Three years ago, WandaVision kickstarted a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and now Agatha All Along is here to do the same. WandaVision was the first of many Disney+ originals produced in-house by Marvel Studios, and unlike the ABC or Netflix-produced Marvel shows before it (like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil), these series would be entirely canonical to the record-breaking blockbuster films. While the promise of a fully integrated multi-media franchise was initially exciting riding the post-Endgame wave of hype and goodwill, the decision to make the shows required viewing for certain MCU movies like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels would eventually become a fatal flaw. Casual viewers who skipped their Disney+ homework were left alienated by missed essential plot threads. Moreover, new promising characters from the streaming service failed to resonate strongly with audiences when they transitioned to the big screen.
This year, Disney+ MCU offerings have been officially rebranded to “Marvel Television,” both deemphasizing their importance to the wider story of the franchise and encouraging viewers the freedom to pick and choose which shows to engage with. It’s somewhat fitting that Agatha All Along — a spin-off of the very first Disney+ original series — would be the first to attempt to turn it all around. Judging by the first four episodes, if you’re looking for any insight into the future of Marvel Television or the greater MCU, then Agatha All Along is not for you. But if you’re looking for a solidly entertaining (mostly) standalone series held together by an exceptional cast, then this is one of the better options in the streamer’s catalog.
Created by Jac Schaeffer, who was also the showrunner on WandaVision, Agatha All Along catches up with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) three years after the tragic events of Westview. Thanks to Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), aka the Scarlet Witch, Agatha has been imprisoned in her very own television-pastiche reality (in the first episode, it’s a parody of the HBO drama Mare of Easttown) for the past three years. When a wide-eyed goth teen (Joe Locke) breaks the spell and wakes her back to reality, Agatha decides to form a coven of misfit witches, each with their unique specialties in dark magic, and embark on a quest down the “Witch’s Road” to regain her former powers. It turns out that Agatha’s return to the real world might just give our unnamed teen (his identity is one of the show’s overarching mysteries) more than he bargained for.
Compared to other franchise outings, Agatha All Along thankfully keeps its horror-centric premise simple and relatively low-stakes in service of building its characters and this darker, less-explored corner of Marvel lore. This is where the show is the most surprising. For one, while MCU shows in the past tried to force fit their film-esque, three-act structures into the TV format, Agatha All Along’s premise feels inherently more episodic and paced, with each episode from 2 onwards focusing on a new different fatal challenge down the Witch’s Road. The character work is actively woven into the show’s plot, as opposed to the Marvel brand tendency to spill lengthy expositional monologues.
The witches that make Agatha’s coven are a mixture of socially outcast, deeply flawed women who are reluctant to work together, and so seeing the Witch’s Road challenge them to confront their traumas and insecurities is deeply satisfying. In one episode, Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) has to reconnect to her past and ward off a demon through the power of a musical number. In another, Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) rediscovers a lost passion for potionmaking. We even watch Agatha herself, a character who was once just a generic villain in WandaVision, grow from being a selfish lone wolf with a haunted past to a leader who is struggling but attempting to learn compassion. Yes, it’s a classic underdog story, though it’s one that Marvel typically excels at, so it’s no surprise how effective it is here.
It’s been widely joked about how Agatha All Along is Marvel’s queerest show yet (seemingly bouncing off the discourse of this 2018 Vulture piece). In the most literal sense, this is true. There’s a fun psychosexual bond between Agatha and her nemesis Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), legendary stage actress and gay icon Patti LuPone plays a tarot card-reading clairvoyant named Lilia Calderu, and Agatha’s openly gay teenage sidekick played by a Heartstopper boy is written with a “Twitter stan” personality — almost serving as an audience surrogate hyping all of these queens on their journey. On one hand, it’s refreshing to see this kind of representation in any mainstream context, and I was drawn to the show because of these choices. On the other hand, Agatha All Along can never fully escape being a Marvel product. Because of this, it’s hard not to feel cynical about the show’s queerness.
No matter how many stunning outfits Kathryn Hahn wears or how many openly queer actors are on screen, Agatha All Along fails to live up to its full “camp” potential. It’s still designed to be consumed by a wide audience and is severely limited by the homogenous and self-serious MCU tone, which unfortunately overshadows the few glimpses of a unique identity that do manage to shine through. Most of these “queer” quirks are more subtextual, fleeting moments that can be ignored. Perhaps that’s fine, and I’m sure no one is expecting Agatha All Along to be a landmark queer moment in TV history. However, the creative sacrifices that projects must make to be part of the MCU have never been more obvious, even for a Marvel series like Agatha All Along, which is designed to be fairly disconnected or “optional” to the main storyline.
The corporate representation conversation is ultimately worthy of a larger discussion outside of Agatha All Along. Still, it’s worth remarking on, especially given that the show is mostly a noticeable improvement on the Disney+ series formula and typical MCU trappings. Showrunner Jac Schaeffer has not crafted an elongated movie cut into episodes. This MCU series is not using most of its runtime to establish more spin-off shows or sequels. Also, while there are easter eggs, it’s not using them as a substitute for likable characters or a compelling story. Agatha All Along has the benefit of having a strong lead performance from Kathryn Hahn and a charismatic ensemble cast as its anchor. But you would still hope that a show that positions witches as powerful women who have been misunderstood by society for ages would embrace being a little bit more provocative and wicked.
Nonetheless, as far as Marvel Television goes, Agatha All Along is a stronger offering than most of what has come before. More importantly, it’s an entertaining story that left me wanting to see it through to its end. Perhaps it just feels like a breath of fresh air in contrast to recent MCU failures, but still, I hope Agatha All Along will stick the landing.
Agatha All Along premieres on September 18 on Disney+!
Created by Jac Schaeffer.
Showrunner: Jac Schaeffer.
Based on the character Agatha Harkness created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby.
Series Directors: Jac Schaeffer, Gandja Monteiro, & Rachel Goldberg.
Executive Producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Mary Livanos, & Jac Schaeffer.
Main Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, Paul Adelstein, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Okwui Okpokwasili, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Emma Caulfield, David Payton, David Lengel, Asif Ali, Amos Glick, Kate Forbes, & Brian Brightman.
Composer: Christophe Beck.
Production Company: Marvel Television.
Episode Count: 9 (Season One).
