Kahhori, the new Marvel hero who debuted in the MCU’s animated streaming series What If…? as one of the first MCU characters with no direct connection to comics, is now coming to the core Marvel Universe in her own comic as part of Marvel’s Voices line. And it seems that the version of Kahhori who will make her comic debut later this year – which may be a first – is not an alternate version of Kahhori created specifically for comics, or some kind of variant – it is apparently the exact same character from the MCU.
At least that’s what it sounds like in Marvel’s official press release for the one-shot “Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds.” Here’s Marvel’s official description, which seems to indicate that Kahhori crosses over directly from the MCU into the comics, but leaves just enough ambiguity to make the passage less clear:
“Mohawk warrior Kahhori has fallen in love with Sky World and our hearts from her first appearance fighting invaders into her homeland. She’s already helped save all of reality from a crazed Doctor Strange and secured peace in her own world… And NOW what? Award-winning storyteller Ryan Little sends Kahhori into the 616! Chasing a threat from Sky World, she ends up in the fiery streets of Hell’s Kitchen! But culture shock will be the least of her problems as her strange adversary tears through NYC. Featuring exciting guest stars and the comic book debuts of some extraordinary creators, Marvel’s Voices brings you a very special anthology celebrating Indigenous heritage and one of the most exciting characters to emerge from the MCU!”
The one-shot series, which will be released in November to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, features a main story written by Kahhori’s co-creator, What If…? animated series writer Ryan Little, lending some credence to the character’s apparent move from the MCU to the comics. Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds #1 will also feature contributions from Native creators Arihhonni ‘Honni’ David, Kelly Lynne D’Angelo, David Cutler, Jim Terry, and others to be named.
If we read everything correctly and this small ambiguity in Marvel’s announcement does not cause what appears to be the first appearance of a character from the MCU continuity to slip into the Marvel Comics continuity, there is still a small caveat to Kahhori’s move from the MCU to Marvel Comics.
This is, of course, because she hails from What If…?, which features alternate timelines in the MCU multiverse, so she hasn’t directly interacted with the core Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. Despite this limitation, Kahhori’s comic book debut will provide the first direct connection to a character who exists in both continuities in the exact same form. Kahhori’s powers come from the Tesseract/Space Stone, so it seems that traversing universes is also within her power.
Other characters from the MCU, such as Phil Coulson, have been adapted into comics after their first appearance in films or series. But essentially, in all of these cases, the versions of these characters that have appeared in comics are their own, independent versions, much like there is a Steve Rogers in the comics and a Steve Rogers in the movies, which are separate, different versions of the character.
We’ll have to wait and see what further impact Kahorri’s crossover from the MCU to the comics will have when Kahori: Reshaper of Worlds comes out on November 6 with a cover by Afua Richardson (see above).
There is a long tradition Characters from other media such as television, films and video games in comics.
