Thursday, December 5, 2024
Television

Agatha All Along Teaser Trailer Reaction

‘Agatha All Along’, the Agatha Harkness ‘WandaVision’ spin-off starring Kathryn Hahn as the titular witch has been putting its audience through all sorts of magical trickery, changing its name several times since the series was announced in November 2021. The trailer for the show has released, and it teases a spooky Halloween show, cycling through various generes. 

Marvel Entertainment

The first look audiences get is Harkness, who is trapped in her nosy-neighbour form by Wanda, investigating the murder of what looks like Wanda Maximoff herself, the Scarlett Witch. Of course Wanda died in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, though it would be fitting for Harkness to learn about this. The victim is said to be called Jane Doe, which is the typical anonymised name people recieve, meaning it’s probably not somoene literally called that. 

Will ‘Agatha All Along’ ressurct Wanda Maximoff? It wouldn’t be surprising if Marvel Studios pursued that path, and that would help redeem Wanda, especially as many people were unhappy with her portrayal and subsequent death in ‘Multiverse of Madness’. 

Agatha pursues clues on an old library card, littered with dates and Easter Eggs. For example “State of New Jersey Public Library. Westview Branch #53961” referring to Westview, the town ‘WandaVision’ took place in, and the number refers to a universe with Doctor Strange and Gina Atwater, aka a version of Christine Palmer, where Gina is Sorcerer Supreme.

On the same card, the date Feb 16 is Elizabeth Olsen’s, actress for Wanda, birthday, Aug. 28 is Jack Kirby’s birthday who helped create Wanda Maximoff alongside Stan Lee, whose birthday was Dec. 28, which is also visible. June 2 refers to the date of the first Salem Witch trial, something that is itself referenced as Agatha Harkness’ origins back in ‘WandaVision’.

Aubrey Plaza makes her appearance as witch Rio, encouraging Harkness to break from Wanda’s spell. What follows is an impressive run through of all of Agatha’s different disguises she used in ‘WandaVision’ as she rips herself free from the spell, finally able to wreak havoc on the world. All of this no doubt happens very early on, keeping audiences in the dark as to what’s really happening. 

But Agatha’s power hasn’t returned with her breaking out the spell, so to get it back she must traverse the Witches’ Road, a path that puts any travellers through a series of magical gauntlets that rewards a witch with what she’s missing at the end. That goth teen is likely played by Joe Locke, but his identity in the show is unknown. His identity is likely a big reveal later in the show.

Audiences get glimpses of what they can expect down this road, and it’s leaning heavily into the iconography of witches, horror and magical beings. People in suspicious masks, mental asylums, the moon, zombies, haunted buildings. It’s certainly not for younger viewers.  but with a Marvel Studios twist, like Agatha being powered up by something, and the comedy present in most of Marvel Studios’ projects. Hopefully this is fresh take on both a Marvel Studios show and a horror flick.  

This show looks to indulge in a horror vibe not seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before. ‘Multiverse of Madness’ tried, but in the end it failed, feeling just like a cookie-cutter Marvel project. What helps this show is the fact it’s not based on a Marvel comic or storyline, making it difficult to predict what will happen. It’s aided in this unpredictability thanks to its relationship to ‘WandaVision’, not only that it’s a spin-off but with a similar creative team driving audiences to keep guessing. ‘WandaVision’ became famous for unpredictable nature, keeping fans in the dark and ‘Agatha All Along’ looks like it will too. 

‘Agatha All Along’ will be released on September 18 with a two episode premiere on Disney+, and will follow a weekly release thereafter.

Kieran Burt

My name is Kieran and I am based in the UK. I love writing about all things science fiction and fantasy, particularly Star Wars and Marvel. When I’m not writing or watching anything sci-fi related, you can probably find me exploring the open worlds of alternate lands through my Xbox.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SciFiction