After a month away from releases within the MCU, Marvel Studios is back to its regularly scheduled programming with the debut of What If…? on Disney+.
Looking back at Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga, this nine-episode outing brings a new twist to the story and makes fans forget everything they think they know. While this will go into more wild and unexpected plot points over the coming weeks, Episode 1 started off with a simple question right in the title: “What if Captain Carter were the First Avenger?”
Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter took a huge risk to make sure Project Rebirth didn’t go under, and the actress had company in the returning voice cast department with Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark and Toby Jones as Arnim Zola. Not along for the ride was Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, who has made it almost clear that his time as the First Avenger is officially over, even in the voiceover booth.
However, Evans’ replacement recently broke his silence on taking over in the iconic MCU role.
STEVE ROGERS ACTOR REVEALS HIMSELF
What If…? star Josh Keaton spoke for the first time on his experience voicing Steve Rogers in the MCU’s first fully-animated adventure.
He thanked the MCU fandom for so much “positive reaction” to his work as the First Avenger. Admitting that he had “huge shoes” to fill, Keaton made light of the situation by expressing his joy that those shoes were “a little skinnier” this time around:
“Thanks so much for all the positive reaction to my filling in for Chris Evans in #WhatIf . I'm a geek and comic fan myself and know how particular we can be about changes and I absolutely had some huge shoes to step into. Luckily, they were a little skinnier in this version.”
Keaton also responded to praise from Iron Man star Mick Wingert, who congratulated Keaton on “the well-deserved accolades.” The Steve Rogers actor continued to call Wingert “an amazing Iron Man” and expressing his excitement to work together:
“And you're an amazing Iron Man (amongst other things), Mick! Glad to know you and blessed to work with you.”
A NEW FACE IN THE MCU
Josh Keaton has made a name for himself over the years as one of the premier voiceover stars in the business with films like Disney’s animated Hercules and dozens of comic book-related projects on his resume. He even provided his talents to the villainous Electro in the 2018 Spider-Man game for the PlayStation 4 before joining the big guns in the MCU.
While Evans’ time as Captain America can’t be replaced, Keaton embodied the spirit of a Steve Rogers that didn’t become a full-blown superhero. The relationship with Peggy shined through just as it did in Captain America: The First Avenger, and he added a fun dynamic when Steve stomped out the Red Skull and the Germans in the Hydra Stomper.
While it’s unclear if Keaton will play Steve in more episodes after Peggy pushed Shuma Gorath into a portal with the Tesseract, his impact was felt in a big way during Peggy’s sacrifice. Fans will have to wait to see if Keaton returns for more over the next eight weeks, but it’s clear that the actor is grateful even for this moment in Episode 1.
The first episode of Marvel Studios’ What If…? is available to stream on Disney+.
