WandaVisionwas a very special series, earning praise for its groundbreaking writing, pointed satire, and genuinely surprising narrative. Among the stellar cast of characters, a breakout star emerged in the form of nosy neighbor, powerful witch, and clandestine series villain Agatha Harkness.
Agatha Harkness was portrayed by Kathryn Hahn, an iconic comedic actress in the industry for over 2 decades with roles in films likeBad Momsand series likeTransparent. Hahn’s performance was beloved by fans and hugely critically acclaimed, earning an Emmy nomination.“Agatha All Along,” the song usedto herald the reveal of her villainous intent, won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
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Agatha Harkness is a witch who, hundreds of years ago, steals dark secrets beyond her rank from the other members of her coven. For her crimes, her fellow witches tie her to a wooden stake and attempt to execute her. Her own mother leads the group in the dark deed, but Harkness is too powerful to be put down. She slays the rest of her coven and spends the next several hundred years learning more magic and gathering powerful arcane items. She discovers Wanda Maximoff and the town of Westview, cleverly inserting herself to manipulate the events within and learn thesource of Wanda’s incredible powers. Over the course ofWandaVision,she masterfully pulls the strings that gradually shake Wanda and Vision until the time comes to enact her plan.
Agatha plays the role of Agnes, the main comic relief within the in-universe sitcoms and a classic nosey neighbor character. While in this disguise, Agnes sews discord and tries to keep outsiders from interfering with Wanda, so that she can learn more. She even manipulates a local to pretend to be Wanda’s late brother, even faking his superpowers with her magic. Eventually, Agatha reveals her deception, forces Wanda to relive past trauma, and diagnoses her as the Scarlet Witch, a legendary figure destined to destroy the world. Agatha offers Wanda a way out, give over her powers and, in exchange, Agatha will maintain Westview so that she may live in peace with Vision. Wanda refuses, they battle in the streets and after coming into her full powers, Wanda leaves Agatha trapped as Agnes within her own personal Westview illusion forever.
InWandaVision,Agatha Harkness is the antagonist,but it’s hard to say she’s the villain. She does bad things and definitely hurts people, but in many ways, Wanda is also a villain. In the most harrowing scene of the show, Agatha drops Wanda’s control over the townspeople, allowing them to react to the horror of their situation. Wanda reacts violently before gaining her composure, and the fact that she’s enslaved these people and that she will continue to do harm raises questions about the prophecy surrounding her. She is said to be destined to destroy the world, and after all she’s done, it doesn’t seem out of the question. Harkness sums up her motivation with the line “I take power from the undeserving. It’s kinda my thing.” Perhaps this quest is the one that will inform the narrative of her solo series.
Agatha was introduced in aFantastic Fourcomic in 1970. She is approached by Reed Richards to watch his son and she protects him with her powerful magics, becoming the child’s governess and a recurring character in the Four’s orbit. Since then, her complex backstory has been fleshed out.Like in the MCU, Harkness is centuries old, having survived the Salem Witch Trials. Over a century later, she joined the Daughters of Liberty, using her skills to teach them magic. This heavily implies she taught magic to Harriet Tubman. During World War II, she joins the U.S. Army’s Department of the Uncanny to fight a supervillain on behalf of America. Often she is a mentor figure, teaching various characters how to use their unique gifts or how to use magic.
The upcoming series is entirely in the dark, almost nothing has been revealed other than its star and thatWandaVisionhead writer Jac Schaeffer will be in charge. Given Agatha’s fate at the end of the series, it seems less likely that the series will take place in the present. Its certainly possible that she finds a way to escape, but Wanda’s next destinationseems to be the upcomingDoctor Strangesequel, so her appearance in this spin-off may be limited. Instead, her questionable past could be absolutely bursting with interesting stories.
All fans know about the MCU iteration of the character is the awful trap she’s stuck in and the near execution of over 300 years ago.The intervening time could includeadventures all over the world, involvement in major events and crossovers with a few other MCU mainstays, like it does in the comics. If her motivation truly is to depower the undeserving, she could be the hero of her own story. The MCU has not yet had a magical anti-hero, using fantastical powers to steal from the unworthy throughout time until she is finally defeated. A story like that could give new depth to the MCU timeline, flesh out the mystical angle of the franchise, and give a fan-favorite character a massive new place in the world.
