Marvel's What If? Season 2 Has MCU's Highest Rotten Tomatoes Score of 2023

Marvel's What If…? Season 2 has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any MCU property in 2023. Just before we turn the page on a new year, What If…? flies in to take the crown. Season 2 of the Marvel show benefits from the first season setting up concepts like The Watcher and Captain Carter's arc so that viewers can jump right into the zany multiverse concepts this show thrives on. On Rotten Tomatoes, the proof is in those numbers. The first episode of What If…? Season 2 focuses on Nebula in a Blade Runner-inspired mystery adventure. It would have been at least the third episode before Season 1 even tried to tell such a tale.

Series writer A.C. Bradley teased that some of the threads from Season 1 are ready and waiting to be picked-up here as well. Specifically, more of Gamora from The Guardians of the Multiverse. "What happened with the Gamora episode, there was originally supposed to be — early on in the season — a Tony and Gamora-centric episode," Bradley began. "However, due to COVID and production delays, one of our amazing, amazing animation houses around the globe got hit pretty hard by the pandemic. And we were left with two choices: push the entire season to later this year, or push this one episode to Season 2."

"We made the choice to push that episode to Season 2, and hoped that seeing Gamora in the finale serves as a teaser for what is to come," the writer continued. "In season two, it'll almost be like a little bit of a prequel, we'll see how Tony and Gamora became friends, because those two don't even interact in the main MCU universe."

Season 2 Features The Birth Of A New Marvel Hero

One of the standout entries from Season 2 of What If…? centers on a completely original character. Writer Ryan Little and Mohawk Nation historian Doug George talked to Marvel.com about the debut of Kahhori. The trailers teased the Native hero and her introduction moment during the Marvel animated series. Long ago, before the Americas were colonized, The Haudenosaunee Confederacy plays host to a tremendous power.

"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," George explained earlier this year. "The episode is exceptional in another sense--it is done with the complete cooperation of the Mohawk people from dialogue to adornment."

Little added, "I 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."

Want To See What All The Fuss Is About?

Season 2 of Marvel's What If…? , which premieres episodes daily on Disney+ beginning on December 22nd, continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles.

The series is led by Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, with returning appearances that include Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, and Cate Blanchett as Hela. Devery Jacobs joins the cast as Kahhouri, a new Native American character created specifically for the show. What If...? Season 2 is directed by Bryan Andrews, and executive produced by Andrews and AC Bradley.

Have you been enjoying What If…? so far? Let us know down in the comments!