‘What If…? – Season 3’ Episode Two Recap: “What If…Agatha Went to Hollywood?”

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for episode two of What If…? – Season 3.

After many years of radio silence, we finally have a Marvel story with the Eternals at the forefront. Of course, with a twist, but it’s great that Marvel hasn’t ignored the characters from Chloé Zhao’s (vastly underrated) feature film. In this case, it focuses on Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) wanting to become the most powerful being in the universe and harnessing both the powers of Tiamut and Arishem (David Kaye).

It is implied that she already has the powers of a few Eternals, including Makkari, Gilgamesh, and Thena, when she’s initially confronted by Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), who is cast by Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) in a feature film he is directing starring Agatha. Stark doesn’t know that the film is only a ruse for Agatha to use her powers so she can access Tiamut, who is buried deep in the Earth’s core. However, since she cannot free him alone, Kingo’s casting in Stark’s film comes as a great help for her because he is the only remaining Eternal left for her spell to break Tiamut free.

Kingo knows that Agatha’s motivations are purely selfish. Still, she manages to convince him that she only needs to use these powers to save the world and defeat Arishem, who is shocked to learn that a fellow Eternal would ever betray him. Because of this, he arrives on Earth and attempts to destroy it, leading to a larger-than-life confrontation between Agatha and Arishem. The witch harnesses both the powers of Tiamut and Kingo, which transforms her into a new Celestial. It’s in that part that the episode is much stronger than its Old Hollywood tributes, which are admittedly enjoyable (such as the black-and-white cold open and a musical number captured in 2.39:1) but not as show-stopping as the battle between the two celestials.

Director Bryan Andrews doesn’t need to do much to visualize the scale for such a confrontation. The characters are already big – what matters is how the fight feels in the eyes of the viewer. And it’s pretty damn impressive to see such a colossal battle happen right in front of the people’s eyes, for the world to see, and even funnier when Stark envisions it as part of his film. This acts as an excuse to cover up for Agatha’s powers. However, in the context of such an era where filmmaking techniques and visual effects were being pioneered, it’s a pretty hilarious joke.

After Agatha sucker punches Arishem and gains his powers, she admits to Kingo about her true intentions and is hellbent on destroying Earth…that is until the actor/celestial convinces Agatha to give up her powers and join him in the movie business. That may sound trivial in isolation, but Kingo does lay out one of the best speeches I’ve heard in a long time on why cinema, as an art form, and as a way of looking at the world, is so important:

“The movies are magic, Agatha. Hell, they’re better than magic. Because they change the world by changing people. By making them feel something real. And with that kind of power, you don’t have to be feared. Because you can be adored.”

When you lay it out like that, why take over the world, for real, when you can do it at the movies? There is the lingering threat of other Celestials potentially responding to Agatha’s attack against Arishem, but that, as they say, will be “saved for the sequel.”

The second episode of What If…? – Season 3 is now available to stream on Disney+.