RJ Writing Ink

Marvel What If…? Episode 2 Review

Like so many others, I was left stunned by Chadwick Boseman’s sudden passing last year. The fact that he spent his entire time as T’Challa fighting cancer, and letting almost one know about it, serves as a testament to that man’s will. He knew how important T’Challa was, and he tried to see it through to the end. And while we will likely not see T’Challa again in the main MCU, Marvel What if…? offers a chance to see Chadwick have one last hurrah as the iconic character.

Since his passing makes it very hard not to have a bias regarding his episode of What if…?, I won’t bother hiding it. This series will posthumously include Chadwick in at least four episodes, each with a different version of the character. As of now, though, I think this was my favorite, as well as my favorite episode of the show.

What If… T’Challa Became A Star Lord

Whereas the first episode of What if…? started out with a relatively safe story, the second episode goes all in, showing us just how crazy these stories can, and will, be.

In the main MCU, Peter Quill was abducted by Yondu, who got hired to take him to his Dad. However, here he had Kraglin and Taserface do it instead. They grab T’Challa by accident, and Yondu decides to just keep him around.

Flashforward two decades, and T’Challa’s become Star-Lord. And unlike Peter, he’s every bit as legendary as Peter wanted people to believe. He doesn’t just steal from others: he takes the wealth of the powerful and gives it to those who can’t help themselves. In other words, he’s an intergalactic Robin Hood with admirers across the universe.

T’Challa at His Most Free

Given how serious and responsible T’Challa is in the MCU, one would think that What If…? took some liberties with this version’s personality. However, once the show gets a few minutes in, you’ll see that Chadwick’s playing T’Challa as essentially the same person from the MCU. The difference here is that this T’Challa does not have the burden of the Black Panther to weigh on him.

The T’Challa we get in this episode is light-hearted, charismatic, and free-spirited with an insatiable curiosity to explore the universe. He loves being Star Lord. However, at his core, he’s still the same noble and just person who fights injustice. When he steals, he does it to help people, and a lot of characters are in a better place than when we found them in the MCU. Drax never lost his family and is a happy bartender. Yondu and his Ravagers now help people through their thieving activities. Thanos works alongside them.

Wait, what?

This Version of Thanos is a Hero

Yes, you read that right: Thanos is not only a hero, he works alongside T’Challa and the Ravagers. Apparently, T’Challa reached out to him and made him realize that his plan to use the Infinity Stones wasn’t the right answer. Now he focuses on gardening and trying to atone for what he did to Nebula (who flirtatiously calls T’Challa “Cha Cha”.)

Seeing the man who served as the overarching villain for the MCU fighting as a good guy may seem unsettling to some. However, his prescence serves a purpose in the show’s narrative. Infinite number of universes means infinite versions of a character. And some of them can turn out to be heroes instead of villains. Or villains instead of heroes. The possibilities are infinite.

Farewell to Chadwick Boseman

This episode won’t be the last time that we see T’Challa in Marvel What if…? There will be at least three other versions of him in future episodes. However, for all intents and purposes, this episode serves as a send-off to the character, and to Chadwick Boseman.

Looking back, I honestly cannot imagine anyone other than Chadwick playing the role of the Black Panther. He brought the perfect amount of charisma, inspiration, and physical prowess that the character needed. There may not be another actor like him for a long, long time. So, while we say goodbye to Chadwick as T’Challa, let’s remember the impact he had on the world. And this episode’s essentially a love letter to everything he did to bring the Black Panther to life.

I Give “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” A 5/5

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A Reflection on the Impact and Passing of Chadwick Boseman

Hello, everyone, RJ Writing Ink here. By now, I’m sure most of you will have heard the news about Chadwick Boseman. Best known for playing King T’Challa in Marvel’s “Black Panther”, Chadwick passed away yesterday from colon cancer.

I was right in the middle of watching the new Bill and Ted movie for my review when the news broke. For a moment, it felt like my heart stopped. Like 2020 had just given the world the latest of a long line of gut punches. I was so heartbroken, I stopped the movie so I could cry about it. Even after sleeping on it, it still feels unreal. Chadwick Boseman, dead at 43? Yet, here we are now.

I loved Chadwick Boseman. I think that he was a big part of why Black Panther became the success that it did. Yeah, there was the storytelling, special effects, themes, and touching upon African Culture. However, when Chadwick Boseman came onscreen, he brought this charisma and charm to him. And from the way everyone talks about him, that was all a part of how he really was. He was just a nice guy.

What makes his death so unbelievable is the fact that almost no one seemed to know that he had cancer. I’m not even sure his co-stars knew about it, given their reactions on social media.

Chadwick Was A Real Life Hero

According to social media accounts, Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016. In other words, he spent the entire time filming Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame while enduring surgeries and chemo. In spite of all the pain he must have been going through, he never let it show. He always brought his A-Game onscreen, and that helped him become a cultural icon. For all we know, he may have known that he wasn’t going to live long enough to see Marvel make Black Panther II.

This year has seen us endure a lot of loss as it is. But the death of Chadwick Boseman seems to one of the hardest losses of all. Mark Ruffalo summed up everyone’s feelings fairly well.

I think the reason his passing has hit everyone so hard is because of how he chose to keep quiet about it. In my opinion, he knew how important his role as T’Challa was to Africans everywhere, how empowering he was. That what he was doing as the Black Panther was going to be bigger than one person. So he gave it his all, and helped make a cultural milestone.

With Chadwick’s passing, everyone’s agreeing that he was a hero both on and off-screen, and I agree. Even when he didn’t know if he would live or die, he kept moving forward and giving life everything he had. As a result, he became a hero for everyone. And I hope that once we finish mourning his death, he’ll become a legend. Rest in Power, My King. Wakanda Forever!