With Loki having unleashed the multiverse in the MCU, the most exciting upcoming show has to be What If…?. It’s not just because it’s the next Disney+ show after Loki. What If…? is a multiverse story; that much was clear after the Loki finale. And Marvel creators who worked on the animated series about to launch on Disney+ confirmed as much in recent interviews. What If…? is part of the MCU, and that multiverse action is canon. That’s terrific news, as What If…? will open the door to plenty of novel stories featuring familiar characters. But it’s not just official Marvel statements that have hinted at exciting developments in What If…? in the past few days. A brand new rumor hints that the upcoming TV show might bring a key character to the MCU. As always with leaks, some spoilers might follow below.
What If…? is multiverse canon
Marvel finally confirmed that the What If…? characters are part of the grander MCU. They’re part of the multiverse, just as we had suspected. It was What If…? executive producer Brad Winderbaum who made it clear that the upcoming TV show will connect to the MCU:
It’s no coincidence that the show picks up right after Loki. The multi-verse has erupted in every possible direction. What If…? gives us a chance to explore that. Without going into great detail, I can tell you that What If…? as a project [and] as a story that exists in the MCU is as important as any other. It’s woven into that same tapestry. So, there’s a lot of potential.
Talking to IGN, head writer AC Bradley made it clear that everything in the new Marvel show, including the new character variants, are MCU canon:
The events of What If…? are canon. It’s part of the MCU multiverse. The multiverse is here. It is real, and it is absolutely fantastic, people.
The key new Marvel character
We’ve learned that many actors who play iconic Marvel characters have returned for voice-over duty in What If…?. Not all of them, but a large number of the MCU stars are back. But one of the What If…? characters might be more important than others for the Marvel future.
We’re going to refer to her in various ways, but you’ll always know who she is. We’ve known her as Agent Carter, Peggy Carter, or Peggy in the primary MCU timeline — with Hayley Atwell playing her. The same actress will play Captain Carter or Captain Britain in What If…?. And Marvel just confirmed that Captain Carter carries more weight to the story. Here’s what Winderbaum said about the character via The Illuminerdi:
We realized, I think, early on in development as we were starting to get AC’s scripts and starting to look at the arc of the series that there was going to be a character that bubbled up and became more important. Not more important than the rest, but had a strong relationship with The Watcher, who is really our driving force behind the series, and that’s Captain Carter.
And we realized as we started developing the second season that Captain Carter was going to be the character who we would revisit in every season and continue that adventure. Obviously, we’re telling a story on a giant multiversal canvas so you never really know who’s going to pop up where and when. It’s very much an anthology, but there’s always opportunity for fun connections to be made.
The Doctor Strange 2 Captain Carter cameo
The detail to remember here is that Captain Carter will have more than an episodic appearance in What If…?. Things might get even better than that if Marvel insider Daniel Richtman knows his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The insider said recently that he could confirm Captain Carter will appear in the Doctor Strange sequel alongside other characters from What If…?.
That Multiverse of Madness will feature all sorts of cameos isn’t exactly a massive surprise. Leaks dating back to early 2020 claimed that Marvel wants to bring all kinds of characters to the sequel. We haven’t verified any of them, and we might never be able to do it. But What If…? might point us in the right direction. Seeing some of the Avengers variants in the show in Doctor Strange 2 would be amazing.
Considering what What If…? execs said about Captain Carter, the character might be one of the most important cameos in Multiverse of Madness That’s assuming Richtman’s information is accurate.
Will we get to see Captain Carter in other MCU stories beyond the two What If…? seasons and Doctor Strange 2? The upcoming multiversal action might answer that.
