In the What If...? season 2 finale, Captain Carter and Kahhori teamed up to battle Strange Supreme. The twisted Sorcerer kidnapped countless Variants he considered universe killers (and saviours) to feed into a device which could recreate the reality he destroyed and, crucially, resurrect Christine Palmer.
During the battle, Kahhori was able to wield Mjolnir and Captain Carter took control of the Infinity Stones - along with various other MCU artefacts such as Hela's crown - in an effort to take Strange down.
Inevitably, some have taken umbrage with Peggy Carter wielding the Infinity Stones when doing so killed Thanos and Tony Stark. The usual "woke" complaints have followed, primarily because there are those who seemingly can't cope with the prospect of a strong female character kicking butt.
Talking to Phase Zero, What If...? director Bryan Andrews responded to the questions surrounding Cap's ability to use the Stones.
"It's with Kahhori's help, so you have to freeze-frame it and take a look," he said. "When Kahhori sends those stones to her, they're surrounded in Kahhori's power. There's a layer of space stone energy that's shielding it from ultimate death, so, basically, [it's] kind of like the protective covering when you buy a new record, for those people that still buy records...the plastic sheen around the vinyl, or whatever, if you will."
"But, you see it a little bit, you see it when they fly up towards her, and then when her hand's out, and you get the close-up of them reaching in, there's that faint blue glow around each of the stones," Andrews continued. "She has, basically, just like a little protective glove so she won't immediately die."
It's an explanation which makes sense and the episode's writer, Matt Chauncey, later chimed in to add, "Earlier on, if you look, when she has the armor on, she's never actually using all of the stones at once. Only a couple are lighting up, if you're paying attention, so you never see actually see her doing the 'all four activated' thing that proved painful to some of our other characters in the live-action movies."
With that, this apparent plot hole has been addressed, though it will likely do little to end the complaints about Captain Carter becoming (albeit briefly) the MCU's most powerful superhero.
Captain Carter and Kahhori are both expected to be central figures in season 3 of What If...?, likely as part of a new team of heroes assembled by The Watcher.
All episodes of What If...? season 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+.