"What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?" is the ninth and final episode of the second season of the Disney+ streaming television series, What If...? and the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It aired on December 30, 2023. It was written by Matthew Chauncey and directed by Bryan Andrews.
Synopsis[]
Captain Carter discovers the greatest threat to all existence may be closer to her than she realizes.
Plot[]
Opening from where the last episode ended, Captain Carter joins forces with Strange Supreme as she believes she is helping him take down a massive threat that could end the current universe. Carter meets Kahhori from another universe where Hydra won the war, who explains that Strange Supreme is the real threat and plans to destroy all universes to reform his own. Carter tries to stop Strange, but he is too power hungry to listen and brings beings from other universes to destroy their worlds. With no chance of defeating him, Carter uses her shield to free the prisoners that Strange collected. But freeing both heroes and villains would bring the battle into chaos. With Strange distracted, Carter and Kahhori rushes to the Forge.
Kahhori and Captain Carter rederive powerful objects that help them defeat Strange, such as the Infinity Stones and Hela's crown. Strange creates an illusion in which Peggy is reunited with Steve Rogers minutes before her transformation into Captain carter, and Steve tells Peggy he loves her. Noticing a butterfly, Peggy realises what Steve is saying is not real and neither is he, fighting her way through and destroying the illusion.
Kahhori and Captain Carter defeat Strange, who eventually sees the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to allow his world to be restored - along with Christine Palmer. Captain Carter and The Watcher watch on as Christine Palmer sits peacefully on a bench. The Watcher explains that Strange Supreme's actions mean he was never born into this recreation of his universe and never will be. The Watcher offers to finally send Peggy back to her timeline, before she was transported to 1602. Carter accepts, but she wants to "take the scenic route" and see more universes before returning to her own world. The Watcher expresses his gratitude and says there is so much more of Captain Carter to see, showing her a tree created by an alternate Loki.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/The Watcher
- Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter/Captain Carter
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Strange Supreme
- Devery Jacobs as Kahhori
- Cate Blanchett as Hela
- Feodor Chin as Xu Wenwu
- Clancy Brown as Surtur
- Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers (illusion)
- Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine (illusion)
Trivia[]
- It picks up directly from the previous episode.
- Strange Supreme is killed after realizing the errors of his ways and he mentions the events of "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?", when his own universe was destroyed.
- Captain Carter noticing butterflies in Strange's illusion can be a nod to Strange transforming a black hole made by Thanos into butterflies in Avengers: Infinity War, or a nod to the butterfly effect in time travel theory.
- At the end of the episode, The Watcher shows Captain Carter a tree that is the same one (or at least similar) to the tree of stories that Loki created in the final episode of his namesake series, when he became the God of Stories.
- Strange Supreme creates an illusion of the moment from "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?", where Peggy decided to stay with Steve, which created the timeline where she became a super soldier.
- Various characters return from the first season, such as Zombie Scarlet Witch and Erik Killmonger.
- Doctor Strange restores his universe and revives Christine, but at the cost of his own existence.
- This episode can be considered a continuation to "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?", and "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?".
Gallery[]
