This week’s What If episode focuses on the central question: What if T’Challa was Starlord instead of Peter Quill?
This answer to this question is much different to what happened in Guardians of the Galaxy. This divergence fulfils the promise of What If much better than last week’s episode.
Positioning T’Challa as Starlord is a great change. It exposes the impact that inherent goodness in one person has changes the galaxy. This is heart-warming to see. The plot of the episode is much better too, in comparison to the last. It doesn’t feel like it is trying to cram the story of Guardians into half an hour, which benefits the episode greatly. It means that the episode is allowed to breathe on its own and tell the story it wants to tell.
The characters all mark a shift from their previous iterations, yet they are all recognisable to the audience. The most obvious example of this is Thanos. He still retains his beliefs of wiping out half the universe, however, he has been argued out of pursing them by T’Challa. T’Challa shows him that there are other ways. He is allowed to be better. This is similar to how Korath is treated in the opening. T’Challa believes in the goodness of him. Instead of killing him, he incapacitates Korath and allows him to be better.
A character that is improved on in this episode is The Collector. His collection is shown to be far vaster, which is something that isn’t shown in the films. The conclusion to this episode uses that to its advantage, with the Collector picking weapons to use in his fight. This makes the action more varied and isn’t just punches. It is also used as a great way at the end, as the Collector receives his comeuppance for trapping thousands of people in cages.
While this series has the potential to be much darker than the films, it also has the potential to be much lighter. I still hope that darker concepts are explored, but happier and lighter concepts are just as fun to explore.
This episode makes the final time that the audience will see T’Challa on screen and hear Chadwick Boseman’s voice in the role. Therefore, it’s great to see that his final appearance explores how much good the character can inspire. It sends the character off in a great, memorable way. Farewell Chadwick Boseman, may you forever live among the stars.
What If…? is available to stream on Disney+
By Kieran Burt
Feature image: Marvel Entertainment