Entertainment
Marvel’s What If: Steve Rogers voice actor Josh Keaton addresses ‘awesome’ Winter Soldier fan theory
Steve doesn’t receive the super-soldier serum in What If…? (Picture: Marvel Studios/Disney Plus)
Warning: spoilers ahead for episode 1 of Marvel’s What If…?
Episode 1 of Marvel series What If…?, which came out on Disney Plus last week, saw Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) take the place of Steve Rogers (Josh Keaton) in the super-soldier experiment, becoming the mighty Captain Carter.
However, several parallels to the first Captain America film with MCU star Chris Evans has prompted some fans to speculate that Steve could end up becoming the Winter Soldier in this alternate timeline.
While speaking to Metro.co.uk, Josh, who has previously voiced characters including Spider-Man, Ant-Man and Green Lantern, shared his view on this particular theory, revealing that he spent ‘the whole weekend’ after What If…?’s premiere watching fan reaction videos on YouTube.
For some fans, the Winter Soldier theory first sprung into their minds when Captain Carter, Steve and the Howling Commandos embarked on a mission aboard a fast-moving train, just like in the 2011 Captain America film.
However, while in the film Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) fell to his apparent death, emerging as the brainwashed Winter Soldier in the film’s sequel, this time around, he was saved by Captain Carter.
Josh explained how he tried to emulate Chris Evans’ voice as Steve (Picture: Suzi Pratt/Getty Images)
What’s more, Steve appeared to die in an explosion on the train, the first hint that he could have taken Bucky’s place as the future Winter Soldier if he survived the blast.
When Captain Carter and the Howling Commandos reach the Red Skull’s hideout, Bucky and his comrades find the Hydra Stomper suit hanging upright, with Steve chained to the floor.
Again, this mirrored when Steve found Bucky in the Captain America movie, after Hydra scientist Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) conducted experiments on Cap’s old pal.
When asked what he thought of the notion of Steve becoming the Winter Soldier in a ‘what if’ scenario, Josh said that he ‘loved’ the theory, stating: ‘Wouldn’t that be something? That’d be awesome.’
‘I love that this show encourages that,’ he said, explaining that ‘as a fan’, he was ‘so excited about the show’, which is why he spent the weekend scouring reaction videos.
Josh never met fellow voice actor Hayley Atwell while recording (Picture: Marvel Studios/Disney Plus)
‘I heard so many what ifs. That was the genius of the show, where people would see that happening, see the train scene and they would see the thing blow up, but Bucky got saved, so they were like… what if Captain’s the Winter Soldier? That wasn’t the only one – I heard so many whats ifs and I was like, this show’s brilliant.’
Josh explained that in the past, he and his friends would sit together in one of their garages discussing possible what if scenarios, which is exactly what What If…? is all about.
‘That’s what we would do. We would talk about what if this superhero had this person’s powers, or what if this happened and they never became this. We would pass whole nights away doing this,’ he said.
The voice actor said that it was ‘pretty cool to see’ some of the theories that cropped up, including ideas pertaining to Loki and the Red Skull.
Chris is one of several MCU stars not to have reprised his role in the show (Picture: Marvel/Paramount/Kobal/Rex)
While many of the voice actors in What If…? are the original stars from the MCU, Josh has of course taken Chris’ place in the role.
He said that while he ‘had a little bit of a chance to play around’ with the voice, he would predominantly try to emulate Chris’ voice as Steve.
‘Some of the stuff that was kind of like a direct parallel to the original movie I wanted to try and keep as close as possible,’ he said.
‘There’s a little bit of room to play, but ultimately at the end, when you’re voice-matching such an iconic character and performance, you really want to try and do it justice and you really want to stay as close as you possibly can to that character.’
Josh was aware of the scores of fans who would be listening intently to Steve’s voice, ‘especially diehard fans that really wanted Chris to come back for it’, which is why he wanted to ensure that he got ‘as close’ as possible.
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While he had no hesitancy accepting the incredible role of playing Steve Rogers in the MCU, as the release date of What If…? approached, Josh said that’s when he realised ‘how big a deal it was’.
‘You get a little nervous at times with big things at times, but ultimately that’s why I love doing this. Even in the nerves, there’s a thrill,’ he said.
New episodes of What If…? are released on Wednesdays on Disney Plus.
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