[8.0/10] This episode is a lovely tribute to both the character of Black Panther and to Chadwick Boseman. The central premise is a little silly. Apparently Yondu abducting T’Challa rather than Peter Quill would not only have resulted in some key differences in the Guardians part of the ‘verse at key moments, but it would basically have solved all of the MCU’s problems.
Thanos would be turned into a humble gardener! Yondu would become one of the merry men in T’Challa’s intergalactic Robinhood operation! Drax’s wife and kids would be alive and well! Korath would be an encouraging fanboy of Starlord rather than someone who’s never heard of him! Nebula would be liberated and an operator in her own right! Those imprisoned by The Collector would be freed!
And that’s just for starters. Other stray comments basically make clear that T’Challa hung the moon, and the galaxy is a massively better place for having him in it. It’s a little over-the-top, but I’m hard-pressed not to enjoy the charm of it. Despite delving into some serious things, these What If installments have kept a largely light tone, and that helps some of the more exaggerated aspects of these fun thought experiments land.
To wit, while other episodes recreate prior MCU movies except with some big twists, this one makes more out of whole cloth. While it’s playing with the beats of the first Guardians movie -- assembling a team of misfits to stop a major threat with stops at Knowhere -- this is basically a heist film, with all the entertainment that comes from that genre.
Seeing Starlord T’Challa, Yondu, Thanos, Nebula, and the rest of the Ravagers team up to find the magic “embers” possessed by The Collector is a hell of a setup in and of itself. The show plays the Oceans 11 vibe to the hilt, with misdirects, twists, and diversions that bait the audience and spark the imagination. Seeing the various ploys and counterploys against The Collector is a blast.
Once again, the animation and design work is surprisingly effective here too. The colorful world of the Guardians translates well to the cel-shaded visuals. Seeing T’Challa do combat against The Collector with his arsenal of MCU Easter Egg toys results in plenty of neat moments. And watching his lair come alive, with the Children of Thanos taking on the remaining quasi-Guardians, is a blast as well.
(Plus hey, we get some more fun extended appearances from Howard the Duck and Cosmo the Spacedog, which is a nice treat for something easier to pull off in animation.)
And there’s serious stuff too. Yondo lying to T’Challa about his home being destroyed tracks well with Yondu withholding information from Peter, but with the exact layers being different due to T’Challa’s different bearing. Yondu recognizing T’Challa’s “heart of an explorer” makes the deception heartening in its way, and makes you buy their disagreement and reconciliation because there’s a believable emotional core to it.
Continuing the theme, I like that the episode sets up lingering resentment between Nebula and Thanos, with the Mad Titan (who gets a great line nodding to his unofficial title) putting his life on the line in order to save hers. It doesn’t wipe away what he’s done, but it’s nice evidence that the change of heart evinced here is genuine and not just superficial.
At the same time, it’s heartwarming as all hell when the battle’s won and T’Challa returns to Earth to introduce his old family to his new one. The combination of the two, and the way they mesh better than you might expect, is exceedingly sweet.
In the end, the lingering sentiment of this outing is that regardless of what far flung locale was lucky enough to have T’Challa, he would “belong anywhere” brightening the lives of all he came across. It stands as a lovely paean to the character and the man who breathed life into him, and a fitting final benediction on Chadwick Boseman and his contributions to this imaginative world.
As a big time Gotg fan I must say I loved this episode. Kinda want to see it be made into a movie but alas. It was great to hear Chadwick's voice again. Did miss rocket and groot haha but with Thanos on your side who needs them. Think this will be the best episode of what if!
We could easily rename this episode in "What If Star Lord Was Competent"
After watching the first episode of "What If" I complained that I liked the overall concept, but that the episode itself played it way too safe and didn’t really offer anything too different from its original. Except for a few occasional changes it just rushed through the main plot of "Captain America" replacing him with Peggy.
Well, thankfully episode 2 really upped the game. Now we're talking!
The concept of T‘Challa being Star Lord instead of Peter Quill is so out of the blue that its existence is a big question mark on its own. But it works. And how it works!
Instead of repeating "Guardians of the Galaxy" beat by beat and just replacing Quill with a more level-headed and smarter T'Challa, this episode offers a completely different story. While starting the same way as the movie it quickly goes into a completely different direction and offers a whole new fun and even heartwarming adventure.
The writing is more easy-going and lively compared to the stiff and forced first episode. Characters and dialogue feel more natural and actual new relationships are formed (do we now love the couple of T‘Challa and Nebula?).
The voice acting is fantastic, returning many original actors to their roles. It is also highly emotional listening to Chadwick Boseman the last time as T‘Challa.
