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what if...nebula joined the nova corps?
Television

What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? review S2 E1

Jeffrey Lyles , , , , , ,

The MCU adaptation of the popular butterfly effect Marvel Comics series kicks off its second season in high fashion. What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? is exactly the kind of compelling set of scenarios that makes this series so fun by subverting any and all expectations.

In this realm, Nebula’s (Karen Gillam) path diverged from the Sacred Timeline — see Loki Season 2 — during the events of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. With this reality, she’s adrift with no familial ties and fills that void by joining the Nova Corps.  Taken under the wing of Nova Prime, Nebula becomes a top investigative detective.

Nebula finds an old ally dead in the streets of Xandar kicking off a sensational MCU noir piece from director Stephan Franck and writer Matthew Chauncey. This was a perfect marriage of the ideal MCU character to play the loner detective interacting with colorful and charismatic characters.

Seth Green’s Howard the Duck hasn’t had too prominent a role in the Guardians films but is a standout here. The MCU is all about quality over quantity these days and Howard is exactly the kind of character that benefits from not being overexposed. Green’s line delivery and innate sense of humor helps to make Howard a character audiences would want to see more of even his own Disney+ series. And it’d probably be a pretty funny show.

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Nebula has been featured heavily in the Guardians trilogy, but this is her first starring role. Gilliam has this character down wonderfully now. Her delivery is well-suited for a noir piece and this doesn’t disappoint. As usual, there’s some fun random cameos.

Another fun aspect of Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? is the smart roll-out of supporting characters who would otherwise never interact with Nebula. In some cases that’s because characters are dead while others just wouldn’t cross paths with the Guardian in the main timeline. These interactions tend to be very entertaining providing connections that would be fun to revisit. Whether in another What If episode or in the regular MCU.

The animation is gorgeous. Setting the story in a neon-drenched nightscape is an environment-establishing layup. What If’s art style borrows heavily from cell shaded video games creating thick shadows around the characters. With this setting and ambient colors that makes for an even more impressive visual.

Franck has a good handle on the action sequences as well. Like any good noir story there’s a compelling investigation, which is laid out well. But eventually, it’s time for some action and this episode delivers nicely. This is another showcase of what makes Nebula such a formidable character with an upgrade that seems so obvious it’s wild it didn’t actually play out in the live-action MCU.

Maybe there’s still time for that to be a reality?

What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? sets this new season up on a strong opening note suggesting the fun is only just getting started. This should be a fun nine days to close out 2023 with what is already looking like the best MCU project this year next to Loki Season 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

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