Yes I did need Howard Stark teaming up with Agatha Harkness and Kingo
Marvel’s What If…? allows us to have fun pairings within the Marvel universe. Season 3 has brought us yet another great pairing in “What If…Agatha Went to Hollywood?”
Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is an old Hollywood movie star. So, a dream. But when she wants to protect the world from the Celestial in the center of the earth, she brings Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in to help her (and star in the movie with her). Directed by Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) with the help of his butler, Jarvis (James D’Arcy), the movie set is lavish, beautiful, and magic. Literally. Howard Stark worked with beings who could use their own powers to save money.
There is a lot to love about this episode. For me, the old Hollywood of it all really did a lot of the work. But every character who showed up just made me happier and happier. I love that Dominic Cooper continues to return as the younger Howard Stark. Fans of Agent Carter have probably missed seeing Cooper and D’Arcy together (at least I have) and this was a little taste of what we’ve been missing.
But more than that, getting to see Agatha interact with different Marvel characters is fun. And hey, at least we know the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not forgotten about the Eternals right? And who better to fit into an old Hollywood storyline than Kingo, a character who tricked people into believing his entire family all just looked alike so he could keep making movies for decades?
There aren’t really any set expectations for the series. That’s what makes What If…? so special. We never know what kind of dream story we’re going to get. And sometimes, that means we get Agatha teaming up with the boys.
Yet another example of why What If…? rules
This episode was another example of Marvel’s brilliant take on “villains.” Kingo convinces Agatha to work with him instead of using the power she gains to her advantage. It is, in a lot of ways, like the end of Agatha All Along when she agrees to work with Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) to go and find his brother Tommy.
She isn’t all bad, despite what she thinks of herself, and getting to see Agatha actively choose to do the right thing in something like What If…? is fun to see. Plus I do think that Agatha would give Howard Stark a run for his money, more so than his friendship with Peggy Carter did.
The unfortunate thing about What If…? is that I want to see this foursome more now. What I wouldn’t give for an entire movie set during this time with Howard and the gang making movies together! Let Captain America make a movie before the ice, bring in Bucky Barnes! The point is, I think this is fun and while we have seen characters from What If…? pop up in the live-action in the past, this is an episode I DO wish we got more of.
If Captain Carter can be in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I can get old Hollywood Agatha…right?
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