The episode also throws in some nice Easter Eggs, for example a nod to "Thor: Ragnarok‘s" Hela.
The new character variants and relationships are just fun to watch and experience. Yondu is still weirdly among the better MCU parents and his and T‘Challa‘s relationship sweet and touching. The flirting between T‘Challa and Nebula works quite well and the characters have some nice chemistry going on (no mentioning of Gamora in this timeline). Thanos is now a loveable embarrassing Dad with a genocidal touch that is played for laughs, instead of him The Collector becomes the main villain. Oh, and Korath is now the comic relief Team Idiot. Make of that what you want.
I immensely enjoyed this episode, nothing more to add to that.
Talking Thanos into being good? That's just cringe.
Okay, this episode is heaps better than the first one. The first one was, for the most part, a retelling of The First Avenger. The twist in this episode created a lot more of a change to the course of events, so much so that it was able to create a brand new story from it. Plus, it also has a great sense of pacing... Something the first episode could have used.
My only complaint is that the opening scene could have been played just a little more straight instead of being 100% there for laughs. As a whole, a much stronger episode this time around, and I'm hoping this is a good omen for the rest of the season.
wonderful animated series. nothing major yet very welcomed scenarios of the multiverse.
So beautiful and lovely, like the beginning of the episode said, a person's true nature shines above it all, and this isn't just about T'Challa/Star-Lord but about Chadwick, our forever hero.
THAT LAST BIT RIGHT
AT THE END:
"PERFECT"
I'm not crying you are....
I just don’t get why Kareth is goofier and also the new guy. When his character was around in the 90’s, in Captain Marvel.
Also that the more serious T’Challa would call himself Star Lord, like Quill.
this episode... was perfect , baybe the end is more complicated, but still. perfection
That’s the most we have gotten out of Howard the duck so far, already the best episode of the whole show abs I don’t think they can top it
It was alright i guess
The 2nd episode of What If? takes more risks, changing most of what we know of Guardians of the Galaxy, unlike Episode 1, which changed a few key characters and the outcome of the end. However, despite its run of the mill retelling, Episode 1 had a story with clear beats. Episode 2, had better interactions but a story that was lacking.
The art of the Collector and Del Toro's awful performance bring this down for me. He felt like a character out of Dragon Ball Z.
Aw damn it how's a cartoon gonna leave you fighting back tears by the end? This was a good episode, leagues better than the first one. A bit unbelievable yes, but fun to watch and didn't feel like a remixed shorter version of one of the movies. Looks like we got the wrong star lord I guess!
The episode was better than I had imagined. Very good characterizations across the board. Animation was top shelf too along with a good story.
The first episode ended up producing basically the same story with a few changes. This was an entirely new story with familiar elements. Much better. Hope more episodes end up like this one, because this is what the show should be in my opinion.
Now we're talking! New character should at least give a different feel to familiar interactions or if we lucky conjure up unpredictable outcomes.
Why didn't they start with this one?! That was nearly perfect and fun, despite it being a heist episode.
While the first episode was a retelling of Captain America with just a few minor plot tweaks, that episode had much more room to tell its own story, mostly because the events unfold over a much longer period after the original divergence.
Having Star-Lord T'Challa turn Cosmic-MCU villains by just being friend with them is a perfect send off for Chadwick Boseman. Though I wouldn't say the galaxy is in a better shape than in the Sacred Timeline. John Kani's unexpected line hit hard, it felt like it was re-recorded after Boseman's passing.
It was a bold move to put this episode so early in the season, it's going to be tough to beat that one.
9/10
Superb
This Was Crazy,
No
MAD.
Wow now that's
what I'm talking about.
Wow what an improvement from the first episode this one was so frickin awesome and so bloody interesting.
Started off with what we know then boom off it goes on it's very own merits.
This was an amazing episode and so respectful and touching to our king Boseman. How does the rest of the series match up to how amazing this episode is. Even the pacing didn't feel off at all like the first episode did, which if I'm honest did feel rushed and by the numbers.
I Loved everything about this episode and definitely made me feel like I need a season 2 of "what if" for how amazing and interesting and fun this episode was.
X FINAL THOUGHT:
REST IN POWER
KING BOSEMAN
YOU ARE SORELY MISSED
FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
AND ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS,
YOU WAS A HERO IN LIFE
AS YOU WAS IN THE MCU
"WAKANDA FOREVER"
Rest in power Chadwick!
Five
the first third was a little goofy for my taste but it found its heart.
This one goes even more out of the regular timeline than the first one.
The premise is interesting. T'Challa has been kidnapped instead of Peter.
This turns into a parody as the consequences are just incredibly stupid.
