What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord? has much more fun with the cosmic canvas of the MCU

What If... T'Challa Became A Star-LOrd?

Where WHAT IF…CAPTAIN CARTER WERE THE FIRST AVENGER? may have changed up the shades but stuck to colouring inside the lines, WHAT IF…T’CHALLA BECAME A STAR-LORD? grabs a handful of crayons and gleefully scribbles all over the cosmic history of the MCU as we know it.

Mistaking the Wakandan Vibranium lode as a sign of alien energy, the Ravagers abduct a young T’Challa instead of Peter Quill. Taking the young prince under his wing, Yondu offers T’Challa the irresistible chance to explore endless galaxies. As a result, T’Challa’s benign influence changes the cosmic destiny of the universe.

Boasting a cast almost as star-laden as its cosmic backdrops, WHAT IF…T’CHALLA BECAME A STAR-LORD? sees virtually everyone from the AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BLACK PANTHER and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (the most notable absentee of the characters featured is Dave Bautista as Drax, replaced here by Fred Tatasciore) return for this do-over but all eyes – or at least ears – are on the late and sorely lamented Chadwick Boseman in what turns out to be his final performance. And what a performance it is, a performance in service of a story which shows how the character he personified becomes a fulcrum upon which the balance of the universe tilts towards the good. T’Challa’s intelligence, wisdom and innate nobility even manage to turn not only the Ravagers into t a force for good but even the grand villain of the Infinity Saga himself, Thanos, into a – well, not quite a good guy but certainly a much, much better guy.

As befits its setting in the GUARDIANS portion of the MCU, WHAT IF…T’CHALLA BECAME A STAR-LORD? is an altogether more tongue-in-cheek affair, so of course, there’s a bigger role for Seth Green’s Howard The Duck and a beautifully judged inversion of Peter Quill’s unwanted anonymity as Korath (Djimon Hounsou) relentlessly fanboys out over meeting T’Challa, his hero Star-Lord.

There’s also more of a sense here that the series isn’t just playing around with alternatives and variants of the story we know and love but that it’s building to something itself. Nothing explicit, but a definite sense of more story to tell as the episode draws to a close. The second episode of WHAT IF…? has turned last week’s “so what?” into “what’s next”?

Score 8

8/10

logo

Related posts

The Lady In The Van (2015) is an exquisite, beautiful, quintessentially British story.

The Lady In The Van (2015) is an exquisite, beautiful, quintessentially British story.


The Lady In The Van (2015) is an exquisite, beautiful, quintessentially British story.

Adapted from his own play, based on his memoir, Alan Bennett’s “The Lady In The Van” is a wonderfully poignant meditation of the nobility of the human spirit and the importance of kindness, compassion and understanding.It tells the [mostly] true story of Bennett’s unusual friendship...

Beauty may only be skin deep but the laughs in cosmetics comedy Like A Boss (2020) are pretty thin on the ground too.

Beauty may only be skin deep but the laughs in cosmetics comedy Like A Boss (2020) are pretty thin on the ground too.


Beauty may only be skin deep but the laughs in cosmetics comedy Like A Boss (2020) are pretty thin on the ground too.

This film, like the vast majority of the products offered by the multi-billion dollar industry it attempts to lampoon, is probably not meant for me. Set in the vicious, ego-driven and cut-throat world of prestige beauty, it’s less concerned with the ugly side of the beauty industry and more...

Trainspotting (1996) Review

Trainspotting (1996) Review


Trainspotting (1996) Review

Shot on an indie budget, “Trainspotting” was a brash, foul-mouthed, grotty little movie with blockbuster sized ambition. Wilfully anarchic and wildly spirited, it proved to be a real shot in the arm for a British film industry pigeonholed by Merchant Ivory dramas and sickly sweet...

Upload may be the best new show that nobody seems to be talking about.

Upload may be the best new show that nobody seems to be talking about.


Upload may be the best new show that nobody seems to be talking about.

In the not too distant future, entrepreneurial coder Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell) is living his best life. He has a beautiful rich (albeit clingy) rich girlfriend (Allegra Edwards) and he’s working on an app with his partner that will make his fortune. But when his self-driving car crashes, his...