The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been baffling fans with its infinite possibilities across the comics. Further, they came up with the animated series What If…? that reimagines noteworthy events from the multiverse. With the show’s rise in popularity, they came up with a second season revolving around Captain Carter.
Well, the character of Captain Carter is basically Peggy Carter, Captain America’s beloved from the past MCU media. Now season 2 of the show explores alternate timelines and ends with an adventure for Peggy and Kahhori, that concludes Captain Carter’s trilogy. But what baffles Marvel fans is the mystery of Peggy using the gauntlet and surviving.
Also read: Marvel May be Setting up Captain Carter-Captain America Duo in Upcoming Avengers Movie
Captain Carter Uses Infinity Stones in Marvel’s What If…? Season 2
The MCU animated series What If…? season 2 came up with an epic crossover event that concluded the unofficial Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) trilogy. Emphasizing Peggy Carter, who is found sitting in a tavern in 1602 London and meets with Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch), the show ends up at a point where Peggy takes away the infinity stones from Killmonger to face Strange Supreme who still believes he can bring Christine Palmer back.
Facing the absolute evil in Strange Supreme that turns into a massive horned demon, Captain Carter and Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) struggle with his infinite loop and flashbacks. The events take an interesting turn as Strange summons an entire army of Strange Supremes, and Peggy does the same for herself and Kahhori, to distract the evil force. But failing miserably and getting stuck in flashbacks repeatedly, Peggy dons her new Infinity Stone armor.
Even then, Strange seems unfazed by it, since he helped defeat that armor once before. Witnessing a remarkably confident version of Strange Supreme who is adamant about bringing back his beloved Christine, everyone falls into the Forge and tries to distract Strange by throwing their powerful weapons towards Peggy and Kahhori. Now the two of them don a combination of the weapons, but the infinity stones fall from Peggy’s armor.
However, Kahhori helps Captain Carter fit them into a glove that she uses to punch the evil right out of Strange. With Strange mostly returned to normal, he gets control and thus hauls his demon self into the depths, leaving Peggy hanging from a ledge and the Forge exploding.
How Did Captain Carter Survive While Thanos Almost Died?
Following this particular event shown in What If…? season 2, Marvel fans are completely baffled by how on earth Peggy uses the infinity stones to punch the evil out of Strange Supreme without getting killed. As previously shown in MCU, when Thanos tried using the stones in his gauntlet, he nearly killed himself. Further, even Iron Man died after snapping his fingers wearing the gauntlet.
Thus, fans wonder how Captain Carter did it flawlessly in the Marvel animated series without dying. Fans find it utterly frustrating to witness that Peggy survived the infinity stones while Avengers: Endgame (2019) featured a different result of using all the infinity stones. Trying to debunk the mystery fans gathered on X with their theories. With some suggesting that it’s women’s power, others came up with serious reasons.
Protection spell + super soldier serum +infinity armor + only holding the stones for a second and not snapping that's how Carter survived
— aj armento (@ajarmento03) December 30, 2023
She had the Supreme Strange spell (before they fought), so that alone is enough. But on top of that, she has more than just a gauntlet, she has a whole armor to manipulate the Infinity Stones recovered from the previous armor that held the stones in What If Season 1.
+ 1/2 ⬇️
— Zedjah (@Zedjah_) December 30, 2023
She was using the infinity suit which controls the power and she had the protection spell from strange (unfortunately)
— Docter Stringe (@FluffyUltra) December 31, 2023
I think it’s only when using all six together at once like hulk, iron man and thanos did, plus carter used a conduit (suit) like Ronan did (hammer) or strange (eye) so using a couple at a time wouldn’t have to much strain on the body
— Luke Ohalloran (@ohalloran_luke) December 30, 2023
Different universe, different rules. Gamora mentioned that in season 1 and Loki Season 1 also made it clear that they don’t work the same everywhere
— Neophyte Reviews and News (@neophytereviews) December 30, 2023
1.whole suit not just a gauntlet
2.strange’s spell
3.used only 1 stone at a time— Christopher (@chrisDmaster13) December 30, 2023
One user suggested, “protection spell + super soldier serum + infinity armor + only holding the stones for a second and not snapping that’s how Carter survived”. Others noted, “the Supreme Strange spell (before they fought)” that alone is enough for Peggy to survive through the use. A few other netizens and Marvel fans also suggested that Peggy “has more than just a gauntlet, she has a whole armor to manipulate the Infinity Stones recovered from the previous armor”.
With all things said and the theories taken into consideration, there are still some mysteries left to be uncovered that confirm for sure, how Peggy survived. Meanwhile, fans yet again mourn the death of Iron Man after he snapped the gauntlet while trying to save humanity.
