Marvel announces new Captain Carter comic about What If...? breakout character

The idea of Peggy Carter taking the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers is quite an intriguing one. Once you hear about it, it's hard to let go. Anyone who wants to see more of Captain Carter in the wake of her popular appearances in the Disney+ animated series What If...? is in luck, because Marvel announced Friday that they are launching a new five-issue Captain Carter comic series in March.

Marvel first rolled out a Captain America version of Peggy Carter in the mobile game Marvel Puzzle Quest, where she proved so popular she was soon brought into the comics in the pages of Exiles by Saladin Ahmed and Javier Rodriguez. Hayley Atwell's onscreen portrayal of Peggy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (first in Captain America: The First Avenger, then in her own TV series Agent Carter) boosted the character's mainstream popularity, but also made her British. So the sight of her wielding a vibranium shield emblazoned with the American flag just didn't make sense after a while (at least outside of the anything goes multiversal odyssey of Exiles). So when it was time to bring supersoldier Peggy into the MCU in the first episode of What If...?, Captain Carter was given straightforwardly British insignia.

It's that version that will star in the new Captain Carter comic written by Jamie McKelvie with art by Marika Cresta (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra). McKelvie is best known as an artist (especially for his collaborations with writer Kieran Gillen on critically acclaimed 2010s comics like Young Avengers and The Wicked + the Divine) and a character designer (he's responsible for both the modern Captain Marvel look and Kamala Khan's original Ms. Marvel suit). You can see his character design for Captain Carter below, as well as his cover for the first issue. Cresta will handle the interior art.

Marvel The cover to 'Captain Carter' #1 by Jamie McKelvie

Marvel Jamie McKelvie's character design for the 'Captain Carter' comic book.

"I'm as big a fan of the Captain Carter we've seen onscreen as anybody, so I jumped at the chance to create our own version," McKelvie said in a statement. "I'm having a great time exploring what it would be like for Peggy to wake up nearly 80 years after the end of the war. The world remembers the myth of Captain Carter, but to Peggy the reality was just yesterday. Now she finds herself in a nearly unrecognizable new world, how does she fit in? Can she be the superhero people want her to be?"

McKelvie continued, "Exploring these questions has been really exciting, and I love the world Marika and I have come up with. I can't wait for people to see Marika's pages — there's so much life and energy to Peggy and the rest of the cast, and the action scenes are stunning."

Captain Carter #1 will be available starting on March 9.

Related content:

• Watch Peggy Carter become the first Avenger in sneak peek at Marvel's What If...?

• Peggy Carter is Captain America in new Marvel comic

• Marvel's What If…? star Jeffrey Wright talks charting a new path with the all-knowing Watcher