Agatha Harkness is the latest entry to the most liked villains club in the MCU. Despite playing a negative role, she has become an admired character among fans. But would things still be the same had she projected a different character arc?
The recent MCU series, “WandaVision” on Disney+ has earned critical acclamation and wide admiration from fans across the globe. It’s been about three months since the last episode aired but we still find ourselves talking about it with the same enthusiasm.
Recently, the creator of the show, Jac Schaeffer revealed that they had different plans for Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha in the beginning. Comic books had a bigger influence on the script and the characters were designed more like their book counterparts. But things changed at the last moment and Agatha became a notorious witch who went undercover to spy on Wanda as her neighbour and close friend, Agnes. She had wicked intentions and did pretty nasty things to break Wanda, such as killing Sparky. In the end, the story took a sharp turn when Agnes revealed herself to be an ancient and evil witch. She abducted Wanda’s twins, Billy and Tommy, and attempted to drain the Scarlet Witch off her powers.
Who Was Agatha Harkness?
Agatha emerging as a sinister character was not just a shock for movie fans but also comic book readers. The Marvel version of Agatha was ancient and powerful, but she fought for the good and also mentored Scarlet Witch. It was she who introduced Scarlet Witch to Chaos Magic and taught her every aspect of it. Just like her comic book counterpart, Kathryn’s Agatha was also supposed to be a dependable ally and a teacher to Wanda. While the origins remained the same, MCU changed everything else in the last moment to add a twist.
How Was the MCU Agatha Harkness Conceptualized?
According to the creator, the studio had envisioned Agatha as a mentor to Wanda in the story. But as new ideas kept pouring in during the conceptualization, her character went through several changes until she became a villain. Even though Director Tyler Hayward was one of the bad guys in the storyline, it was Agatha who brought real “chaos” and amped things up. In fact, the series had projected Hayward as the enemy since the beginning, while keeping Agatha’s truth a secret.
As much as we’d love to see the witches team up, there’s no denying it was Agatha’s wickedness that spiced up the thrill. Although Wanda defeated her in the end, the MCU managed to leave the door ajar for Agatha to lurk in. Perhaps, we’ll see her again in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” as Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange embark on a dangerous journey to the multiverse and various dimensions. Will her arc get a new light this time? We are yet to find out.
