What if…? Episode 2 Review – The T’Challa of the Galaxy Become Great Star Lord

Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and half stars)  [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

The heats of summer continue to invite us to travel far from home and, if a series knows about “escaping” that is what would happen if …?, one of the most recent arrivals to Disney Plus and that is based on placing ourselves in impossible places within the MCU . If episode 1 of What If …? He took us with great success to the events of Captain America, now the tribute is double: Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy.

The episode 2 What if …? proposes us to know a scenario in which Peter Quill did not become Starlord, but that “position” was for T’Challa, the crown prince of Wakanda. This leads to a lot of changes between the events that we knew about, so once again, it helps to get to know the original films thoroughly.

Above all, because many of the characters undergo very severe changes both in their aesthetics and in their way of being … Including a very striking and comic surprise, which we better not reveal here (and which, for many, will already justify by itself alone this episode). Perhaps the one that is most “similar” to the original is Yondu, who once again has the voice of its original actor, the funny Michael Rooker.

Speaking of voices, one of the great incentives of this episode 2 of What if …? is to hear one last time from Chadwick Boseman, the original Black Panther actor. The death of Chardwick Boseman was so sad and unexpected, so this episode also has some tribute both to the character and the actor.

As you would expect in an episode inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy, there is plenty of special adventure and a few drops of humor, although it is true that, in comparison, the pacing is somewhat less relaxed from the films directed by James Gunn, when as is the case with the action moments, which had the most impact in the first episode.

In any case, the visual approach is very similar to what we saw with Captain Carter, but with a somewhat more “galactic” color palette, with neon, blue and purple lights everywhere. Be careful with the scenarios, which hide some details for the “experts in the UCM” who are more attentive, although without reaching the level of genius that we witnessed in that episode 5 of Loki.

The episode takes advantage of that condition of ” everything is possible ” so typical of the series to introduce us to some quite crazy characters that the movies, perhaps, would not have been able to take as much advantage of. in other cases, as we mentioned, it may seem that the characters have simply been “shuffled” and placed in random roles, without much purpose for the story.

Be careful, yes, to the epilogue, which plays very well with the traditional concept of comics like Zero Time, in which the moral is usually ” although something seems good, it can be very bad on the other hand “. In fact, it would have been interesting to exploit that facet a bit more, instead of leaving it in a mere wink. Maybe in a future second season?

In any case, this episode of the Disney Plus series is an interesting reflection on the concept of what makes a group of people can be considered our family and, above all, it is a love letter to the concept of the nobility of   T’ Challa , either as Black Panther or as Starlord.

Perhaps, the set gives the feeling of being less forceful than in the first episode, but with these half-hour durations it seems to have found a good balance point to keep the viewer’s attention. And for the viewer, the Vigilante himself, who is still there, observing … What next alternative realities will he narrate to us in future episodes?