In the second season premiere of What If…?, Nebula (Karen Gillan) goes all Blade Runner. “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” was written by Matthew Chauncey and directed by Stephan Franck.
Xandar is dark, rainy and lit primarily by neon. In voiceover, Nebula welcomes us to the planet and states that here, everyone’s luck eventually runs out. The corpse of Yondu (Michael Rooker) lies face down in a rainy alleyway. He has a blaster wound in his back. A Nova Corpsman approaches the body. The helmet is removed to reveal the corpsman is Nebula.
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Additional Nova Corps arrive, led by Garthan Saal (Peter Serafinowicz). He says Nebula can step away, as the real cops have arrived. Saal orders the scene to be cleaned up within the hour. Nebula questions the lack of investigation. Saal questions Nebula’s history with the Black Order. She leaves the scene after tossing an additional barbed remark at Saal.
After the opening credits, The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) states that all quests for redemption begin in darkness. He explains that in this universe, Ronan the Accuser betrayed Thanos. In the aftermath of the fall of Thanos, Nebula was left to drift through space. However, Nebula was rescued by Nova Prime, Irani Rael (Julianne Grossman), and given a chance to join the Nova Corps.
What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?
Nebula takes over narration as she explains that Rael saw the light in her and offered her another chance. She swore the Nova Corps oath: “Seek the light. Be the light. Never stray from the path.” But Nebula says their darkest days lay ahead. Ronan attacked Xandar and brought it to the edge of destruction. Rael gave the order to lock Xandar behind a shield for fifty years.
Five years later, Nebula says the isolation has brought out the worst in everyone. Nevertheless, she retains her oath in the face of hopelessness. After the other corpsmen have left the alley where Yondu’s corpse was found, Nebula returns. She states that the corpsmen should have been searching for the victim’s weapon, not the murderer’s weapon. After stating that she and Yondu had a past, she brings up a hologram of Yondu.
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The Yondu hologram whistles. This summons Yondu’s weapon, the floating arrow. Nebula stops the arrow before it hits her in the eye. She activates a hologram contained in the arrow and is surrounded by a green sphere of information: schematics. “Oh, Yondu,” she wonders. “What did you get into?”
Back in her Nova cruiser, Nebula discovers the computer database holds no record of the arrow’s schematics. A small hologram of Rael appears on the cruiser’s dashboard. Rael heard Nebula had been at the crime scene. Rael knows Nebula and Yondu had a history. Nebula confirms that Yondu was a criminal, but “he was never a bad egg.” Rael says Nebula wasn’t either. Then she orders Nebula to switch to a secure line.
Xandar on the Brink
Rael tells Nebula that Xandar is on the brink. She says Yondu had gotten “caught up with some dark forces on the rise.” Further, she says she believes Xandar may only have until dawn. Nebula admits she found something at the crime scene. Rael orders her to follow her instincts and use any means necessary, lest Xandar fail to see another sunrise.
Nebula brings her cruiser down to the lower levels. She pushes past a bouncer to enter an active nightclub and casino. Groot (Fred Tatasciore) hosts a gambling table. Miek slices fish at the bar. Drax the Destroyer grows angry at a slot machine and smashes it to pieces. Nebula continues past these sights to ask the bartender, Korg (Taika Waititi) about the location of the boss. Korg points her to a private room.
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Nebula approaches another table and greets Howard the Duck (Seth Green). Howard notes that the world is falling apart and he’s running a casino, so everything’s going great. Nebula pins Howard’s playing cards to the table with Yondu’s weapon. Howard orders his retinue to evacuate the room. Then he states that since Nebula has the arrow, Yondu must be dead.
Howard is impressed, but he doesn’t know what the hologram in Yondu’s arrow means, either. However, Korg comes by to clear the dirty glasses. He identifies the hologram as schematics for “an old citywide mainframe core.” Included is the source code for the planetary shield generator.
Nebula on the Case
Nebula concludes, “Someone’s making way for an invasion.” She declares she must get into the mainframe and destroy the codes before they’re used. Howard and Korg caution Nebula about the likely fatal nature of the errand. But she’s on the case no matter where it takes her.
In order to successfully infiltrate the mainframe, she’ll need the help of someone with experience. She navigates her cruiser to a prison. There, she meets an incarcerated Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) in his cell. Nebula shoots out the holocamera in Yon-Rogg’s cell. Yon-Rogg says it’s been a while. She tells him she needs someone who knows how to get through Xandarian security. Nebula thought of Yon-Rogg because that’s why she arrested him. Nebula assists Yon-Rogg in escaping prison by way of a prison break (it’s a proud Guardians of the Galaxy tradition). The pair make their way to Nebula’s cruiser. After they take off, Nebula reveals she disabled the passenger ejector seat.
