogant (I saw it in Agent Carter on several occasions), this level of arrogance was a lot for me. Her displays of arrogance are often defying orders or going around someone to achieve what she needs to achieve, and it often involves her wit and cunning, but this… It felt very much like "Well, I've decided I'm the one for the job here" where I feel like Peggy was not established as someone who thought she should take the Serum. I don't even think TFA even hinted at any desire she had at wanting to take the Serum. She never showed any interest in it at all, and then to have her take the Serum because they were being attacked was a wild, strange decision for her to make for me. Protecting the Serum vials? Sure. Taking the Serum? Hard for me to believe. I think Peggy would take at least a vial and protect it and possibly blow up the machine than take the Serum herself.
I'm not a Peggy fan and I don't study her character when I watch these films and episodes as closely as I study other characters, but I just felt that it was an abrupt choice for her character. It didn't make sense. And I just wish that the episode decided to change the world a lot more than it did—women can be leaders in the army in the 1940s as this is a world of fiction, come on!
Which leads me to… I understand that we do era pieces and have to stick to what was accurate of that time, but if you're going to do a Multiverse, why can't you do one where Peggy Carter is a respected soldier and was hand-selected to take the Serum? As I had finished watching Agent Carter's first two seasons, I felt like this was just a rehash of the show where all the white men claimed Peggy should sit down and pop out babies instead of using her intelligence, wit and cunning to help them win the war.
This is fiction. You are establishing a built-in AU in your canon. Change it up, for fuck's sake!
• I felt like Steve's presence in this episode was too much. He was overpowering to the point where I felt like Peggy was being overshadowed by him. If you remove Peggy from TFA, you'll still get the same sort of story as she isn't entirely all that pivotal to Steve. Yes, she is his love interest, but Steve can—and has—existed outside of her. She is not entirely pivotal at the end of the day! Yes, she's an encouraging force for him. Yes, Steve wants to impress her. Yes, Peggy helps him with Tommy Lee Jones when he finds out Bucky has been taken prisoner. Yes, Peggy is a representation of his acceptance as a person and brings out Steve's humanity in an otherwise superpower hero story (and so does Bucky, for that matter)… But none of those moments was so intricately tied to Peggy that they couldn't have been replaced by someone else, you know? And I felt like Steve really should've taken a backseat where he was either not included in the series or he wasn't as strong of a presence as he was. He still got to save the day. He was still a pivotal player in the Hydra Stomper suit. If you're going to have Steve not be Captain America, then you really need to follow through on that. He was still Cap even though he was scrawny and didn't have the shield.
I'm admittedly not the biggest Steve fan, but I can enjoy him when he's at his best. This episode was not a Steve episode, yet you couldn't have the episode play out without him. To me, that makes it not Peggy's story.
• I did like the nods towards TFA, but, again, I wish that it had been a different take on Peggy being Captain Carter. I felt like I had seen all of these nods in Agent Carter which, despite being Steveless, still heavily carries Steve and exists in his shadow.
• I wish we got more Bucky/Peggy and Bucky in general. It was great to see him flourish as a leader in the small amount of screentime that he got. I do wish that TFA had given him the role of actually being a leader (especially since Steve literally knows fuck all yet is allowed to order an army around despite having no experience...?) and we got to see Bucky be a soldier. I enjoyed his moments.
I personally would've liked it if they had made Bucky/Peggy the ship in this, but I also understand that they wanted to showcase that Peggy would've found Steve attractive no matter what body he happened to inhibit and that she likes Steve, not Captain America. While I believe Peggy/Steve is not the OTP MCU wants us to believe they are (they never spend time together and they don't know one another, yet they are Epic True Love when, really, they just like the idea of one another and their mutual attraction), I kind of would've preferred a different ship entirely. But I guess they're the Iris/Barry of the Multiverse? (Highly doubtful.)
I do find it fascinating how Bucky would've fallen off the train as soon as he landed on top of it. Why was that? Was the weather different? Was it because Peggy's presence meant Bucky slipped earlier? But what I find most fascinating is that Peggy was able to quickly save Bucky—and I imagine it's because of where this took place. If he had been holding onto the railing as he did in the OG timeline, then I imagine it would've played out as it had with Steve. (I did like the meta that Peggy could save Bucky while Steve couldn't. It made Peggy vital to that role and Bucky's survival. She could do what Steve could not.)
• Other characters had a great presence in this episode and I was happy to see Stark return. I did think Steve was voiced by Chris Evans, but apparently this wasn't true? Either way, I did enjoy the voice work a lot. (BUCKY GOT TO BE FUNNY!)
• The alien boss fight was weird to me. Perhaps because I wasn't paying attention by the end, I just felt that was entirely out of place. And Red Skull's defeat was so quick? It was very anticlimatic.
