'What If...?' Season 2 Introduces New Native American Superhero, Kahhori

Before season 2 finally premieres around Christmas, meet one of the newest heroes

Marvel Studios has revealed a wholly new hero that will be introduced in the long awaited second season of What If…? The Disney+ animated anthology series reimagines pivotal events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and now it continues by debuting new characters and new heroes like Kahhori.

Kahhori is a Mohawk woman living in the 17th century on a quest to discover her power, once she gets, well, empowered. Her episode, reportedly titled “What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World?” asks what would happen if the Tesseract fell to Earth and landed in the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy before the colonization of America. Among such effects is it transforms a lake into a gateway to the stars.

The episode’s writer Ryan Little, director Bryan Andrews, executive producer A.C. Bradley, and story Editor Matthew Chauncey worked closely with members of the Mohawk Nation, including historian Doug George and Mohawk language expert Cecelia King to make sure it was culturally authentic, to design Kahhori’s look and environment, assisting in incorporating traditional Mohawk music to the score. The episode will be entirely in the Mohawk language and is informed by the history of the Akwesasne region in current-day upstate New York.

George speaks especially highly of the episode and is excited for viewers to see it. “It tells 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 reveals a pronunciation guide when he chimes in, saying he “had a wonderful writing mentor who worked extensively with the Indigenous community in upstate New York, and I was excited to draw on that experience 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. 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.”

What If…? season two is expected to premiere at Christmastime and consist of 9 episodes on Disney+.

Source: Marvel