Synopsis: The second episode of Marvel’s What If…? asks the question: What if T’Challa Became Star-Lord? Different from last week’s premier episode, it wasn’t one small decision made by the titular character that changed the course of history, but rather a cosmic mistake. In the 80s, the Ravagers head to Earth, led by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker reprising his role from the two Guardians of the Galaxy films). They attempt to find one of Ego’s sons, but instead of correctly capturing Peter Quill, they accidentally take T’Challa into space (the late Chadwick Boseman gives one of his final performances). T’Challa then becomes Star-Lord and travels the galaxy with a reformed group of Ravagers whose mission it is to help those in need. 

Key Quotes

Where I come from, history has never looked kindly on those who lock men in cages.

T’Challa

But in a multiverse of infinite possibilities, is your destiny determined by your nature, or by the nature of your world?

The Watcher

You know as well as I, no treasure is worth as much as the good that can be done with it.

T’Challa

I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong. T’Challa here showed me there was more than one way to re-allocate the universe’s resources.

Thanos

Changes to the Original MCU Story

• In the Collector’s weapon collection, (Benicio Del Toro, reprising his role from Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Infinity War), he has Thor’s hammer and Captain America’s shield. Did he defeat them in battle?

• The Ravagers, still led by Yondu, are good in this universe as opposed to essentially space pirates in the movies.
• The Ravager’s line-up is very different, including a reformed Thanos (Josh Brolin, reprising his role from the first three phases of the MCU).
• In Avengers: Infinity War, the Avengers almost get the gauntlet off of Thanos on Titan when Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) accidentally breaks Thanos out of a trance, ruining the Avengers plan and ultimately allowing Thanos to succeed in his plan. In this episode, Star-Lord is able to convince Thanos to not move forward with his genocidal plan.
• Howard the Duck (Seth Green, reprising his role from his post-credits MCU appearance) is still in the Collector’s collection, but he is freed by T’Challa. 
• Star-Lord’s eyes on his helmet are purple, a color closely associated with Black Panther, instead of red.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy, Korath (Djimon Hounsou, reprising his role from the MCU films) has no idea who Star-Lord is. In this episode, he is a fan-boy of Star-Lord. 
• Peter Quill’s Star-Lord ship was named the Milano, after actress Alyssa Milano. In this episode, T’Challa’s ship is named the Mandela, named after South African President Nelson Mandela.

Easter Eggs

• In the Collector’s weapon collection, several key weapons from previous MCU films can be seen, including:
  • Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer
  • Captain America’s shield
  • Hela’s (Cate Blanchett) head-piece from Thor: Ragnarok
  • Korg’s (Taika Waititi) arm
  • Malekith’s (Christopher Eccleston) dagger from Thor: The Dark World
• Cosmo the dog makes another appearance as part of the Collector’s collection, and is freed by the end of the episode.
• Peter Quill works at a Dairy Queen – in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, his father planted part of himself behind that same Dairy Queen. 
• The bartender that serves Howard the Duck a drink is the same bartender that serves Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) in Thor: Ragnarok.
• There are several cameos in the Collector’s collection, including:
  • A Dark Elf
  • Kronans
  • Frost Giants
  • Several ships, including Ant-Man’s quantum bubble ship and the Grandmaster’s ship

Theory Round-Up

• Reddit user /GreatOneLiners thinks that Hela’s helmet and the Necrosword are going to play a role in Thor: Love and Thunder, with Gorr the God-Butcher (Christian Bale) using their powers to enact whatever his ultimate plan is in that film.
• Several people also think that the Necrosword, which in the comics is made up of symbiotes, will be how Venom (Tom Hardy) makes his way to the MCU proper. 
• If these aren’t just one-off stories and they eventually tie together by the season’s end, I think that someone is going to assemble a new team of Avengers to face an unknown threat, including Captain Carter and T’Challa’s Star-Lord. – Mark, Boss Rush Entertainment

There you have it–lots to talk about with this week’s episode of Marvel’s What If…? Was there anything we left off? Any interesting theories you have? Let us know in the comments below!

Mark Pereira is a staff writer for Boss Rush Network. He loves all video games, but his top three favorites are Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D World and Batman: Arkham Asylum. You can find him on Twitter where he’s usually talking about Nintendo, video games, movies, and TV shows.