Captain Carter

What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger? With the super soldier program in peril, Peggy Carter bravely participates by becoming Captain Carter. This reality diverged because Peggy Carter was just a little bolder than she was in the original timeline. Asked to leave the room where Steve Rogers was about to get embiggened, she declined; being present rather than watching from behind glass, she spotted the bomb planted by the Hydra agent, forcing him to detonate it early, which ultimately led to Steve being grievously wounded before he could actually undergo the process. With him out of the picture and Howard Stark heroically declining, the only potential recipient left was Peggy herself. We already had one Peggy Carter ML, but that was based on the live-action version, while these What If...? figures aim for a cartoonier look (not that it's especially visible here, since animated Hayley Atwell looks very much like human Hayley Atwell. You might think she'd want a more utilitarian hairdo, however. The figure's body is a new sculpt, because no one else could suit this slice of cheesesteak so well - yes, there are molds that are large and buff, as they should be, but who else would be wearing her military uniform? Like the various MCU Captains America, all the details of her outfit are sculpted, rather than being painted on a plain body, and it was a bit of a texture molded in, as well. The flared part of her gloves are separate pieces slipped onto the arms - was there really a significant benefit to doing them that way rather than just molding them? Since she's not American, she's not Captain America. She's not "Captain Britain" either, but her costume is reminiscent of everybody's favorite, Union Jack. She does have red and white stripes, similar to Cap's, on her stomach, but then the chest is covered by the combined angles of the UK flag. Oh, and those edges? All sculpted in, as well. The body may be new, but the articulation is up to standards. She has a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a balljointed chest, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinged thighs. Having long hair can restrict the head a bit, but the gaiters at the ankle of her boots flare out far enough to allow some pretty extreme stances. Although she was 5'7" before taking the serum and undergoing the process, this figures stands 6¼" tall. You grow, girl! Her only accessory is her shield - it's a new mold, with the Union Jack pattern in the center instead of Captain America's star. The straps on the back are both the same size, so there's no "right" way to put in on her arm, and the lack of any other connector means you can't attach it to her back for storage. Eh, so it goes. The outer ring on her shield is painted blue, rather than Cap's red, further setting it apart as its own thing. The hands are removable, which makes getting the shield on and off her arm easier. Captain Carter comes with two pieces of this series' Watcher Build-A-Figure: the arms. "What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?" was a great way to start the series: Steve Rogers' origin is sort of the start point for the MCU, so choosing that as our first point of departure was smart. And this toy isn't so animated that she wouldn't fit in a normal collection. -- 12/24/21

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