Shortly before What If...? season 2 wrapped up, a clip from the show's upcoming third season found its way online offering a first look at a team-up between Red Guardian and The Winter Soldier.
They crossed paths with Bill Foster - who appeared to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in this reality - and were eventually pursued by him and a character identified only as "Ranger Morales." You can watch the extended sneak peek by clicking here.
With "Morales" as a surname, it took no time at all for speculation about her potentially being related to Miles Morales (a.k.a. Spider-Man) to start doing the rounds online. Talking to ComicBook.com, What If...? writer and producer Matthew Chauncey was quick to debunk the admittedly exciting notion.
"Just for the clickbait; her last name's Morales, people got very excited about that," he said before confirming she's "almost an original character" played by Barbie star America Ferrera.
The show's former Head Writer, A.C. Bradley, then chimed in to say, "[America's] great. I'm so glad she is getting her flowers when it comes to Barbie, because - I shouldn't say this, but hey, I no longer work at Marvel - Barbie was my favorite movie of the year, my favorite superhero movie, because Barbie's a hero. And, so is America."
"That was the best. So, we're so happy that she was willing to come in, and do this part in this random episode of What If...?. She was so lovely about it."
In the comics, there is an Agent Morales who is better known as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Alisande Morales. A relatively obscure creation who first appeared in Christopher Priest and Bart Sears' Captain America and the Falcon #1 in 2004, she was tasked with investigating someone who was impersonating Steve Rogers.
Morales later battled the Purifiers and has appeared sporadically since, including in the Marvel's Avengers video game. It's unclear whether this means we could eventually see Ferrera play the character in a live-action project such as next year's Captain America: Brave New World.
Addressing her departure from Marvel Studios, Bradley - who penned this season 3 episode with the Red Guardian and Bucky - recently said, "I ended The Watcher and Peggy relationship in a place I'm very proud of, and I'm excited to see where the show goes as a viewer. But I will say that the Season 3 episode is probably my absolute favorite episode I've ever written for Marvel. And not just because it features Alexei, who my cat is named after."
All episodes of What If...? season 1 and season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.