What If…? star Devery Jacobs hopes to continue playing the Marvel superhero known as Kahhori — be it in animation or live-action.
Jacobs debuted as the voice of Kahhori in Marvel Studios’ What If…? Season 2, Episode 6. She is also set to portray a character named Bonnie in the studio’s upcoming live-action series Echo, a spin-off of Hawkeye. While Jacobs has confirmed that the two characters are not related, she would be more than happy to return as Kahhori down the road if Marvel asks her to.
“I have been really fortunate to play the character Bonnie in the new Echo series,” Jacobs told Collider. “I don’t know, they’ve brought other people back in multiple roles. So I leave that up to the higher-ups at the MCU. But I just love this character of Kahhori so much, and would love to be able to bring her to life, whether that’s live-action, or whether that’s through animation. I’ll always be there for that.”
Actors have played multiple MCU characters before
To Jacobs’ point, she would certainly not be the first actor to portray multiple live-action characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For instance, Gemma Chan portrayed both Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel and Sersi in Eternals.
This phenomenon is particularly noticeable when factoring in Marvel’s pre-Disney+ television shows — such as Netflix’s Luke Cage. In addition to starring as Black Mariah in Luke Cage, Alfre Woodard portrayed Miriam Sharpe in Captain America: Civil War. Similarly, Woodard’s Luke Cage co-star Mahershala Ali — who played Cottonmouth in the Netflix series — is set to portray Blade in the MCU.
All that being said, the voice actors featured in What If…? are not always the ones to physically embody their characters in other projects. While numerous live-action MCU veterans reprise their roles for the Disney+ animated series — such as Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange — others do not. For example, Mick Wingert voices Iron Man in the place of Robert Downey Jr., while Hudson Thames voices Spider-Man in the place of Tom Holland.
Who is What If…?’s Kahhori?
Still, What If…?’s Kahhori is something of a special case. The character is the first superhero created specifically for Marvel Studios’ cinematic multiverse. Since Kahhori does not yet have a comic-book counterpart, her origins will always be tied to Jacobs’ portrayal.
In What If…?, Kahhori is a Mohawk woman who gains powers from the Tesseract and uses them to fend off the invading Spanish conquistadors, thus changing the course of history. However, the conclusion of Kahhori’s introductory episode all but confirms that she will be back. While the hero achieves peace, she is soon paid a visit by none other than Strange Supreme.
The first seven episodes of What If…? Season 2 are currently streaming on Disney+. The remaining two episodes release daily through Saturday, December 30.
