OPINION – Last Wednesday, Disney+ released the first episode of What If…?, an anthology collection of stories about alternate versions of the MCU main timeline. The first episode gave the world a true treat in the form of Peggy Carter taking up the mantle of the First Avenger. The original Cap’s comic book debut included him clocking Adolf Hitler. In true form, Captain Carter made her small-screen debut clocking the vilest big bad of all: The Great Cthulhu.
Randolph Carter (no relation to the Captain), a noted expert on the Great Old Ones, praised Marvel Studios for their courageous portrayal of the Great Cthulhu as a ravenously hungry, all destructive, squid-like being. “Cthulhu wants to eat all of us,” Randolph Carter specified. Still, he had a few criticisms for the show’s inaccurate portrayal of the Great Old One, including:
- The use of a religious artifact to punch a hole through space and time to summon Cthulhu. Cthulhu is no respecter of religions and may only be summoned through the use of the Necronomicon.
- Portraying Cthulhu as residing in the far reaches of space, as opposed to slumbering for aeons in the sunken city of R’lyeh.
- Failing to portray Cthulhu placing madness in the minds of men.
Randolph Carter did note the presence of the Great Old One does lend new credence to Steve Rogers’ famous line from Avengers. “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”
Still, others praised the show. Most critics praised the Love the show runners put into their Craft. One anonymous commentator even claimed Randolph Carter is just making Mountains of Madness out of a Multiverse of Madness and couldn’t tell a good story in his sleep.
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