The story of Steve Rogers is absolutely integral to the MCU. His journey as Captain America and the battles he fought in World War II inspired many of the heroes who came after him. And his reemergence in the modern world was key to the formation of the Avengers.
But the first episode of What If…? turned that entire narrative on its head. Suddenly, Peggy Carter was the Super Soldier and ended up a hero out of time. While Steve was still a hero alongside Captain Carter, his ultimate fate was a lot different as Captain America never existed at all.
10 He Did Not Get Frozen
A big change in Steve’s life due to not getting the Super Soldier Serum was the fact that he actually got a life. As a result of his battle with the Red Skull, Captain America ended up frozen in suspended animation for several decades until he was revived by S.H.I.E.L.D.
In this new reality, none of that ever happened. Not being frozen in ice meant that Steve’s life played out incredibly different from that point on. Meanwhile, in the regular continuity, the man was a popsicle for 70 years.
9 His Physical Appearance Didn’t Undergo The Extreme Transformation Triggered By The Serum
When Steve popped up in Captain America: The First Avenger, he was a scrawny little man with a myriad of health issues. The Army did not want him for the war at all, though that didn’t stop him from trying to enlist over and over again.
The Super Soldier Serum changed Steve from a physical perspective rather dramatically, to say the least. But that never happened in this new reality. While Rogers is always a hero in any time or place, it’s odd to see him stay on the smaller side.
8 He Didn’t Defeat The Red Skull
For Captain America in World War II, his battles were defined by his personal feud with the Red Skull. These Super Soldiers were two sides of the same coin. While neither man would want to admit it, their legacies were tied up by each other and their enmity.
But in a world where Peggy Carter became a Super Soldier instead of Steve, that feud never happened. And while Captain Carter did face Red Skull, that same rivalry never quite seemed to reach the same level of personal intensity.
7 He Got To Live A Somewhat Normal Life
After taking the Super Soldier Serum, Steve’s life was anything but normal. He became the world’s first superhero and fought larger-than-life enemies. Then, he spent a long time frozen in ice before becoming an Avenger. And that sure didn’t make things any more predictable.
Fans have no idea what happened to Steve Rogers after the end of the first episode of the series. But with any luck, the man survived World War II and got the chance to live somewhat of a normal life. Knowing him, he probably continued to work with Howard Stark, fighting the good fight.
6 He Presumably Died In His Own Timeline
The ultimate fate of Steve Rogers in the normal timeline is interesting. After the defeat of Thanos, he took control of his own destiny and found a new path. He essentially lived the best of both worlds and likely died of old age.
Again, not knowing exactly how the What If…? version of Steve Rogers lived his life complicated things. But as long as he got to live out his days after the war, there was a good chance that he passed away in a period long before the original one would have been revived.
5 He Likely Never Got His Second Chance With Peggy
Part of Steve’s big plan in the final moments of Endgame was to return the Infinity Stones and then stay in the past. This allowed him to have the life with Peggy that he always wanted as well as being the hero he was destined to be.
In the What If..? story, Captain Carter was the one who ended up lost in time, leaving Steve behind. Depending on how that timeline played out, that reunion most likely never happened.
4 He Became The First Iron Man
The MCU started with the creation of Iron Man, a weapon birthed from the mind of an inventor and futurist Tony Stark. He was the foundation that the Avengers team was built on and eventually gave his life to save reality itself from Thanos.
But in the alternate continuity, the first Iron Man was Steve Rogers. Howard Stark built the Hydra Stomper armor so that Steve could join the fight like he wanted to. That never would have happened if he had taken the Super Soldier Serum.
3 He Spent More Time With Bucky
Steve Rogers not taking the serum had massive ramifications for everyone around him. That included his oldest friend, James Buchanan Barnes, better known to many as Bucky. The events that caused him to become the Winter Soldier happened much differently.
Both he and Steve were still alive and together at the point when Captain Carter disappeared. Steve might not have ended up with Peggy but at least he hopefully got a few more years with his closest friend. The irony of the situation was that neither of them became Super Soldiers.
2 He Never Became Captain America
The most obvious impact on Steve’s life was the fact that he did not become Captain America. That being said, the world got Captain Carter, instead, and she certainly seemed to be a pretty exceptional superhero.
Not being Captain America certainly changed the direction of Steve’s life. He continued the fight in World War II, and likely beyond that. But it was also inevitable that not being the Star-Spangled Avenger would define his life after the war ended.
1 He Didn’t Lead The Avengers
Thanks to meeting Captain Marvel in the 1990s, Nick Fury had an idea called the Avengers. The concept was to put together a team of superpowered beings to fight the battles conventional armies couldn’t. It turned out that Captain America was the missing piece of the puzzle.
When Captain Carter came out of the dimensional portal, it was quite likely that she ended up leading Fury’s new team of heroes. But that also meant that Captain America never did, which was a huge change in the story of Steve Rogers.
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