What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?

The second season of What If...? Opens with an intriguing premise: What if Nebula, the tortured daughter of Thanos, had found redemption earlier by joining the Nova Corps? This alternate storyline offers a fresh perspective on Nebula's character arc, showcasing her capacity for growth and heroism outside of her usual tragic narrative. Karen Gillan's voice acting shines as she brings a balance of strength and vulnerability to this version of Nebula, making her journey feel authentic and compelling.

The episode delivers stunning visuals, blending vibrant cosmic landscapes with the series' signature animation style. Action sequences, particularly those involving Nova Corps missions, are dynamic and exciting, capturing the high-stakes feel of intergalactic conflict. The decision to highlight Nebula's tactical brilliance and leadership skills elevates her as a true protagonist in this alternate universe.

While the premise is engaging, the episode does fall into some predictable beats, especially in its resolution. The story introduces fascinating concepts, but its relatively short runtime doesn't allow for full exploration of the complexities of Nebula's transformation or the consequences of her decisions. Despite this, the episode succeeds in creating an enjoyable "what if" scenario that fits well within the larger Marvel multiverse framework.

Overall, What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? Is a strong season opener, offering both action and emotional depth. While it could have delved deeper into its themes, it's a solid entry that sets the tone for the season ahead. Fans of Nebula, in particular, will find this alternate take on her story both refreshing and rewarding.

Rating: 7.5/10.

What If...?'s 2nd season starts on an unexpectedly strong note. Whilst the series is clearly in no rush to continue the overarching storyline that connected the episodes of season 1, it does succeed in providing a satisfying standalone episode featuring Karen Gillan's Nebula playing in a Blade Runner-influenced sandbox, clearly inspiring both the story and the cinematography of Xandar. The central detective mystery fueling this episode unfortunately is somewhat constrained by its limited runtime. The actual mystery Nebula is tasked with solving is fairly straightforward and easily unraveled. 30 minutes isn't quite enough to do the plot full justice, especially with so much of that space devoted to the early setup and the big climax. However, ultimately the action, humor, and general tone largely make up for most shortcomings, providing a fun and interesting "What If" episode.

Since the release of the first season, there hasn't been a lot of movement on getting the events here involved with the main storyline of the MCU. However, maybe it's time for me to realize that they're not going to really incorporate all of that, and going into the second season with that mentality will probably temper expectations and allow me to enjoy it, like I enjoyed the first season. The first season was very entertaining, so it's exciting to see if this holds up. The first episode is an obvious homage to "Blade Runner" and noir films in general, and it's actually pretty awesome.

It took a little time for the character of Nebula to really take off in this universe, but she has since become a very beloved figure in the MCU, and it's nice to see her get an episode that is primarily centered around her. The "Blade Runner"-inspired style really works well with the Xandarian surroundings, and it's great to see it get a bit of a cyberpunk twist with the technology that Nebula has got in her arsenal. The design of this world is still very beautiful, and it feels like the animation has actually gotten a bit better with some of the sets looking a bit more detailed, which made the world feel more gritty. It had a fun gallery of characters taken from across the MCU, but it never really felt like the show had an organic way to introduce them, with the exception of the characters involved with the Nova Corps. The additions of Howard the Duck, Korg and Miek, while being entertaining, felt a little misplaced, especially Korg and Miek. However, the big draw of the episode is its central mystery, and it's not nearly as interesting as the episode wants it to be. It's fascinating enough, but the episode's only big shock of a twist is kinda ruined because the episode telegraphs it coming from a mile away. With that said, the design and the character interactions, as well as the homage to noir films, is enough to make this a very entertaining episode and a good season premiere.

"What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?" is a great homage to classic noir films - especially "Blade Runner" - and its aesthetics matched the vibe flawlessly. But while some of the character interactions are great, some of the introductions are lacking, and the overall plot of the episode feels a little half-cooked given the episode's potential.

What If... returns for a second season. It delivers a Korg and Howard the Duck mash up that I would like to see more off.

It also has a more nuanced take on Nebula. More so than what was delivered in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

This is a world where Blade Runner meets Highlander 2. A norish dark world where Nebula was selected by Nova Prime (Julianne Grossman) and enlisted in the Nova Corps.

The planet Xandar is encircled by a shield to stop an invasion but Xandar is falling into lawlessness.

Nova Prime sends Nebula on an off the books mission to break into a mainframe. However betrayal is not far behind.

The first series was uneven. This is a strong start, good animation and a lot of fun.

I don't usually write reviews but I'm getting sick of these low quality high budget movies and shows.

The idea of a dark dystopian cyberpunk setting had potential especially with Gillan's execution of Nebula however having the main character fit the setting so well (even if a little cheesy at times) and keeping the overly cheery and annoying characters such as Korg around shatters all sense of emersion especially when paired with the "marvel humour". I'm also sick to death of the info dumping in the dialogue if you have shown an event on screen as an audience member it is incredibly frustrating to have the event explained by multiple characters especially when so many events are being squeezed into only 20 minutes.

Side note nebula gets shot at half way through the episode and the guns make a noise, the barrels glow but NO LASER BOLTS can be seen on screen.....

I'm done with this low quality garbage from marvel until they create something with some passion and integrity.