As Marvel Studios looks to expand its catalog of characters with movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the team behind the MCU is also giving a semi-flashback to the past with What If…? on Disney+.
Although each episode has largely played as its own unique story as told by Jeffrey Wright's Watcher, fans have gotten glimpses at wild alternate reality situations like T'Challa becoming Star-Lord, Hank Pym killing all of the Avengers, and even the world being overrun by zombies. However, it all started off simple with the thrilling tale of Captain Carter.
Playing out quite similarly to the events of 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, Episode 1 of What If...? gave Hayley Atwell's SHIELD agent the chance to become a superhero after Steve Rogers was shot and injured. Already regarded as one of Marvel's preeminent and pioneering female heroes, her time to pick up the shield and save the world opened up the multiverse in an exciting way.
Years ago, Peggy also had the unique honor of being the central character in her own Marvel One-Shot, Agent Carter, which was one of multiple shorts released during Phases 1 and 2 on home release.
Now, Disney+ is featuring that short adventure in its own special way.
Agent Carter Has Its Own Disney+ Hub
Disney+ gave the Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter its own dedicated page on the streaming website in the U.S..
The 15-minute short first released with 2013's Iron Man 3 as a part of its extra features on the DVD and digital release. It first came to Disney+ as part of the Extras section for Iron Man 3 before just recently receiving its own section.
The home page included the short's tagline, which reads:
"British operative Peggy Carter joins the nascent S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. As she searches for the "Zodiac" key, Agent Carter also battles her misogynistic, bureaucratic boss, Agent Flynn."
Agent Carter takes place one year after the end of Captain America: The First Avenger as Peggy rejoins the Strategic Scientific Reserve. After finding herself in Agent Flynn's crosshair, all while finding a mysterious serum and fighting off numerous bad guys, Howard Stark asks her to team up with him as the heads of the newly-formed SHIELD.
The Agent Carter short also helped set the stage for Hayley Atwell's two-season run on the Agent Carter TV series, which ran on ABC alongside Agents of SHIELD.
Another MCU One-Shot Residing On Disney+
In and of itself, Agent Carter certainly deserves its own shine on Disney+ as yet another example of Hayley Atwell's excellence in the role of Margaret "Peggy" Carter.
Featuring Atwell alongside Bradley Whitford and Dominic Cooper, who also returned to play their roles in What If...?, Marvel delivered an exciting 1940's spy thriller with only 15 minutes of action.
It also continues an interesting trend that Marvel Studios started in the last few weeks.
Prior to the theatrical release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Disney and Marvel added another One-Shot to the site in All Hail The King, which debuted with the home release of Thor: The Dark World. This featured Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery directly after the events of Iron Man 3 as a goon working for the real Mandarin took him into custody for impersonating the terrorist leader.
Marvel produced three other One-Shots that were released in fans' homes with Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers, although none of them are currently available on Disney+.
With two of the five shorts now available to stream, fans will certainly be on the lookout for the other three to join them on the site as well. For now, however, viewers will get to enjoy Hayley Atwell's first true solo story in the MCU before she proved herself to be one of the franchise's strongest team members.
The Agent Carter One-Shot is available to stream on Disney+.
