Kahhori Is the First Original MCU Superhero Set to Debut in 'What if...?' Season 2

The Gist:

• Kahhori is the first original superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• She will make her debut in Season 2 of the animated anthology series, What If...?
• The character and her world were designed in close collaboration with an Indigenous North American tribe.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe seeks to restructure itself in the midst of lackluster box office performance, oversaturation in the 2020s, and an onslaught of production woes for future projects, we can at least count on What If...? to deliver some much-needed one-off Marvel fun. The animated anthology series presents alternate versions of popular Marvel heroes who have been reimagined in original and unique storylines.

Season 1, which premiered in August 2021, made Peggy Carter the first super soldier; sent T'Challa into space to become a bounty hunter; and threw the Avengers into a nigh-inescapable zombie apocalypse throughout its run.

Season 2 is set to premiere in December 2023, allowing us to dive into all-new facets of the multiverse and take a peek into different timelines of Marvel lore.

One episode will be especially unique in introducing Kahhori, the first original MCU character. Let's get to know her.

An episode of What If...? Season 2 does something incredibly special as it draws from MCU lore to tell completely original stories. And by completely original, we mean that the show is set to introduce the franchise's first original superheros without a point of origin from the comic books.

One such hero is Kahhori, a woman from the Indigenous Mohawk tribe who discovers new powers after the Tesseract lands in the sovereign Haudenosaunee Confederacy before America was colonized.

According to an official statement from Marvel, Kahhori and her story were crafted in "close collaboration" with members of the real-life Mohawk Nation, an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous North American tribe. Aside from established MCU lore, the episode was written with deep regard to the history of the Akwesasne region before it became upstate New York. Marvel Studios' creators also worked with the Mohawk Nation to design Kahhori's appearance and environment.

Kahhori is one of several original MCU characters that will appear in the second season of What If...?, but her appearance most certainly provides a definitive moment for Indigenous representation in television.

Along with Kahhori and other new characters, the new season of What If...? is still chock-full of classic MCU characters in their own stories. These include, but certainly aren't limited to Nebula joining the Nova Corps, the return of Agent Carter, and an event that looks to be an epic intergalactic race between heroes. The season is set to last nine episodes. The first will premiere on Dec. 22 with one new episode debuting every day after that.

Catch What If...? streaming on Disney Plus.