#arishem

[dailymarvelstudios]

What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?

[sersi]

Eternals (2021) dir. Chloé Zhao The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) dir. Matt Shakman

[vertigoartgore]

1987's Thor Vol.1 #388 cover by penciller Ron Frenz & inker Brett Breeding. Thor (with his golden armor) versus the Celestial Arishem.

[alphacomicsvol2]

Marvel Snap - Arishem by Gabriel Rubio & Rodrigo Camilo

[holyblanchett]

Agatha throwing hands with Arishem and defeating him while also gagging tf outta him omg she ate this up so bad. That's mother!!

[classicanalyzer]

What If Season 3 - What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood? Thoughts

"Everyone has a story worth telling. Even two lost souls on the wrong path. But sometimes, all it takes is a trip to the movies to remind you that anything is possible, even a happy ending. Then again, who doesn't love a cliffhanger." Uatu

This episode goes so hard. I really love the dynamic between Agatha and Kinko. Howard and Jarvis are a comedic blast. It's such a fun episode playing around with three diva characters who would've been around by this point of the timeline. The episode is also a love letter to cinema and the history of 1940s Hollywood with little details sprinkled out. This is What If at its best.

I love how this AU results from Agatha learning of Tiamut's existence. I also can't believe and love how What If also connects to Agent Carter since Howard did try to become a movie director (with mixed results to say the least). I think they also brought back Bernard Stark when Jarvis was trying to shoo away a flamingo from the set.

The dance choreography goes so fucking hard. I love musicals, so to see a musical dance number in the MCU is pretty great. The Hollywood and Bollywood dancing and music styles meshed really well in this episode. It was a pretty smart idea to acknowledge Agatha's power absorption powers would make it relatively easy for her to take the Eternals' powers. The real goats are the dancing teams of Agatha and Kingo for improvising so well during their fight lmao. Howard mentioning the Hinderberg is pretty funny since Agatha All Along said Agatha was suspected of causing the Hinderberg's destruction.

Agatha is amazing. Kathryn Hahn really loves playing this character and you can tell it. Whoever had the idea of pairing her up with Howard, Jarvis, and Kingo deserves a raise. I really love how she really leans into the actress role so much that she loves it by the end. Her Celestial design is simply beautiful. Her costumes are also great. Agatha becoming a Celestial would've been so in-character for her if she knew about them like we saw in this universe. There's something funny and cathartic about Arishem the Judge calling Agatha, a witch who lived through the Salem period, a heretic, then Agatha proceeding to beat the shit out of Arishem, that was a great historical joke.

I really love Kingo in this episode as well. While the Eternals was flawed, it had a great cast and worldbuilding. I love how Kingo was able to reach out to Agatha by appealing to an empty void inside of them until they did film. I really love his speech to Agatha. Stories whether that be film, games, etc inspire other people like me and I really connected with what he meant. It just reminds you that Kingo has a lot of depth to his character. I will say Kingo turning on Arishem in exchange for a three-picture deal is pretty hilarious (and other requests including his friends being freed). All the Eternals had to do was offer him that lmao. Kumail Nanjiani did an amazing job playing this character.

Jarvis eventually accepts the insanity and chaotic nature of the cast, which is pretty funny to see. He's such a comedic riot in the episode alongside the rest.

This episode really is one of the best episodes. This really showcases What If using its premise to create stories we never thought we needed until now.

"At some point, somewhere in our lives, the world made us feel small, so we set out to show them. But, Agatha, you never needed all this power. Because you've always had the only magic you'd ever really needed to leave your mark on the world." Kingo

"Uh-huh, uh-huh. And what magic is that?" Agatha Harkness

"The movies. 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." Kingo

"You can't possibly understand how long I've worked for this." Agatha Harkness

"Well, I've been on Earth for thousands of years, so I kinda do. And if you're anything like me, maybe all this time, you've just been looking for the right collaborator. So, what do you say? Wanna change the world? For real?" Kingo

[lecaudal]

[agentem]

"What If...?" 3x2

This was a bit of a weird one. Like, I have no idea WHY anyone wanted this. I don't think anyone was clamoring for an Eternals/Agatha crossover. I think they wanted to do a 40s musical aesthetic and worked backwards from there figuring out what characters would be alive at that time.

And I think it's actually a power downgrade for the Eternals, definitley for the Celestials. But we're not getting an Eternals sequel so maybe this is a way to write them off kind of easily?

Biggest surprise for me is not that Kumail and Kathryn are funny. But that they got James D'Arcy from Agent Carter back to voice Jarvis. It made me happy. I wasn't sure that show was still "canon."