Draft:What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?

"**What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?**"
"What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?"
What If...? episode
Episode no.	Season 3; Episode 3
Directed by	Bryan Andrews
Written by	Matthew Chauncey
Editing by	Anton Capaldo-Smith
Original release date	December 24, 2024
Running time	32 minutes
Cast
	David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian; Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier; Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster / Goliath; America Ferrera as Ranger Morales; Piotr Michael as Dreykov; Gene Farber as Karpov; Kiff VandenHeuvel as Obadiah Stane / "Rook";
Episode chronology
← Previous; "What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?"	Next →; "What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?"
	What If...? season 3
	List of episodes

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"What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" is the third episode of the third season and 21st episode overall of the American animated television series What If...?, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. It follows an alternate timeline where Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian goes on a dangerous mission with Bucky Barnes after stopping him from assassinating Howard and Maria Stark. The episode was written by Matthew Chauncey and Ryan Little and directed by Bryan Andrews.

Jeffrey Wright narrates the series as the Watcher, with this episode also starring the voices of David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Laurence Fishburne, America Ferrera, Piotr Michael, Gene Farber, and Kiff VandenHeuvel.

"What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" was released on Disney+ on December 24, 2024.

Plot

In 1991, Alexei Shostakov and Bucky Barnes are sent to recover a case of super-soldier serum from Howard and Maria Stark. Shostakov prevents Barnes from killing the Starks and they only acquire one vial of the serum.^[a] With no extraction due to the failure of Barnes's mission, the duo tracks a spy called the "Rook" to Las Vegas for transportation while evading the authorities and Bill Foster. Dreykov secretly orders Barnes to kill Shostakov, who has become a liability. In Las Vegas, Shostakov and Barnes discover that the Rook is Obadiah Stane, who provided the Russians with information about the serum in order to eliminate the Starks from the market. Stane attempts to shoot the duo dead, but is knocked off the building by Barnes to his death. As the authorities and a task force sent by the Red Room swarm the area, Barnes buys Shostakov, who destroys the last vial of the serum, time to escape. Some time later, Barnes is taken back to Hydra's base in Siberia, where he insists to Dreykov that Shostakov is dead. Meanwhile, Foster approaches Shostakov, who now works as a gym teacher, and offers him a chance to help the United States once again. 21 years later, Shostakov is seen fighting alongside the Avengers in the Battle of New York.

Production

Development

TBD

Casting

Jeffrey Wright narrates the episode as the Watcher,^[1] with Marvel planning to have other characters in the series voiced by the actors who portrayed them in the MCU films.^[2]^[3] The episodes stars David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster / Goliath, America Ferrera as Ranger Morales, Piotr Michael as Dreykov, Gene Farber as Karpov, and Kiff VandenHeuvel as Obadiah Stane / "Rook".

Animation

Reception

Notes

^ This is where the story diverges from the events of both Captain America: Civil War (2016), where Barnes kills the Starks, and Black Widow (2021), where Shostakov instead goes to America in 1995 as a sleeper agent.

References

External links

"What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" at IMDb

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^ Cite error: The named reference WhatIfAnimation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference S2ReturningActors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] This is where the story diverges from the events of both Captain America: Civil War (2016), where Barnes kills the Starks, and Black Widow (2021), where Shostakov instead goes to America in 1995 as a sleeper agent.

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[WhatIfAnimation-3] Cite error: The named reference WhatIfAnimation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[S2ReturningActors-4] Cite error: The named reference S2ReturningActors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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