What If...?'s second episode asks the question, "What if...T'Challa became a Star-Lord?"
As you'll likely already know, it does a phenomenal job of answering that with a 30-minute adventure every bit as ambitious and exciting as James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy movies. This was far from a retelling of the 2014 film, however, and T'Challa's role as Star-Lord had far-reaching ramifications for his reality.
All of that is going to have consequences for this reality (we're anticipating seeing more of this Star-Lord), and perhaps even the one we've become so familiar with since 2008's Iron Man was released. After all, it's easy to imagine some of these characters - Nebula! - being a huge hit if they were to appear in live-action.
The Multiverse promises to be key for the MCU moving forward, and this episode really drives home how crazy things might get from here...
6. One Moment Changes Everything
We find a young T'Challa in Wakanda wishing his father, T'Chaka, would take down the barrier around their home so they can explore with the wider world. He refuses, so it's no wonder the youngster takes the opportunity to run through that and retrieve his spear.
It's then he's kidnapped by the Ravagers Taserface and Kraglin, but where's Yondu?
In this reality, he sent his underlings to retrieve Ego's kid, and the shield surrounding Wakanda drew those two to the city. As a result, they just assumed it was T'Challa who Ego wanted and this one decision changed, well, everything in this version of the MCU.
As a result, Peter Quill was left on Earth, and Yondu had a new adoptive son he could take on adventures throughout the Galaxy (something T'Challa jumps at the opportunity to explore).
5. A Whole New Star-Lord
When we met Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, nobody really knew who he was and "Star-Lord" felt like more of an ironic title than anything else.
Peter is definitely a good guy, but up until arriving on Morag, he'd seemingly been just another Ravager. T'Challa, on the other hand, has put Yondu's crew on a new path that's seen them become the Robin Hoods of the spaceways, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. He also has a major fan in Kraglin!
This world's Star-Lord has achieved a lot, including being able to turn Thanos to the side of the angels. In just a conversation, he managed to convince the Mad Titan to abandon his plans to commit genocide and recruited him to the Ravagers. That's one heck of an achievement and shows just how much T'Challa's newfound role has changed history.
Of course, Thanos' new outlook is good news for more than just The Avengers...
4. Good News For Drax And Nebula
With Thanos convinced to abandon his mission, Drax's family are never killed as the bartender we meet here talks about his wife and daughter with T'Challa. Korath mentions working for Ronan, but without the Mad Titan backing him, chances are he's not making a point of slaughtering innocents.
As for Nebula, while it looks like Thanos may have started enhancing her, she remains mostly unscathed and is far more humanoid in appearance than her MCU counterpart.
To begin with, she clearly holds a lot of resentment towards her father, but by the time the episode ends, she's managed to forgive him and even saves his life. Something tells us that would have never happened with the Nebula we know, and this femme fatale version is a lot more stable.
As for Rocket, Groot, and Gamora, we don't know what's become of them, but can't help but feel we'll see the latter soon!
3. The Collector's Rise To Power
With no Mad Titan to instil fear in the Galaxy at large, The Collector filled the void by enhancing himself and becoming a crime lord in the process.
The likes of Howard the Duck and Cosmo remain part of his collection, but so does Hela's Necrosword, Captain America's shield, Mjolnir, and, perhaps most tragically, Korg's fist. Yes, this Collector killed the "chatty Kronan," though we're a little more intrigued about what he did to Cap and Thor.
Powerful enough to defeat even Hela, this Collector isn't someone to be trifled with, though he ultimately gets what he deserves when T'Challa frees his "collection" and he's overwhelmed by them.
This shows just how much potential the character had, and we wish these ideas had made it into live-action!
2. Return To Wakanda
After learning the truth about Wakanda (it wasn't destroyed as Yondu claimed), T'Challa returns home with his Ravager family. Reunited with his father, mother, and sister, he seems happy to be back on Earth, and it's interesting to think about what he could do for his home planet given the positive impact he had on the Galaxy at large.
The Ravagers also seem to fit right in, with Thanos and Nebula getting to know Okoye and Kraglin happily chatting away with Shuri.
This episode reveals that T'Chaka sent his people into outer space to try and find his son, so it's feasible an alliance between the Wakandans and Ravagers could be huge for this version of the MCU.
Unfortunately, this world's days might be numbered...
1. Ego
Peter Quill was never abducted from Earth, meaning he led an ordinary life after his mother passed away.
Working in a Dairy Queen and listening to some of his favourite music, things all seem well for Peter until a customer disturbs his dancing. It's Ego, his Celestial father who we know has a history of tracking down his offspring in an effort to find one capable of wielding their cosmic abilities and conquering the universe alongside him.
With no Guardians of the Galaxy to stop him, Ego is now free to manipulate Peter into doing his bidding and as The Watcher warns, that could spell doom for this reality.
We have a feeling Marvel Studios plans to revisit this, but whether that will be in season two or the next nine episodes obviously remains to be seen for now!