Warning: This article contains spoilers for Marvel's What If...? episode one.
Here's exactly where episode one of Marvel's What If...? is set in the wider MCU timeline. The episode not only establishes how the show will work - reflecting what happens to the timeline in the wake of Loki's ending and the opening of the multiverse - but also introduces the first alternate timeline versions of familiar MCU characters like Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter.
Through a series of events triggered by the Nexus event of Peggy deciding to stay in the room along with Dr. Erskine's super-soldier experiment, the former Agent Carter became Captain Carter in Steve Roger's place. Intriguingly, for all of the differences in this version of the MCU timeline, several truths remained universal: the shield would always go to someone worthy and altruistic, Steve Rogers would always prove himself a good man, and Bucky Barnes would always be a hero. Throw in an interdimensional tentacle monster and a new plan for Red Skull and it's an episode that hurtles forwards through an intriguing story.
The Nexus event that diverges What If...?'s timeline away from Dr. Erskine's assassination and makes Peggy Captain Carter takes place in June 1943, the same day Steve Rogers became Captain America. According to the First Avenger comic adaptation, the exact date is June 22. The events of the episode then mirror the timeline of Captain America: The First Avenger, with the breakout of Bucky Barnes from the Hydra weapons facility in Austria happening on November 3, 1943. From there, events are a little different - there's no concrete confirmation of how long the montage of Carter and Rogers working together lasts, but the update given to Red Skull suggests it's relatively soon after. That suggests Red Skull's death comes before his First Avenger "death" in 1945. Decades later, Captain Carter reappears on the other side of the Tesseract portal having vanquished Shuma-Gorath, to meet Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye in the modern day. Given that Nick Fury says the war ended "almost 70 years ago", that would suggest a similar point to the events of The Avengers in 2012.
It's interesting that not a lot changes in terms of the timeline's key events, other than who plays each part. Yes, Steve Rogers becomes the Hydra Stomper rather than Captain America, and Peggy becomes Captain Carter, but their love story is still cut off around the same time and the shield-wielder is still lost out of time and sent into the future. It's arguably after Captain Carter's disappearance that the biggest changes to the timeline occur, as Howard Stark's creation of the Hydra Stomper armor largely makes the events of Iron Man impossible. On top of that, Erskine's survival means there's no way Isaiah Bradley became a super soldier, and thanks to Bucky not becoming The Winter Soldier, Tony Stark's parents were never murdered.
The other episodes of What If...? are dotted around the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, offering fans of the original movies an alternate look at what could have been and rewarding their commitment. It's effectively a love letter to those who've spent the last decade pouring over every story in the MCU and the established landmarks in time - like the creation of the first super soldier, or the abduction of Ego's supposed son, or the founding of the Avengers - all cleverly remain in place.
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