Agatha All Along Review: A Witch Still Beloved
Three years after the success of WandaVision on Disney+, a return to Westview is necessary with Agatha All Along. The antagonist of the original series made such a lasting impression that Marvel decided to give her her own spin-off. After a perfectly mastered plot twist – which was accompanied by an iconic soundtrack – the adorable neighbor Agnes was revealed to be Agatha Harkness, an emblematic figure of witchcraft in comics. More than just an antagonist in WandaVisionAgatha establishes herself as a figure in her own right, a complex character whose aura of mystery persists until the last episode. The spectators are asking for more, and that's a good thing. Marvel has no plans to leave them wanting more.
The series Agatha All Along promises to continue the character's story where it left off. Locked in a mental prison by Wanda, the powerful witch is now convinced that she is Agnes and has only this identity. In the series as in real life, three years have passed since the denouement of WandaVisionand nothing has changed. But the amnesiac witch is about to free herself from these magical chains thanks to a mysterious boy who desperately needs her occult talents.
For the antagonist, it's a whole new journey that begins. Agatha will have to review her methods and her friends if she truly wants to regain the powers that Wanda stole from her. It is with these premises that Marvel offers us one of its most atypical creations to date, where magic and mystery take precedence over the usual overbidding specific to superheroes.
In Wanda's Shadow…or Not
In the original series, Agnes is nothing more than a fun supporting character, hidden in Scarlet Witch's shadow, and limited to a sympathetic extra until the final denouement. However, it only took a few episodes to establish Agatha as one of the most iconic antagonists in the entire MCU. While her strong character and offbeat music certainly played a role in the cult following she received, Miss Harkness remains nonetheless fascinating.
This series therefore has the heavy task of establishing Agatha as a character capable of shining on her own. In the three years between this spin-off and the original series, the MCU has lost its nobility and is desperately lacking new icons capable of carrying this cinematic universe on their shoulders. But is Agatha really a suitable figure for this objective? In glossy print, the witch appears in other people's stories, without enjoying her own moment of glory. Marvel therefore had free rein to adapt the character as it saw fit in order to make her a more striking version than in the comics.
Portraying Agatha as an antagonist in WandaVision was a first change of direction – because the witch is the ally of the heroes in the comics, let us remember – but Agatha All Along is a project of a completely different scale. After four episodes, the studio's intentions seem clear. Agatha All Along attempts to fit into the new direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where originality and risk-taking are intended to erase recent years of mediocrity. After a first episode still imbued with the atmosphere specific to WandaVision, Agatha takes flight to try to break the redundancy of the MCU with great blows of magic and insolence.
An Ode to Witchcraft
With Agatha All Alongthe House of Ideas manages to offer us a cocktail with surprising ingredients, to say the least. It is with skill that the series manages to perfectly handle humor, mystery and magic. Once again, Kathryn Hanh delivers a remarkable performance, like a true chameleon capable of changing hats from one scene to the next. Over the course of the episodes, Agatha reveals ever more complex facets of her personality, making her the tortured witch everyone was waiting for. But even better, This show attempts to approach witches and the occult in ways that are unexpected for a Marvel production. After stuffing us with explosions and special effects until we couldn't stop thirsting, the studio is finally trying something different. This time, magic takes on more folkloric proportions, where myths, legends and historical elements allow the MCU's witchcraft to be anchored in notions already known to viewers. No Kamar-Taj or Doctor Strange in sight: the series draws directly from the culture of Salem.
Since Agatha lost most of her powers following her fight with Wanda, The witch has only one solution to regain her glory: to venture on the Witches' Road. This new element of lore is of capital importance, since it triggers the scenario and also represents the common thread linking Agatha to the new protagonist: Teen. This teenage sorcerer's apprentice has managed to free Agatha from Wanda's spell, a feat far from altruistic since he seeks to be escorted by the renowned witch in order to explore the famous road in complete safety. Real for some, legendary for others, the Witches' Road is capable of offering everyone what they need most, provided they survive it.
And it is thanks to this mystical place that appeared out of nowhere thatAgatha All Along manages to build a powerful mystery in just a few episodes. While we know that our main witch is trying to venture there to obtain powerful magical powers, as she once did, no one knows Teen's motivations. This new character played by Joe Locke (revealed in the series Heartstopper on Netflix) is essential to the dynamics of the series. Besides her sunny personality in total opposition to that of Agatha, everything seems to revolve around her identity and her quest.
Protected by a spell, Teen is unable to reveal his first name and other personal details about himself. Who is he really and who is behind this magical barrier? How does he know Agatha? Why does the witch instinctively decide to help him? With each episode, the mystery deepens and the journey on the Witches' Road keeps us on the edge of our seats. But despite these excellent foundations, sometimes the magic ofAgatha All Along wavers and reveals flaws that cannot be ignored.
A magic that works often, but not all the time.
In the episodes we have been able to see, Agatha All Along appears to be a more modest series, which attempts to create a strong atmosphere without excess frills. By avoiding the excess of special effects, the program frees itself from visuals that could be out of place, but the overall result is much less grandiose than usual. While this decision on the part of the creative teams is far from being a negative point, this change of approach risks destabilizing certain spectators who could interpret it as a lack of conviction and budget. Fortunately, the polished artistic direction specific to WandaVision is back, transforming even the simplest environments (like a coastal home or a recording studio) into visual gems. What is lacking, however, is an equally iconic soundtrack. Except for the song The Balad of the Witches' Road which witches repeatedly perform (and which could well meet with the same success as Agatha's theme in WandaVision)the musical atmosphere is not really remarkable.
Alas, It is above all on the writing side thatAgatha All Along tends to suffer. While we have no complaints about the universe and mysteries created from scratch for this series, some script conveniences and certain dialogues did not fail to retain our attention for the wrong reasons. The most obvious example is certainly the meeting between the many characters of the series. To open the way to the Witches' Road, Agatha needs to form a coven composed of witches with distinct specialties. To avoid the characters embarking on a search that could drag on forever, Marvel simply establishes a far-fetched rule, according to which witches all live within a few kilometers of each other, instinctively. In a few minutes of an episode, Agatha then manages to find all sorts of allies, some of which one would think were pulled straight out of a hat. How convenient.
Fortunately, the casting of the clan members is so effective that we quickly manage to forgive this lack of consideration for the world building of the series. Special mention to the illustrious Patti Lupone whose role is as extravagant as her best performances on Broadway and which seems to have very particular implications for the rest of the scenario. Surrounded by all these surprising actresses, Kathryn Hahn still manages to make Agatha a leader with an iron fist and perfectly measured insolence, so much so that we love to hate her. It is however regrettable that the perfect dynamic between Agatha and the Witches is not reciprocal with Teen.
The interactions between Teen and Agatha are generally effective and contribute to the mystery surrounding them, but the teenager's interventions during group decisions are an unspeakable disaster. It's as if to write a young, shy and openly queer character, the writers simply looked for punchlines on TikTok and in episodes of RuPaul's Drag Racebefore throwing it all into a generative AI. Unfortunately for Joe Locke, viewers will feel like they're seeing a spicier version of his Charlie from Heartstopperand nothing more. The actor risks being categorized in this kind of role in the future, and that's a shame. A few moments of discomfort are therefore felt, but fortunately, these can be counted on the fingers of one hand and do not spoil the general atmosphere of the series.
Where and when to watch Agatha All Along ?
The first two episodes of the new Marvel series are already available on Disney+. The next episodes will be released at of one chapter per week, every Thursday at 3am (French time). Only the finale scheduled for October 31 will also be composed of two episodes broadcast on the same day. Enough to hint at a grand finale just in time for Halloween.
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