Today's episode of What If...? poses the question "What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"
Well, there's a lot more to this episode than that, though the story begins with young Peter Quill returning to Earth in 1988 shortly after Yondu delivered him to his father Ego. In this reality, the Ravager never had a change of heart and made good on his promise, leaving the young Peter to be shaped by his Celestial dad.
Upon his arrival, Peter starts laying waste to those who try to stop him with his newfound powers. Scared of what this powerful alien might be capable of, the world - which is still in the midst of the Cold War - agrees to unite and form a team.
At S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Project Pegasus, we catch up with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark as they assemble a team which is comprised of Hank Pym/Ant-Man, Bill Foster/Goliath, T'Chaka, Wendy Lawson (who is using the Tesseract to power her ship but doesn't have superpowers beyond those provided by a Kree uniform), and The Winter Soldier.
The Russians sent him to help, and while both Peggy and Howard recognise the former Howling Commando, they know their friend is gone.
This team of "Avengers" confronts Peter at Coney Island, but it's Thor who makes a surprise appearance to stop the boy. It turns out he's already laid waste to Asgard as part of Ego's expansion and the team eventually imprisons him...until a young Hope Van Dyne crosses paths with her fellow teenager.
She helps him escape and gives him her Walkman - which Ego destroyed when he first met his son - after learning that he just wants to go home and that his father had influenced his destructive actions from afar.
Ego eventually arrives on Earth to plant his seed but is confronted by The Avengers. He makes short work of Goliath, T'Chaka, and Thor; Hank and Wendy, meanwhile, approach Peter at his mother's grave...while The Winter Soldier watches on and prepares to kill him with a well-placed shot at the behest of his handlers. Luckily, Howard hacks the feed and reminds Bucky of the man he once was.
Joining Hank, Peter helps stop Ego after learning the villain killed his mother and, upon absorbing the seed, declares himself Star-Lord and takes his father down. Of course, there's still work to be done and the team, including Peter, assembles to take Ego down once and for all.
Oh, and Bucky, now free of HYDRA's control, is shown watching over New York, a sign perhaps he too intends to become a force for good.
It was an action-packed effort today and, in terms of returning actors, we had Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, Michael Douglas as Ant-Man, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Kurt Russell as Ego, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Laurence Fishburne as Goliath, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, John Kani's son, Atandwa Kani as T'Chaka, and Madeleine McGraw as Hope Van Dyne, reprising her Ant-Man and The Wasp role.
The major recasts were Keri Tombazian as Wendy Lawson and Mace Montgomery Miskel as Star-Lord.
What did you think about this episode of What If...?