Overall, I enjoyed the animation and the fact Peggy Carter was still so recognisable despite being Captain America. I do wish that they had changed the trajectory of this AU more and took away Steve's power role in this. It was a Peggy Carter episode that should've featured guest star Steve Rogers, but I felt that she had to share the spotlight with Steve to a heavy degree. Steve has existed without Peggy on numerous occasions, even in TFA where her role was designated as his love interest. I wish that they had played that in here with their roles reversed.
EPISODE 2: ALL HAIL THE TRUE MVP
THIS episode is exactly what this series should be about! The circumstances of T'Challa's story (and consequently the Ravagers') was so different to what we know in the OG timeline, but every single person who was involved in it was still so recognisable. I really enjoyed this episode a lot.
• It's amazing to see that T'Challa is a powerful presence of love, acceptance and kindness in this episode. T'Challa has the respect Peter Quill never earned as Star Lord. I really, really liked how T'Challa's mere presence and character changed so much around him—and I doubt he had to be directly involved to be such a positive change on the universe.
The relationship with Yondu was what I felt GOTG2 tried to convey when Yondu decided to sacrifice himself in outer space. I don't believe for a fact that Yondu particularly respected or loved Peter as healthily as the film had wanted us to believe. He loved Peter in a very toxic, abusive way. T'Challa and Yondu were so healthy, and I have to wonder if it's because T'Challa was a well-rounded young boy (and perhaps a little older than Peter was) when he was abducted.
• NEBULA IS A FUCKING SNACK.
Yes, I walked out of this episode shipping Nebula/T'Challa. No, I will not sit down. THEIR CHEMISTRY. This is a pairing I did not expect to ever think of! But the mutual respect, the chemistry between Karen and Chadwick (both of their voices are so soothing), and the way T'Challa and Nebula seem to give one another the space to breathe and exist... Hold my flower! I STAN.
• I am so surprised by Thanos being a calmer, less tyrannical presence in this. I have to wonder why? Are we crediting it to T'Challa? How did T'Challa and Thanos meet? Why did they meet? When did Thanos begin his quest for the Infinity Stones? He had a throwaway line in Wakanda where he said he had a plan for world dominance and Okoye described that as genocide. But where in Thanos' personal timeline did he deviate from becoming a warlord?
I did really enjoy the different take on Nebula and Thanos' relationship, and I have to wonder if it's because Gamora's absence paved the way for a healthier relationship between the two of them. Without Gamora to compare Nebula to (and consequently abuse her endlessly), Thanos seemed to praise Nebula as his favourite. I'm guessing Gamora died on her home planet? Or perhaps he never went to her home planet to begin with? I found this change so fascinating—and this is EXACTLY what this series should be!
(And isn't it just terrifying and devastating how Thanos would love and care and be so kind to Nebula if Gamora wasn't there? It's neither woman's fault, but it's so fascinating and it's a great look into Thanos' personality and his abusive tendencies.)
I did also find it really interesting how Thanos' Children (or Proxima Midnight?) was not... a child of Thanos. WHAT HAPPENED? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I NEED TO KNOW MORE!
• I do personally think T'Challa's upbringing, the Wakandan way of life, and the fact T'Challa had a family searching for him endlessly really changed the way that this particular moment in time developed. T'Challa is a man surrounded with positive and healthy love. Quill was alone and abandoned. I think the sole fact that T'Challa was not made to be Ego's son is the big pivotal reason why his experience with Yondu and as a Ravager changed the OG story so significantly.
I also found it interesting how T'Challa never lost his accent. Home, heritage, and heart are clearly three big key components to his character. Quill never had those things to cling onto that wasn't his music (and I suppose Yondu).
• I don't particularly care for the Quill and Ego exchange at the end of the episode. I imagine Quill will get his own episode? It'd be curious to see how his life would've turned out if Yondu didn't kidnap him. Did his mother still die from Ego's-infected cancer? I would care more about Peter if he had developed as a character from GOTG, but I find him to be the same moron that he was in the beginning of that movie. (I can deal with characters who are genuinely hopeless and funny, but I feel like Peter has become significantly one-note. Pratt doesn't help matters.) The only Quill I like is Infinity War Quill as he has layers and seems to be less one-note.
• How could I not mention the dedication to Chadwick? I really appreciate how much love was in this episode. From the beginning to the end, this episode was Chadwick's and a love letter to him. From all the beautiful purple to how T'Challa was such a good force and the way that he remained so true to the man that we know him to be as Black Panther... I hope we get to see him one last time in this series.
Overall, this was fantastic. I now see what this series is capable of. I really enjoyed the significant change and the way that the characters (even fucking Thanos!) were still so recognisable. I will definitely be rewatching this one again.