The MCU’s New Superweapon Ruins 2 Marvel Movie Moments Years After They Released

Warning! This article contains spoilers for What If…? season 2, episode 1, “What If… Nebula Joined The Nova Corps?”

The premiere of What If…? season 2 introduced a new superweapon into the MCU that inadvertently ruined two past moments in the MCU’s history. What If…? explores scenarios in alternate MCU timelines and universes, and season 2 features a stacked slate of characters just as season 1 did The first episode of season 2 focuses on a world where Nebula joined the Nova Corps. Sworn under oath, Nebula works alongside Nova Prime to protect Xandar.

In the universe of What If…? season 2, episode 1, Ronan the Accuser staged a successful coup against Thanos that put the Kree leader into power. However, Ronan turned his target onto Xandar, which caused the planet to have to close itself off from the rest of the world. Activating a planet-wide shield, Xandar is shown to have an impenetrable defense against threats like Ronan. While the introduction of such a powerful superweapon is interesting, it poses many questions regarding past MCU events.

Xandar Has A Shield That Could Have Stopped Ronan And Thanos

The obvious question that arises from What If…? season 2, episode 1 is the fact that Xandar didn’t activate this shield in past events. Xandar has been under attack in the MCU two times: once by Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy and the other by Thanos, which happened off-screen. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Nova Corps had the help of the Guardians to fend off Ronan’s attack and successfully defend the planet. Though a planet-wide shield ultimately wasn’t necessary, it could’ve saved the Nova Corps plenty of effort.

On the other hand, the shield was clearly needed when Thanos attacked. Though it happened off-screen, it’s said that Thanos decimated the planet to obtain the Power Stone before Avengers: Infinity War. Considering that the shield shown in What If…? was powerful enough to fend off Ronan at full power with the Power Stone, it seems like it would’ve been a given for Xandar in the live-action MCU to at least discuss putting the shield up. Even if the shield wasn’t able to stop Thanos completely, it could’ve been the difference in keeping the planet salvageable.

Why Xandar Doesn’t Use Its Planet Shield Earlier In The MCU

It’s possible that Xandar in the MCU’s main Earth-616 timeline didn’t have the planet shield, but the superweapon isn’t presented in What If…? as something that only came into effect due to circumstances of the series. The series has also generally had the same history as the main MCU timeline. Xandar might not have used the shield earlier in the MCU because they didn’t think it was necessary, as it wasn’t against Ronan, which might’ve led to them underestimating Thanos. Considering how life on Xandar suffered in What If…?, the Nova Corps might’ve wanted to prevent an outcome like that by not having to use the shield if possible.

With such a powerful superweapon like the planet-wide shield introduced in What If…? season 2, episode 1, it poses the question as to why Xandar didn’t use it earlier. A shield would’ve made the fight against Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy much easier, and it might’ve saved the planet from Thanos’ decimation. It’s a possibility that the planet doesn’t have the weapon in the main MCU timeline, but the Nova Corps might also have been against using it. Though What If…? showed that the shield had its pros and cons, its introduction can’t help but ruin two historic Xandar MCU moments.

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