The Disney+ animated series What If…? takes the Marvel Cinematic Universe and flips it on its head, often giving us — thanks to the multiverse —different versions of events that happened in its 31 films to date, and different takes on existing characters. But it’s never created an entirely new character.
Until now.
The first season gave us some interesting premises, such as a universe where Peggy Carter became Captain Britain Carter and where everyone became zombies, because why not? We’ve known about a second season for awhile, but haven’t gotten many details about what we’ll see. That changed today when Marvel revealed Kahhori, a new superhero we’ll be introduced to in the upcoming episodes.
Marvel revealed that one of the new What If…? episodes would ask the following question: What if the Tesseract fell to Earth before the colonization of America? In this situation, the Tesseract lands in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and is discovered by a young Mohawk woman named Kahhori. Utilizing the Tesseract’s ability to hop effortlessly between planets and stars, Kahhori goes on a “quest to discover her power.”
The episode was written by Ryan Little in collaboration with the Mohawk Nation, including Mohawk members Doug George, a historian, and language expert Cecelia King. To that end, the entire episode is also entirely spoken in the Mohawk language and is based on the history of Akwesasne region, today located at the very northern border of the state of New York.
In Marvel’s statement announcing the news, George calls the project “a remarkable story from a Native-Mohawk perspective which is truly unique and historical, and will give the viewers a new, challenging and entertaining perspective on this land’s first peoples. The story is dramatic, the characters fully realized, and the action sequences are breathtaking. The episode is exceptional in another sense—it is done with the complete cooperation of the Mohawk people from dialogue to adornment.”
Little also had his own statement in the announcement, where he praised his writing mentor and added that he was excited “to build an entirely original corner of the MCU with storylines for new Indigenous heroes written from a place of respect for past generations and optimism for future ones.” He also shared that “Kahhori, pronounced ‘KAH-HORTI,’ is a real, Wolf Clan name, meaning ‘she stirs the forest’ or is someone who motivates those around her. In her debut adventure, Kahhori will have to live up to her name to recruit powerful allies into the fight to save her people and change the course of history forever.”
No news yet on when Season Two of What If…? will make its way to Disney+ , but you can check out the full image of Kahhori released today below.
