So... about that What If...? 1602 episode...
Three Absolute Improvements on the Comic:
Wanda gets to actually do some important stuff unlike the comic where she kinda sorta broke the fourth wall once and saw... something? I don't know. Weird just how little she got to do there, especially given how Magneto and Pietro got a bunch of screen time and were able to push stuff along. Anyway, Wanda Merlin is awesome and I wish we'd gotten even more of her.
Theatre kid!Loki and his gushing about Iago. It's all so fitting and tickles me.
It was fully Steve's choice to go back to his own time. In the comic Fury knocks him out and carries him over the rift, which does make sense in context. However, I'm still not overly fond of it, so I'm glad they changed it and let him be the big, self-sacrificing jerk (affectionate) that he is.
The Biggest Change That Irks Me:
The reason they call Steve the Forerunner. In the comic, his presence in 1602 doesn't just bring about the tears in the universe, it also causes people to develop superhuman abilities therefore starting the Age of Heroes four hundred years early. That latter part is what makes him the Forerunner. Because his role as the First Avenger is apparently so set in stone that no matter where or when he goes, heroes will follow in his wake.
But of course, since they're using this adaptation as a vehicle for Captain Carter, they can't go into all of that, because that would completely undermine her. So instead, he's the Forerunner because he hit the Time Stone during the Battle of Wakanda and somehow unknowingly dragged everyone else back in time with him? Doesn't really make sense given the combo of people in the episode, but sure, I guess. >_> I don't know which is worse, that or the fact that I initially thought they called him the Forerunner simply because that's what he's referred to as in the comic and no further justification. Either way, they still took a story that shows what a linchpin Steve is within the universe and said, "Nah," which is super annoying.
The Most Petty Thing That Still Bothers Me (And Probably Only Me):
I totally get why they wouldn't want to touch Rojhaz with a ten foot pole and gave Steve a different alias and Rogers Hood is cute and all, but I'm sorry, man, if anyone in the MCU should've been the Robin Hood analogue, it should've been Scott. I will die on that hill.
No pun intended.
