Episode 2 of Marvel’s What If…? revealed a very different Guardians of the Galaxy. With T’Challa abducted from Earth instead of Peter Quill, the Wakandan prince became Star-Lord and formed his own team of allies including Yondu, Taserface, Nebula and a redeemed Thanos, who he had talked out of annihilating half the universe. Quill and Drax made cameos in the episode, which revealed what happened to them in this timeline, but three of the usual group were MIA.
Two of these make sense. Rocket and Groot only originally encountered the others when they attempted to collect the bounty put on Star-Lord after he stole the Orb. As there was no bounty placed on T’Challa in episode 2, the pair simply never got involved. On the other hand, it’s a big mystery why the final member of the team was a no-show. Gamora had no presence in the episode, despite her adoptive father and sister having major roles.
The reformed Thanos had a much better relationship with Nebula, while Nebula herself was nowhere near as scarred as the prime version. Therefore you’d imagine Gamora might be closer to both of them in this universe. However, it’s possible this Gamora is more like the 2014 variant from Avengers: Endgame, who struggled with the idea of Future Nebula’s redemption and going against her father. Maybe this alternate Gamora didn’t accept her father’s about-face and continued the search for the Infinity Stones on her own.
What If…? posters (see above) have showcased a Gamora in Thanos-like armor, so it’s feasible we could return to this reality and meet this Gamora in an upcoming episode. Or else this variant is from a different alternate timeline and her significance in that ep was the reason she was kept out of the T’Challa story. Either way, Gamora fans can rest assured she will feature somewhere, even if Zoe Saldana’s isn’t announced to be part of this season’s cast.
What If…? continues next Wednesday on Disney Plus.
