Unraveling the Incursion: What If Season 2's Revelation
Marvel's What If...? season 2 has unveiled a new layer of complexity to Captain America's ending in Avengers: Endgame, exposing a perplexing plot hole that revolves around incursions and the intermingling of timelines. In this animated series, a variant of Steve Rogers inadvertently triggers an incursion that intertwines two distinct timelines, leading to a cascade of consequences that reverberate across the multiverse.
1602 Steve Rogers in What If Season 2
The episode 'What If...The Avengers Assembled in 1602?' presents a scenario where Captain Carter is summoned to prevent an imminent incursion in 1602 by a Scarlet Witch variant. This incursion, which brings together heroes from different eras, is revealed to be caused by Steve Rogers, the forerunner who was sent back in time after the battle with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. This revelation raises significant questions about the implications of the main Steve Rogers' actions in Avengers: Endgame and the resulting incursion.
steve rogers and peggy carter at the end of avengers endgame
The Consequences of Steve Rogers' Time Travel
The depiction in Marvel's What If...? season 2 highlights the profound impact of Steve Rogers' time travel, as it leads to the intermingling of timelines and the alteration of MCU heroes' lives. The restoration of the timelines only occurs when Captain Carter sends Rogers back to the present, indicating the intricate nature of temporal disruptions and the delicate balance of the multiverse.
This portrayal prompts a critical examination of the narrative inconsistency in Avengers: Endgame, where Steve Rogers returns all the Infinity Stones to their respective times before choosing to remain in the past with Peggy Carter. The absence of similar consequences in Earth-616 raises perplexing questions about the narrative coherence and the potential implications of Steve's decision to alter the timeline.
The Incursion Paradox: Unraveling the Enigma
The unraveling of the incursion paradox in Marvel's What If...? season 2 presents a conundrum that challenges the coherence of Captain America's happy ending. While the MCU may have circumvented the issue by integrating Steve's happy ending into the Sacred Timeline, the animated series accentuates the narrative complexity by showcasing the incursion caused by Steve's decision to live in the past with Peggy.
The implications of the lesser involvement in the universe leading to a lower chance of incursion raise thought-provoking questions about the consequences of Steve's decision. The divergence between the portrayal in What If...? and the resolution in Avengers: Endgame sparks a compelling debate about the narrative integrity and the intricacies of branching timelines.