Marvel’s What If..? Introduces New Native American Superhero, Kahhori

Marvel’s What If..? will introduce a new Native American hero in Season 2 of the animated multiversal series for Disney+.

Marvel announced the new hero, a young woman named Kahhori, in a blog post on its website. According to Marvel, “What If…? asks what would happen if the Tesseract fell to Earth and landed in the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy before the colonization of America.

The Tesseract takes on a new life and a new mythology, transforming a lake into a gateway to the stars and leading Kahhori, a young Mohawk woman, on a quest to discover her power.” This comes just after news broke that What If..? Season 2’s debut had likely been delayed until 2024.

CBR VIDEO OF THE DAY

SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

RELATED: What If…? Confirmed the Identity of the Most Useless Avenger

Kahhori Joins Marvel’s What If..?

News broke recently about a Native American hero appearing in Season 2 of What If..? after images for Funko Soda appeared online. While it dropped her name on the can, many fans theorized she might be a variant of a previously known hero from the Marvel universe. Some speculated she could be Echo or a gender-bent version of the Native American Captain America Joe Gomez from The United States of Captain America #3 by Lipan Apache writer Darcie Little Badger and Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation artist David Cutler. Others believed she might be part of What If..?’s episode adapting the 1602 comic run.

Ryan Little wrote the episode introducing Kahhori. Marvel worked closely with members of the Mohawk Nation, such as historian Doug George and Mohawk language expert Cecelia King, to ensure the episode is culturally sensitive and authentic to the Native American experience. Notably, the episode incorporates the Mohawk language and takes place in the Akwesasne region located in what is now upstate New York.

RELATED: Captain Carter’s What If…? Season 2 Costume Revealed Via Official Merch

What If..?’s Kahhori Episode Pays Respect to Mohawn History

George spoke about working on the project and his enthusiasm for its authentic approach to Mohawk history. “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,” George explained. “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.”

What If…? Season 2 was expected to premiere in 2023 on Disney+, but its official debut remains uncertain. The latest reports indicate it may not premiere until 2024.

Source: Marvel