What If? (2×06) What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World? Review

For our review of the last episode of What If?, click here.

This latest of What If? introduces viewers to this newest superhero in the MCU but unlike past characters, she is an original character not based on any previous material. Not purely a thin representation play, this new Mohawk superhero is given a beautiful origin story that offers a window into Mohawk and Native American culture all the way down to the language. Told almost entirely in Mohawk, it creates a different viewing experience though just a small taste of her potential. But how did Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) come to be? In this universe, Odin did not have the chance to entrust the Tesseract to Earth as Asgard succumb to Ragnarok. In the destruction of Asgard, it survived before finding a new home within the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy, pre-colonization of America. Finding herself outside of her village with her younger brother, they would stumble on a so called forbidden lake tied to tribal lore. Connected to the disappearances of past members who were since presumed to be dead, Kahhori was sent in after being shot by a Spanish colonizer. Presumably affected by the tesseract, she was pulled to the bottom of the lake and then transported to another world full of Mohawk with special abilities.

To the other Mohawk, they saw this new world as a paradise where they would never grow old or die. Many of them were the same people who went missing and presumed dead but in the time since, they developed a community in what they called the “Sky World.” They grew comfortable, however, Kahhori considered this new world a prison and focused her efforts on getting back to her world to stop the colonizers who had destroyed her village. Becoming comfortable herself, she took on the power of the Sky World much quicker than the others. Ultimately, things changed as both her worlds inevitably collided. In the end, if Kahhori was to defeat the colonizers, she and the Mohawk would need to work together. Though as far as she was concerned, once she put her mind to something, there was no stopping her and watching that play out on screen was glorious. That being said, her story this season has only begun.

While the writing is a highlight, what brings the episode together is Jacobs’ superb performance as Kahhori. As an introduction to the character, she brings a youthful energy while pulling viewers into her connection to her culture and the strength of her beliefs in a powerful way. She still has a lot to learn but she will get the chance to grow and develop.

still courtesy of Marvel Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.