Review: Marvel’s What If…? “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A team of space pirates known as the Ravagers abducts T’Challa instead of Peter Quill.

Our Take:

Now that Peggy Carter has taken the role of Captain America, it’s time for another Marvel character to take on a much different part in the multiverse. If you’re thinking Tony Stark, I’m afraid that’s not until later. This week focuses on a new alternate scenario involving the king of Wakanda, T’Challa, brought to life by the late Chadwick Boseman. Instead of him becoming the iconic Black Panther, however, he is becoming a space pirate.

Like the first episode, “T’Challa Became a Star-Lord” retells specific parts of a given MCU film and mixes things up to provide itself with a whole new identity. In this case, it’s James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Rather than T’Challa being a guardian of the galaxy, the writers made him into a ravager of the galaxy. The plot has Star-Lord T’Challa and the Ravagers, including Yondu (Michael Rooker) and a reformed Thanos (Josh Brolin), helping Nebula (Karen Gillan) retrieve the Embers of Genesis from Taneleer Tivan (Benicio del Toro), also known as The Collector.

The whole scenario happened when the Ravagers were sent to retrieve Peter Quill (Brian T. Delaney) but abduct T’Challa by mistake. It was revealed at the end of the episode that Quill is working at Dairy Queen as a janitor before being approached by his father Ego (Kurt Russell). This episode was something that I was looking forward to the most, mainly because of Boseman, who tragically passed away last year due to his battle with colon cancer. It was a surprise that caught us off guard, considering his incredible talent onscreen. The series did us a massive favor in allowing us to hear his voice again in its second episode.  

As for the story itself, it’s another highly entertaining “what if” adventure that’s fresh and heartfelt, with more emphasis on the latter. With a story that distanced itself from being a rehash of Guardians of the Galaxy, it wound up being my favorite episode of What If…? so far. The episode’s heart was the father/son relationship between T’Challa and Yondu, which was one of the main driving points of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. While far from perfect, it’s a satisfying moment that maintained the heart of the themes introduced in the movies.

What made this episode a bit better than the previous one, in my eyes, was the supporting characters. Because of the sudden change in the second episode, the supporting characters happened to have their usual personalities altered. Korath the Pursuer (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) went from being Star-Lord’s ruthless enemy to being his comedic fanboy. The tyrannical madman Thanos is a member of the Ravagers, and his adoptive daughter Nebula is now a blondie instead of a robot. This moment was a great way to showcase more of the effects of the multiverse and the distinctiveness of the MCU stories we know and love. Although Korath’s new personality was a bit off-putting at first, he provided enough humor to make himself a tolerable and welcoming change to his persona. 

Chadwick Boseman was as incredible as ever, primarily due to his portrayal as Star-Lord T’Challa. It reminded me why he’s one of my favorite actors of all time and why he was the perfect fit to portray this character. He managed to retain the characteristics of T’Challa while also providing a unique “Star-Lord” spin to him with stellar results. It’s such a shame that hearing his voice made me miss him even more. The rest of the voice cast also did wonders in their respective roles, including Rooker as Yondu and Benicio del Toro as The Collector. The animation in its second episode was also nicely designed, especially for the galactic backgrounds and action sequences.

Overall, the Star-Lord T’Challa episode is a fun heist-themed episode that serves as a mild improvement over the series premiere in terms of storytelling. Not only that, but it is also a fitting tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman that couldn’t come at a much better time. With its voice cast, animation, and entertaining yet short plot, the episode represents the show’s strengths in providing enjoyable alternate stories filled with intrigue, charm, style, and superhero action. Here’s hoping we get to see more of Boseman’s T’Challa later down the road.