Producer of Agatha All Along Describes WandaVision as a ‘Puzzle Box’ and Compares it to the Original Series
Agatha All Along, a spin-off series of Disney+ hit show Wanda Vision, is headed towards its release in a few weeks. While promoting the upcoming project, series producer Mary Livanos appeared on the Official Marvel Podcast and talked about the similarities between the original and the spin-off series.
“The great thing about WandaVision was that it had a puzzle box design that took multiple episodes to unpack and figure out the truth of what was really going on,” Livanos revealed that the spin-off was created with the same intention.
“We loved that the stakes weren’t world or universe-ending,” he added. Instead, they were meaningful and impactful for the characters and people around them. “So, we’ve strived to do that again with Agatha.”
Kathryn Hahn stars as Agatha Harkness—an evil Salem witch—who was trapped in Wanda’s fake reality, doomed to live her life as “the noisy neighbor” after the events of Wanda Vision. The spin-off will pick up from where it left off and bring a “down and out of power” Agatha back to her glory.
When a goth teen approaches and begs her to take him down the legendary Witch’s Road, Agatha’s interest piques, and she decides to hop on the adventure. The official synopsis says, “A spell-bound Agatha Harkness regains freedom thanks to a teen’s help. Intrigued by his plea, she embarks on the Witches’ Road trials to reclaim her powers and discover the teen’s motivations.”
Although the evil witch is a protagonist, Hahn ensures she has bitterness and “acerbic nastiness,” similar to the original series. The actress admitted to Rolling Stone that she was thankful that the creatives had the same vision. “Our wishes aligned. I wanted to actually see what lies beneath that weird, hard, mean shell,” she added.
Her character was quite a personality on Wanda Vision, “a great old-school actor who loves putting on the ritz,” according to Hahn’s description. The actress wanted to stay true to that side of Agatha in the spin-off.
Heartstopper fame Joe Locke also stars opposite Hahn as the mysterious teen boy who rescues Agatha. However, his portrayal of an openly gay character faced plenty of backlash. “I’ve never really thought about it,” he said in an interview with Variety. “It’s one of those things that gets a bit stressful if you think about it too much.” Nonetheless, the actor admitted that being part of a Marvel project was a “pinch me moment” for him.
Agatha All Along will be available to stream on Disney+ from September 18 onwards.