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Nebula and Yon-Rogg arrive at the location where the data core is located. Yon-Rogg appears to be a conscientious and helpful ally. They arrive at a locked gate and Yon-Rogg splices into the lock. However, the core is soon overheating, causing the chamber to be filled with water. Yon-Rogg and Nebula swim to the location where the spherical core is stored, arriving as the water drains away.
Nebula touches the core. She’s approved for connection. Electronic tendrils reach from the core to the ports on Nebula’s skull. Nebula downloads the data into her brain. Then she deletes the source files. Nebula logs out. But she’s ambushed by Yon-Rogg, who forcibly inserts a drive into Nebula’s head and downloads the files himself.
Straight to the Top
The logging-out sequence is interrupted. Soon the core begins to overheat. Yon-Rogg tells the paralyzed Nebula not to worry about Xandar any more, as Ronan has big plans for it. However, the chamber has begun to flood due to the overheating core. This restores Nebula’s ability to move. She pulls the core cords from her skull and swims after Yon-Rogg. However, he closes the exit route behind him.
Nebula finds an alternate exit route. However, the core’s explosion is still close by. She’s knocked unconscious. As she comes to in the gutter, Rael and Yon-Rogg appear. Rael says she’s a survivor. Yon-Rogg says they’ll fix that. Nebula realizes it was all a setup as Yon-Rogg hands the drive to Rael.
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Rael reveals that she’s cooperating with Ronan because he claims he’ll allow her to remain in command of Xandar once he’s conquered it. Rael leaves Nebula to be beaten to death by Saal and the other corpsmen. Nebula flees from the corpsmen. She eventually falls off the edge of a building. Saal declares she must be dead.
Later, a badly damaged Nebula stumbles through the rainy streets of Xandar. She arrives at Howard’s casino. Groot sets her up against a slot machine as Howard, Miek and Korg look on in horror. Nebula demands a drink and guns and an arm. However, she soon collapses. Fortunately, they have the technology: they can rebuild her.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
The revitalized Nebula approaches Howard and his crew and asks about the guns. Howard says he can’t get behind Nebula’s plan. He says it would be bad for business. Nebula asks how Nova Prime joining forces with Ronan would be good for business. Howard says people would still buy drinks. Nebula says Nova Prime will revoke his liquor license. Howard is convinced.
The casino equipment swivels to reveal cases filled with weapons. Howard, “Rock” (Korg), “Paper” (Groot) and “Scissors” (Miek) all arm themselves. Nebula dons Yondu’s mohawk and Ravagers coat. Korg says they all look cool. They pile into Nebula’s cruiser and take off.
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At Nova Corps headquarters, Rael utilizes the shield generator code. She says Ronan expects the shield to be open by dawn. Elsewhere in the building, Nebula and her crew progress through the lower-level guards. It’s no big deal, they have a Groot.
Nebula arrives at Rael’s location and says she’s there to stop this. Rael says she’s too late. She reveals she’s uploaded the code already. Ronan is preparing to enter the atmosphere. Rael says it’s too late to stop what’s happening. However, she says it’s not too late to join her.
Kaboom
But Nebula says it is too late for her to join Rael. As Ronan’s ships begin passing through the shields, the shields close again. Ronan’s ships (and Ronan) are explosively crushed. Rael says Nebula double-crossed her. Nebula corrects that it was a triple-cross. Seeing Yon-Rogg’s betrayal coming, Nebula put a twist on the codes he stole. She declares Rael broke her oath and says she’s taking them all in. A firefight ensues.
Yon-Rogg and Saal attempt to escape but Korg catches them. Korg smashes them, Hulk-style. On the roof, Rael attempts to escape in a Nova Corps ship but Nebula leaps into the cockpit after her. The ship soon crashes, ejecting Nebula and Rael. Nebula attempts to save Rael, but Rael rejects her hand and falls to her death.
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The sun rises over Xandar again. Howard congratulates Nebula on her victory. He says she blew up the shields and space invaders and gave the planet life again. Nebula notes that she also saved Howard’s liquor license. “Waugh! Not bad for a night’s work,” states Howard. “I’ll see you around, space cowboy duck,” Nebula says to Howard. Then she heads off into the sunrise.
The first episode of What If…? season 2 is currently available for streaming on Disney+, with new episodes daily through December 30.
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