We still kinda follow the story of GotG, except the team is made mostly from the bad guys since apparently T'Challa is such a nice guy that he turns everyone nice. This is funny in the first encounter with the guy that does not recognize Peter turning into a fanboy here. This is beyond ridiculous when it looks like Thanos could be changed into a good guy just by having a good talk.
Anyway if you get over the gooey good spirit and stupidity of it all, this turns into an ok action/heist episode with a bit too much fan service.
Hmm I definitely think Thanos will still be powerful even without the Infinity Gauntlet seeing how he is a eternal... But overall, a fun episode and seemingly a more competent Star Lord
If i got this right, at the end Ego goes with his son Peter and that means that he fulfills his plan to reshape the universe so all the good that this version of Star Lord did was in vain.
such a unique concept and so well executed
i love the gotg films and black panther and the way they mesh them together works amazingly, and the way they tribute chadwick boseman? chef's kiss
Chadwick lives forever in our hearts.
Hands down my favourite episode! And not just of this series. I don’t think I’ll ever watch something I like more than this. As others have said, a touching tribute to Mr. Boseman. Very, very well done! Wakandan Star-Lord forever!
Definitely better than the first episode. Much more interesting concept that starts off familiar but doesn't stay too close to that either. Some self-deprecating humour as well.
This one was better than the second episode, mostly because the story was way more interesnting, and T challa personality as star lord was reaaally great, weird ending tho
Great episode. Always great to hear Boseman’s voice again.
Alright, so NOW WE'RE TALKING!
When this started I was worried we might get another remixed version of an MCU film. This time GOTG. But, thankfully this episode tells it’s own story, and is far better paced for it.
Plenty of action, a good level of wit, and it uses the full power of the ‘What If…’ premise to really to mess with well known MCU characters.
I hope this is the direction ‘What If…’ will be taking from here.
Let's face it, this is a tribute to Chadwick Boseman... so, of course, T'Challa single-handedly changes the universe, not real explanation given for his miraculous talents. But that's okay. Anyway, Thanos' insisting that wiping out half the universe wouldn't be genocide because "it's random" makes up for everything. ;) Anyway, I love what-if-scenarios, and I like this show so far.
A RAVAGER NEVER FLIES SOLO!!
This was such a great send-off for Chadwick. I love that they got SO many of the voices from the movies for this one. IMDB says 15 actors returned from the movies for this episode. Incredible!
I think the reason they didn't ask Bautista to do Drax was either because the scene was very short, or because it may have been around that time Bautista was threatening not doing Guardians 3 before Disney rehired Gunn.
A much more fun episode than the first. I'm not a Marvel lover, but I think a movie with The Collector as the villain could be a lot of fun.
Not sure if it's the nature of his new arc or just hearing Boseman back as T'Challa again, but that was emotionally rough, oof. Especially the dedication text at the end...
Very fun alternated scenario this time though, and the emotional stuff really work for me.
"I've been trying to get them into counselling." — T'Challa
Wakandan guard: "My friend, that sounds an awful lot like genocide."
Thanos: "No, no, no. Because it's random."
[Clicks his fingers]
What an episode! I'm loving this one more than Captain Peggy's since it's not trying to hit the same beats as "The First Avenger," and they can really do some whacky things here! It's a pleasure to hear Chadwick Boseman's voice again, and the set-up for this T'Challa is very interesting! When T'Challa was just a child, he wanted to see the world. But because of Wakanda's secrecy, his father forbids it. But after Yondu found him, he was free to roam the universe.
Thanos' character here was charming and hilarious, and the cameos by Howard the Duck and Cosmo the Spacedog were great, too. This episode is so different from the first, and I hope it continues this trend! Sticking to the beats of a better story (in my opinion) isn't ideal when we could have this original blend of an adventure!
7/10
Review by LegionWrexBlockedParent2021-08-19T01:36:26Z
Now we're talking! This was spectacular - while the first episode was really good in what it personally set out to do, it was mostly just a retread of tried and true material with a fresh coat of paint. This, on the other hand, felt like what I wanted the show to be from the beginning, telling a unique, bold new story with new characters. I love how the small change of making T'Challa Star-Lord ends up being more then just a palette swap, instead it ends up changing the entire philosophy of the Ravagers. If anything, it showcases just how flawed of a person Peter Quill actually is, and only enriches both characters to me (Peter Quill's flaws are what make him interesting, and T'Challa's heroism is one of the reasons he is so likable).
I love how it's structured as a heist story as well. The MCU has historically done these very well all things considered, and this is easily one of their best versions of that thanks to it's light tone and great character work. T'Challa's arc is also done very well here, and only makes me miss Chadwick Boseman more. Overall this is really good stuff, and I anxiously awaiting what they have for us next.