What If…? Season 3 from Marvel is shaping up to be bigger and far better than the previous season. The first four episodes feel grander in scale and impact compared to Season 2. Episode 1 kicks things off with Hulk-Godzilla and the Mech-Avengers, while Episode 2 features weapons manufacturer-turned-enigmatic director Howard Stark, the iconic Agatha Harkness, and the evergreen Kingo. Episode 3 showcases Red Guardian in his most comedic and childish avatar yet. Meanwhile, the latest episode marks the return of Howard the Duck, who ends up marrying Darcy Lewis, one of Jane Foster’s interns and close friends. However, it’s Episode 2 that has the internet buzzing. Could it be laying the foundation for the long-awaited Eternals sequel?
Lights, camera, and Agatha! The cunning witch sets her sights on stealing the power of Tiamut, one of the Celestials buried deep within the Earth’s core, in the second episode. In this timeline, Agatha finds herself as a major movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Starring alongside her is Kingo, one of the Eternals, who has been sent by the Celestial Arishem to guard Tiamut. Both of these intriguing characters appear in a film directed by none other than Howard Stark.
Episode 2 features an epic dance-off between Agatha and Kingo, which can be hailed as Marvel’s take on the clash between Western and Bollywood dance styles (bonus points to Kingo for his energetic and scintillating moves). As the episode progresses, Agatha successfully convinces Kingo to relinquish his powers to her, enabling her to complete the spell needed to harness Tiamut’s powers. Once she succeeds, Agatha transforms into a Celestial-like being. This enrages Arishem, who decides to visit Earth to wreak havoc and confront Agatha. However, the deadly combination of Agatha’s magical abilities and Tiamut’s powers proves too overwhelming for Arishem, allowing Agatha to kill him with ease.
In the episode’s final moments, we see Agatha hinting at a sequel to her blockbuster film, Cosmic Queen. What could she mean by that? Could this be a sign that the Celestials will return in future live-action MCU projects? The arrival of the Celestials would also pave the way for Eternals 2.
Yes, Episode 2 of What If…? Season 3 takes place in an alternate timeline. However, this doesn’t mean that Marvel has forgotten about the Celestials and Eternals in the main MCU timeline. In fact, we’ve already seen Sam Wilson flying over a Celestial body in the promotional clips for Captain America: Brave New World.
Given Marvel Studios’ upcoming slate of movies set to hit theatres, the odds of Eternals 2 happening seem drastically low. Even if, by some miracle, the sequel receives a green light from Marvel, it’s unclear whether it could generate enough hype to justify its existence and ensure impressive box office returns. The studio has already prioritised more prominent projects, such as Spider-Man 4, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars. This leaves little to no room for an Eternals sequel.
At this point, Eternals 2 feels like a distant dream. Let’s see what the future holds. Stay tuned for more updates. Stream the first four episodes of What If…? Season 3 on Disney+ Hotstar.
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