Agatha Harkness is finally back.
After wreaking a bit of havoc and helping bring Wanda Maximoff’s idyllic small-town family life to an end in “WandaVision,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s favorite insidious and perfidious witch will take center stage in “Agatha All Along,” a new spinoff series which launched Wednesday on Disney+.
Portrayed by Kathryn Hahn, the character was introduced as Wanda and Vision’s nosy neighbor Agnes. The New Jersey housewife’s true identity was eventually revealed as Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch who had been drawn to the neighborhood by Wanda’s magic.
As usual, Marvel Studios has kept much about the new show under wraps. “Agatha All Along” picks up some time after the events of “WandaVision” and will follow an Agatha who has been stripped of her powers. The series will presumably see the witch get back to her old tricks with the help of new friends.
“WandaVision” aired in 2021 and most of the characters, including Agatha, have not been seen or mentioned in the MCU for years. Ahead of the premiere of “Agatha All Along,” here is a refresher on the character, her story and everything else you need to know.
Agatha’s backstory is revealed in Episode 8 of “WandaVision.” Back in 1693, in Salem, Massachusetts, a younger Agatha was dragged and bound to a stake to face accusations that she had betrayed her coven. Among her alleged crimes was stealing knowledge above her age and station and practicing the “darkest” of magic.
After Agatha pleaded for mercy — insisting she’d only bent the rules — her coven, led by her mother, attacked her. Agatha then absorbed all of her coven’s magical powers and killed them in the process. In the “WandaVision” finale, Agatha says her “thing” is to “take power from the undeserving.”
- What was she up to in ‘WandaVision’?
Unlike the other residents of Westview, Agatha is aware of the town’s enchanted state and was just playing along with Wanda’s sitcom fantasy life. Drawn to Wanda’s reality-altering powers, the centuries-old witch had been manipulating events in order to learn just how Wanda was pulling off the immense magical feat of bewitching an entire New Jersey town. (Talk about evil: Agatha even admits to killing Wanda’s family dog.)
Eventually, Agatha’s patience wears thin and she tries to force Wanda into revealing her secrets. She discovers that the grieving Wanda is a wielder of chaos magic, making her the mythical Scarlet Witch. Agatha’s desire to steal Wanda’s power for herself leads to an epic magical showdown in the “WandaVision” finale.
Despite centuries of knowledge, Agatha can’t beat the Scarlet Witch. Wanda uses one of the elder witch’s lessons against her and absorbs all of Agatha’s magic instead. Wanda also uses her power to wipe Agatha’s mind in order to live out her life in Westview as the nosy neighbor Agnes.
- What has Agatha been doing since ‘WandaVision’?
There has been no mention of Agatha Harkness in the MCU since the events of “WandaVision,” so she is presumably still living a magic-free life as Agnes.
- Is Agatha like this in the comics?
Not really. With comic book origins that date to the late 1960s, Agatha was introduced in the “Fantastic Four” series as the governess for the child of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman). Marvel’s first family is set to make its official MCU debut (the 2005 film was released by 20th Century Fox — before it was acquired by Disney) in the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” slated for 2025.
Generally depicted as an older woman, Agatha is a powerful witch who is eventually called upon to help Wanda with her magic and becomes her friend and mentor. She’s been killed a number of times over the years, but that hasn’t stopped her from showing up when needed, even as a spirit. Her son, Nicholas Scratch, is a villain who has gone up against the Fantastic Four.
Agatha has played a significant role in a number of storylines that involve Wanda’s relationship with her children, Billy and Tommy. In the 2015-2017 “ Scarlet Witch “ comic book series, Agatha accompanies Wanda on her journey through the Witches’ Road.
- What is ‘Agatha All Along’?
Set after the events of “WandaVision,” “Agatha All Along” will see the eponymous witch team up with a goth teen to form a ragtag coven of misfit witches in an attempt to regain her powers. The spinoff series takes its title from the catchy song written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez that revealed Agatha’s identity in “WandaVision” Episode 7.
Created by “WandaVision’s” Jac Schaeffer, the nine-episode series also stars Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone and Aubrey Plaza.
- Wait, what happened to Wanda and Vision after ‘WandaVision’?
At the conclusion of the series, Wanda was shown studying Agatha’s copy of the Darkhold, a tome of dark magic also referred to as the Book of the Damned. Her desire to be reunited with her kids Billy and Tommy leads to the events in “ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness “ (2022). Wanda was last seen destroying every copy of the “Darkhold” and being crushed under a pile of rubble in the process.
The Vision that Wanda created with her magic disappeared at the end of “WandaVision” after Wanda undid the magical hex that altered Westview’s reality. But the reconstructed Vision sent to destroy Wanda flew away from the town after getting access to his previous memories as an Avenger.
