Hahn leads Marvel spinoff ‘Agatha All Along’
Of all the unstoppable forces in the world of entertainment, Marvel is without a doubt one of the most prolific. Owned by Disney since 2009, when a $4-billion deal took place, Marvel Entertainment churns out a plethora of content each year, ranging from comics and games to movies and TV series.
The newest addition to Marvel’s catalog is “Agatha All Along,” the highly anticipated spinoff of the hugely popular Disney+ series “Wandavision,” which was released in 2021 and follows Wanda Maximoff/scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen, “Love & Death”) and Vision (Paul Bettany, “A Knight’s Tale,” 2001), as they discover their perfect sitcom-worthy life may not be as ideal as it seems at first glance.
Now headed down an even darker side to the story, “Agatha All Along” premieres its first two episodes Wednesday, Sept. 18 — just in time for spooky season. Don’t miss all nine episodes of the bewitching series as they air over eight weeks (wrapping Nov. 6) on Disney+.
As indicated by the series’ name, “Agatha All Along” focuses on master manipulator and “coven-less witch” Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn, “Tiny Beautiful Things”). Initially introduced as Wanda and Vision’s nosy neighbor in “Wandavision,” Agatha is now spellbound and hopes to regain her power by way of a goth teenager with curious motives. Collecting a coven of like-minded witches along the way, Agatha and her crew embark down the Witches’ Road, hoping to get their powers back one dark step at a time.
Leading the coven, of course, is Hahn as Agatha, with Broadway star and musician Patti Lupone (“Beau Is Afraid,” 2023) close behind as Lilia Calderu, a 450-year-old Sicilian witch who may already be well known to fans of the Doctor Strange comic books. Lilia is a diviner and strong ally of the surgeon-turned-sorcerer, as well as the trusted keeper of the coveted spell book called the Book of Cagliostro.
While “Agatha” marks Lupone’s debut in the MCU, it is hardly the actress’s first time in witchy entertainment content. “American Horror Story” fans may recognize her as religious neighbor Joan Ramsey in the series’ third season, “AHS: Coven,” while podcast listeners may be more familiar with Lupone’s voice as psychic witch Mia Risal in the 2019 thriller podcast “Passenger List.”
“Agatha All Along” also stars America’s deadpan darling Aubrey Plaza (“The White Lotus”) as Rio Vidal, a warrior and green witch who is eager to join the pilgrimage down Witches’ Road; Sasheer Zamata (“Home Economics”) as Jennifer Kale, a sorceress and member of the Cult of Zhered-na; and Ali Ahn (“The Diplomat”) as Alice Wu-gulliver, the magical daughter of a police detective and August Wu of the Coral Shore, guardian of Hong Kong.
The young goth responsible for the coven, on the other hand, simply goes by the name “Teen,” although speculative Marvel fans have posited that he may be none other than Billy Kaplan, later known in Marvel comics as Wiccan. Regardless of the character’s given name, Teen is played by young Manx actor Joe Locke, who won a Queerty Award for his performance in the Netflix series “Heartstopper” in 2023.
While speaking to Rolling Stone magazine about his role as the mysterious Teen, Locke notes that “Agatha All Along” may not be what most Marvel fans are used to seeing in the MCU. “It’s a dark comedy about witches,” Locke states.
“It’s not what you would usually expect from a Marvel series . ... We gather a coven and a very unlikely group of women and me — which is my life in general — get on the Witches’ Road. Then magic, fun and mystery prevails.”