Although the most interesting thing about Disney+ is what if…? series is the way it’s positioned to showcase the expansiveness of Marvel’s multiverse, in its first season, the show felt like it was playing things safe by focusing mainly on a handful of slightly remixed characters and stories we’d already been introduced to on the big screen. To some extent, the same is true what if…?The newly released second season will be updated with 9 episodes every day in preparation for the finale on December 30. But about halfway through, what if…? Season two really starts to knock it out of the park, putting the spotlight on a new Indigenous character and her fight against settler colonialism.
Since most Marvel movies and shows are now focused on how the multiverse is falling apart, watching the first few episodes may seem a bit outdated what if…? second season Consider questions like “What if Nebula (Karen Gillan) joined the Nova Corps” and “What if Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) saved Christmas by becoming the Hulk?” . A teenage Peter Quill (Mace Montgomery) goes up against a squad of ’80s Avengers, making for some neat action scenes, with Iron Man (Mick Wingert) taking on the Grandmaster (Jeff Gorb) on Sakaar The same thing happened to Lun (played by Lun). The episodes are packed with action, but each one feels like it could have had more of a narrative punch if Tony Stark or the original Thanos (Josh Brolin) were still alive. s story.
In the first few episodes, what if…? It also feels stuck in the Marvel Universe’s past, like it’s trying to preserve all the fascinating multiverse experiments for Marvel’s live-action projects. But everything starts to change when Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) shows up and one of the Infinity Stones finds a new home in pre-colonial North America.
although what if…? As an anthology series, Watchmen (Jeffrey Wright) insists it doesn’t like sequels, and season two does eventually shift the focus back to several characters from season one, such as Captain Carter and a shape-shifting version of Doctor Strange. (Benedict Cumberbatch’s approach) cemented the show as more than just a vehicle for retelling old stories from the Marvel Universe.
Even though Captain Carter jumped to the big screen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness It was an early sign that Marvel Studios’ animated and live-action films could crossover, and her death in the film made Atwell’s cameo look like it might just be a one-off stunt to get people into theaters.Episode “What if…Captain Carter fought the Hydra Stomper?” without multiverse of madnessCaptain Carter is resurrected. But it does reinforce the idea that she — a version of Peggy Carter who becomes the super soldier instead of Steve Rogers (Josh Keaton) — is what Marvel wants as a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe It plays an important role in brand image.
“What if…Captain Carter fought a Hydra Stomper?” To borrow a beat from the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier and black widow Because it brings together Captain Carter and a variant of Black Widow (Lake Bell) to take on the Red Room’s deadliest brainwashed assassins. This is not the Winter Soldier, but the long-lost, brainwashed Steve Rogers, piloting a Hydra Stomper armor and sent by the Red Room on a secret mission to eliminate Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Ann Stein) and other targets.While Peggy is perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Steve in a fight, this episode makes it clear that their love keeps them from wanting to kill each other outright, and there’s a lot more to explore in these variants’ stories
But just when it looks like what if…? Discovering a new chapter in Captain Carter’s life that deserves more time to dig into, the show shifts gears, pulling her away from her “Hydra Stomper” reality and turning the focus to something more inspired this season One of the new faces.
Something like this what if…?‘s first episode immediately recast Peggy Carter as this The hero and face of her story (as opposed to a heroic, supporting love interest), “If… Kaholi reshaped the world? ” A young Mohawk woman named Kahori (Devere Jacobs) becomes one of the most powerful people in reality.
After the Tesseract crashes in pre-colonial America, turning an ordinary lake into a kind of portal considered cursed by the locals, Kahoori is one of the few brave and curious people in his village who is able to Stroll around the glowing lake. When the Spanish conquistadors looking for the Fountain of Youth arrive with guns blazing and plan to level the earth until they find the famous miracle, Kahori and her brother Watta (Kevin Tio) are forced to run for their lives, and the chase culminates with Kaholi Got shot and fell into a lake.
most what if…?The series incorporates key elements from one or two of Marvel’s older projects and ends up feeling slightly different.But “What if…Kahori reshaped the world?” Redesign Thread Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Thor: Ragnarok And turn them into something truly unique and impressive. “What If…Kahori Remade the World?” — whose Native characters almost all speak Mohawk — depicts Western colonialism as a kind of Ragnarok for the Kahori people.
This episode highlights how the Spanish conquest of North America was based on the racist belief that native peoples were inherently inferior, and how toxic this ideology can be. But Kahoori’s origin story is also a celebration of Iroquois culture, and it illustrates very clearly how violent Native resistance to various forms of settler colonialism was justified. Many Marvel movies have touched on similar ideas in the past.But even in black panther It’s still a bit surprising to see a Disney-branded narrative so directly condemn Western colonialism, considering studio head Bob Iger recently said he wanted to move away from projects centered around “messages.”
But the most promising thing about Kahoori’s debut is that she, like Captain Carter, seems poised to become a regular character in the Marvel Universe, at least on the Disney+ side.
“What if…Kahori reshaped the world?” has some special what if…?The more inspired scenes and the ending where she leaves her home reality with Doctor Strange are interesting in their own right.But the most interesting thing is what if…? At this point, it seems like it’s using each season to develop a central character well-positioned to exist in the new multiverse, shown below Loki Always building. It’s hard to figure out how Marvel plans to keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe fresh, exciting, and cohesive after experiencing uneven storytelling across multiple genres, but in characters like Captain Carter and Kahoori, you can see part of the way forward.
With only three episodes left, Kaholi only gets so much screen time what if…? this season. But with her now joining the game’s board of directors, and a number of surprising guest stars returning to reprise important roles, what if…?The Season 2 finale feels like it could be something special, and one worth keeping an eye on as we get closer.
