WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 2, “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord,” streaming now on Disney+.
T’Challa’s crew of Ravagers is a group of hardened villains from the Marvel Cinematic Universe remade in his altruistic image. Characters like Korath and Taserface have become the Merry Men to T’Challa’s Robin Hood (or Robin Leach, as Yondu calls him).
The most unlikely member of these Ravagers is Thanos himself. In the second episode of What If…? it’s revealed that T’Challa talked him out of his genocidal plans, which in turn saved the lives of half the universe, including Drax’s family, as the episode confirms. Even in a reality where he’s turned over a new leaf, however, wherever Thanos is the Black Order isn’t far behind. And they prove to be more than their old boss can handle.
In a reality where Thanos no longer needs an army, The Black Order work as security for The Collector, who stepped into fill the power vacuum Thanos left when he reformed. That included the services of his most brutal adopted children.
T’Challa’s plan to steal the Embers of Genesis involves a distraction from the rest of The Ravagers, in the form of a brawl, while Nebula and Yondu sneak him into The Collector’s museum. Once she catches wind of it, Proxima Midnight single-handedly takes them out with her electrified spear. Because they not a group that can go incognito, she quickly recognizes them.
Being captured, however, was all part of T’Challa’s plan. While he fights The Collector, Nebula uses the element of surprise to break The Ravagers out of confinement. She’d feigned betraying T’Challa, so of course, no one was expecting her. That triple cross allows her to take Proxima’s husband, Corvus Glaive, out with a well placed blaster shot.
The rest of The Black Order isn’t as easy to deal with. With Proxima and Cull Obsidian in pursuit of The Ravagers, Thanos stays behind to fight them, buying time for the rest of the crew to escape. While it’s a noble gesture, it’s also a futile one.
Thanos is completely overwhelmed by his MCU henchmen. After being softened up by multiple blows from Cull’s Chain Hammer, Proxima is ready to finish him off with her spear. Nebula’s intervention is the only thing that saves Thanos’ life. It looks like she’ll then literally die by Cull’s hand before she’s able to use a few drops of the Embers of Genesis to save herself and Thanos.
If not for the Embers’ wild vegetation consuming Cull and launching Proxima to parts unknown, Thanos and Nebula wouldn’t have survived. It’s not that different from how the Avengers and their allies were able to defeat The Black Order in Avengers: Infinity War. It took teamwork and some dumb luck to win those battles.
Despite that, it’s surprising to see Thanos so thoroughly dominated by characters who served as his henchmen in their previous MCU appearances. He has some credible excuses. This Thanos isn’t powered by the Infinity Stones. He also had to contend with some fatigue from being incapacitated by Proxima’s spear and defeating The Collector’s grunts solo.
But this interaction makes Thanos’ decision to adopt The Black Order in the MCU look like shrewd tactics. He could have realized that they had the potential to stop his plans and decided it was a better idea to keep them under his thumb than risk a confrontation, at least until he had possession of the Infinity Stones. The fact that they didn’t survive their battles with the Avengers could be chalked up to the old adage that Thanos taught them everything they knew, not everything he knew.
Using the Black Order as cannon fodder killed two birds with one stone for Thanos. If he was willing to sacrifice his favorite child in Gamora, it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t manipulate The Black Order into a similar fate. Worst case scenario, no matter who survived the battle, they’d be easy pickings for him, which is how things worked out in Infinity War. A future What If…? might show us what would happen if a powered up Thanos went up against the Black Order instead, though if this episode is to be believed, it wouldn’t necessarily be good news for the Mad Titan.
New episodes of Marvel Studios’ What If…? debut Wednesdays on Disney+.
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