‘What If…?’ Finale: Fans are Pairing Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow Together
So much for never interfering. Marvel’s What If…? Season Finale exploded across the Disney+ multiverse — literally. Watcher brought together various heroes and villains from past episodes, and two particular characters caught fans’ attention. Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow had plenty of chemistry in the finale, so much so that fans have started shipping the two.
(Mostly) spoiler-free overview of the finale
The final episode of Marvel’s multiversal show comes with the title What If…The Watcher Broke His Oath? It imagines, surprise, the Watcher breaking his oath. He finally interferes.
The events of episode 8 forced his hand.
In Vision’s body, Ultron began a rampage across the multiverse, laying waste to planets and securing all six Infinity Stones. Then, he attacked the Watcher himself.
In a desperate attempt, he turned to the corrupt Doctor Strange from episode 4, What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? This led to a multiversal team-up, including Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow from separate universes.
Toward the beginning of the finale, audiences saw Captain Carter filling in a scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier where and Black Widow appear to have a close bond.
This bond turned out to be multiversal, and fans ate it up.
Fans loved Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow partnering up
Trending on Twitter, fans rallied around Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow, creating memes and shouting their support for the two characters.
Some fans admitted they always thought the two spies meeting in modern-day would be best friends. Others took the dynamic a step further.
Memes about fans pairing the two characters cropped up on Twitter, trending right alongside the finale itself. One fan even speculated on if the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier continued, if Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow would kiss on the escalator.
The two shared several moments through the episode, knowing glances and banter. Early in the finale, Black Widow asked Peggy, “Any plans Saturday night?” and numerous fans initially thought she asked Captain Carter on a date.
Then, during a pivotal moment of the episode, Peggy proved that their bond transcended universes, convincing Black Widow from another world to stand down.
Did Marvel push for fans to ship Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow?
LGBTQ representation in Hollywood has proved a slow process. Many characters receive hints to their sexuality, but studios hesitate to state it bluntly.
With that context in mind, did Marvel plant the moments between Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow for these fan reactions in the What If…? finale?
Twitter users think so, and they ran with it. When it comes to massive fandoms like Marvel, virtually every ‘Character x Character’ has fans.
While Captain Carter in the episode remains devoted to Steve Rogers, fans note that in the multiverse, anything remains possible.
Technically speaking, every fan shipping is canon in some universe out there.
