what if…? Season 2 doesn’t get good until it really lets loose -Gudstory

The most interesting thing about Disney Plus though what if…? The series is designed to showcase the breadth of Marvel’s multiverse; in its first season, the show felt like it was playing it safe by focusing primarily on somewhat remixed characters and stories from which We have already become acquainted extensively. Screen. To some extent, the same applies what if…?‘s newly released second season, with nine episodes dropping daily in the buildup to the December 30 finale. But about halfway through, what if…? Season two really starts to knock it out of the park by highlighting a new Indigenous character and her fight against colonialism.

With most of Marvel’s movies and shows now focusing on how the multiverse is falling apart, watching the first few episodes felt a little stale. what if…? season two “What if Nebula (Karen Gillan) joined the Nova Corps” and “What if Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) saved Christmas by becoming the Hulk?” Pitting a teenage Peter Quill (Mace Montgomery Miskell) against a team of ’80s-era Avengers made for some clever action sequences, as did Iron Man’s (Mick Wingert) showdown with the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) on Sakaar. Had an encounter. Those episodes were action-packed, but each of them felt like the kind of story that could have packed more narrative punch if Tony Stark or the original Thanos (Josh Brolin) were still alive.

In those first few episodes, what if…? It also feels stuck in the MCU’s past, like it’s trying to save all the fascinating multidimensional experiments for Marvel’s live-action projects. But all this begins to change when Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) arrives and one of the Infinity Stones finds a new home in pre-colonial North America.

In-spite of this what if,, Being an anthology series and with the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) insisting that he is not a fan of sequels, season two eventually turns its focus back to some of the figures from season one, such as Captain Carter and Doctor Strange. A twisted version (Benedict Cumberbatch) thus cementing the show as more than just a means of rehashing old MCU stories.

Although Captain Carter’s jump to the big screen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness This was an early sign of how much Marvel Studios’ animated and live-action projects could connect with each other, with her death in the film making it seem like Atwell’s cameo was a one-time thing to get people into theaters. Could be a stunt. Episode “What If… Captain Carter Battled the Hydra Stomper?” does not bring variety of madness‘Captain Carter came back to life. But it does reinforce the idea that she – a version of Peggy Carter who becomes a super soldier instead of Steve Rogers (Josh Keaton) – is a character that Marvel should exist as a big part of the MCU’s brand identity. I want to keep it.

“What if… Captain Carter fought the Hydra Stomper?” borrows beats from movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier And black mother Because it teams up versions of Captain Carter and Black Widow (Lake Bell) to take on the Red Room’s deadliest brainwashed assassin. Instead of the Winter Soldier, it’s a long-lost, brainwashed Steve Rogers piloting the Hydra Stopper armor sent on a secret mission by the Red Room to eliminate targets like Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Although Peggy is able to take on Steve in combat, the episode makes clear that their love prevents them from wanting to kill each other and that there is much more to these variants’ stories that remains to be discovered.

But when it feels like this what if,, Having found a new chapter in Captain Carter’s life that requires more time to delve into, the series gears up by taking him out of the “Hydra Stopper” reality and turning its attention to one of this season’s more inspired new faces. Changes it.

like that way what if,,Its first episode immediately got down to the business of renaming Peggy Carter The hero and face of her story (rather than a heroic, supporting love interest), is a “what if.”, Kahori reshaped the world? A young Mohawk woman named Kahorie (Devery Jacobs) is established as one of the most powerful people in any reality.

After the Tesseract crashes in pre-colonial America and turns an ordinary lake into a sort of portal that the locals view as cursed, Kahori is one of the few brave and curious people in her village who manages to escape into the glowing waters. Very eager to visit. When Spanish conquistadors searching for the Fountain of Youth arrive with guns and plans to ravage the Earth until they find the famous wonder, Kahori and her brother Vahta (Kiaventio) are forced to flee for their lives. While being chased, Kahori is shot and falls into the lake.

most of what if,,The episode blends key elements from one or two of Marvel’s past projects in a way that feels only slightly different. But the way “What If…Kahori reshaped the world?” reworks the thread from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever And Thor: Ragnarok And turns them into something that feels really different and impressive. “What if…Kahori Reshaped the World?”. – whose indigenous characters speak almost entirely in the Mohawk language – presents Western colonialism as a kind of Ragnarok for the Cahori people.

This episode highlights how Spain’s conquest of North America was based on a racist belief in the inherent inferiority of indigenous peoples and how toxic that ideology is. But Kahori’s origin story is also a celebration of Iroquois culture, and it’s very clear about how indigenous peoples’ violent resistance to all forms of colonialism is justified. Many Marvel films in the past have touched on similar ideas. But also in view of this black Panther In movies, it’s still somewhat surprising to see a Disney-branded narrative so direct in its condemnation of Western colonialism, given how studio chief Bob Iger has recently stated his desire to move away from “messaging”-focused projects. is indicated.

But the most promising thing about Kahori’s debut is that, like Captain Carter, she looks set to become a fixture within the MCU, at least on the Disney Plus side of things.

The way “What if…Kahori reshaped the world?” some special features what if…?The set pieces and endings, inspired by the reality of her leaving home with ‘Doctor Strange’, are interesting in their own right. But what’s the most interesting thing about it? what if…? At this point it appears that each season is being used to thoroughly prepare the central characters for existing in the new multiverse that shows up as bottle gourd Are constructing. It’s hard to understand how Marvel plans to keep the MCU fresh, exciting, and cohesive after the disparity that defined the pivot to multiversal storytelling, but in characters like Captain Carter and Kahori, you can see part of the path forward. .

With only three episodes left, Kahori is going to get a lot of screen time what if…? In this weather. But now he’s on the playing board, and some surprise guest stars are coming back for bigger roles, what if…?As the season two finale approaches, it feels like it could be something special and worth keeping an eye on.