Now thatAgatha All Alonghas concluded its nine-episode run, the series' creators are finally revealing behind-the-scenes details. The final two episodes that aired the night before Halloween delivered plenty for fans, from an epic showdown with Death, to Wiccan finally suiting up in his comic-accurate costume. Yet the series finale also delved more into Agatha Harkness as a character, including the tragic origin behind what happened to her son, Nicolas Scratch. After weeks of speculation, fan theories, and anticipation,Agatha All Alongmanaged to deliver something unique within the MCU,but that didn’t mean there weren’t a lot of concerns behind the scenes about how fans would react to it.
While speaking withVariety,Agatha All Alongcreator Jac Schaeffer broke down the penultimate episode aboutAgatha’s decision to sacrifice herself to save Billy Maximoff/Wiccan. Schaeffer reveals the level of expectations that fans of the MCU have for their stories, and knowledge of the comics about how they are supposed to go. This certainly puts a lot of pressure on the creative team and how that level of expectation, particularly around the idea of a redemption arc, played into the final two episodes. Schaeffer said:
“I will say, the reality is, the finale pieces of these projects are very, very hard, because there’s a lot of Marvel burden to deal with. There’s a lot of fan expectation, there’s a lot of familiarity. I deal in tropes of other pop culture stuff, but then, you got to get into the tropes of the MCU. So we’re hurtling toward a moment of a crucible, and what everyone’s expecting is a redemption arc for Agatha and she sacrifices herself. From the beginning, you feel like that’s where it’s going, and I was interested in doing that in a recognizably Marvel way, but have it be different, in that it’s a kiss, not a blast.”
Agatha All Along Broke the Mold
There are plenty of stories where villainous characters “sacrifice” themselves, andthis is framed as being heroic while sweeping their past horrible deeds under the rug. The best example is Darth Vader inReturn of the Jedi, whose redemption now seems harder to swallow, not that audiences know he personally slaughtered children. Meanwhile, former MCU villains like Loki and seemingly the entire cast ofThunderbolts*have found redemption, sometimes sanding off the edges that made fans fall in love with them. While Agatha Harkness did “sacrifice” herself, she still did it on her terms. She might not be the villain she was inWandaVision, but she is still far from trustworthy.Agatha remains the character fans fell in love with before, just now with new levels of depth.
No One Expected That MAJOR Death in Agatha All Along, But This Is What It Means
The Agatha All Along finale was shocking for many reasons and could have significant ramifications for the broader MCU.
Agatha All Along’s final two episodes feel like a reaction to the finale ofWandaVision.WandaVisionis undoubtedly one of the most praised entries in the MCU, but a common criticism was the final episode was a typical Marvel fight with characters shooting energy beams at one another, which contrasted with the rest of the series' unique sitcom format.Agatha All Alongstill features a big CGI showdown between Agatha and Wiccan taking on Death, but the conflict is not resolved by overpowering their opponent but by outsmarting them. In addition, this battle is saved for the eighth episode, while the finale is a more personal, intimate character study. This isn’t how people who love or hate the MCU expect these stories to end, butAgatha All Alongdid it. It seems like the show did breakthe mold of conventional MCU stories for the better.
Agatha All Along
Starring Kathryn Hahn as the titular Marvel witch, Agatha All Along reveals how Scarlet Witch’s enemy broke Wanda Maximoff’s binding spell at the end of WandaVision. Aubrey Plaza, Joe Locke, Emma Caulfield, and Ali Ahn join Hahn in the MCU Phase 5 spinoff series, released on Disney+.
