What If...?'s Episode 9 Post-Credits Scene Explained
Contains spoilers for "What If...?" Episode 9
Marvel's "What If...?" has finally come to a close with its Season 1 finale, titled "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?" The episode sees The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) assemble his own team of heroes, the Guardians of the Multiverse, in order to stop Infinity Ultron from wiping out every single version of reality. The stakes are much higher in the episode than they have been throughout the rest of the season, and it feels like a worthwhile payoff to everything "What If...?" has done throughout its first nine episodes. Indeed, while it's not surprising that The Watcher finally breaks his oath in the episode, it's still a thrilling experience to see the character take a more active role in the multiverse. After all, promises mean little when countless lives are at stake.
Obviously, The Watcher's team ultimately manages to defeat Ultron with the help of Arnim Zola (Toby Young), and the battle culminates with The Watcher and Doctor Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch) freezing the HYDRA villain in a pocket dimension with Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) just as the pair begin fighting for control of the Infinity Stones. However, the show's adventures are still far from over, and it looks like "What If...?" Season 2 could feature return appearances from some of the series' Season 1 heroes, in addition to telling some all-new stories.
In fact, Marvel fans who stuck around for the "What If...?" Season 1 finale's post-credits scene got to see the beginning of what could prove to be a new story involving one of the show's biggest heroes.
Captain Carter: The Winter Stomper
The "What If...?" Episode 9 post-credits scene sees Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) back in her own universe onboard the Lemurian Star (AKA the ship that S.H.I.E.L.D. attacks at the beginning of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"). She meets back up with Black Widow (Lake Bell), who explains that they've discovered a mysterious container on the ship. A quick look inside the container reveals a Hydra Stomper suit sitting within it and the scene ends just as Black Widow reveals that there is "someone inside" the mech suit. While the person's identity is not officially revealed in the episode, it seems likely that Steve Rogers (Josh Keaton) is the one in the suit.
Obviously, this could be a Marvel red herring, and it may turn out not to actually be Steve inside the suit. However, if it is Steve, that would mean that "What If...?" is offering up a new take on the "Winter Soldier" storyline that introduced a still-alive Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) into the present day. Peggy does, after all, mention wanting to get her dance with Steve on multiple occasions throughout the "What If...?" finale, which only further helps set up the possibility of Steve being the one in the suit and, therefore, still alive decades after his and Peggy's adventures in World War II.
HYDRA got its hands on Steve and the Stomper back in "What If...?" Episode 1, and if they experimented on him off-screen, that could explain why he's still alive in the present day even without being injected with the Super Soldier Serum. If so, that opens the door for "What If...?" to rewrite Peggy and Steve's romance in a drastic way. That said, if we do get to see this arc play out on-screen, here's to hoping it ends up being more than just a simple remix of the Bucky storyline in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."