It’s official: WandaVision’s nosy neighbour Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) is far more than she originally seemed, with the seventh episode of the Disney Plus series sensationally confirming a long-rumoured fan theory.
You see, Agnes is none other than Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch with designs on Wanda and, despite appearances, an awful lot of what’s going on in Westview is down to “Agatha all along”.
Luring Wanda’s children to her home then doing the same to Wanda herself, Agatha unmasks herself at the end of WandaVision episode seven, unleashing her own brand of personal magic while a snappy theme tune notes how a lot of the weird occurrences in the series (including the arrival of Evan Peters’ Pietro) were her doing.
“Wanda, Wanda, you didn’t think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?” she asks.
“The name’s Agatha Harkness. Lovely to finally meet you dear.”
Really, we should have seen this coming from the start. While Agnes initially appeared to be a harmless part of Wanda and Vision’s small town world, the theory from the start for many fans was that she was actually representing a pretty key character from the comics called Agatha Harkness, hence her first name (Agatha Harkness). In said comics, Agatha is a powerful witch who has lived for centuries and often pitches in to help various superheroes, including a period where she worked as a nanny for the Fantastic Four.
However, her key relationship is with Scarlet Witch, AKA Wanda Maximoff, whom she helped mentor and instruct in the use of the magic over the course of Wanda’s career as a superhero. Unfortunately, this relationship later turned sour when Wanda became more unstable, and it was revealed during the Avengers-ending “Disassembled” storyline that Wanda had murdered Agatha (though she later returned to life again because, comics).
In other words, this character fits perfectly in a screen story about Wanda apparently having some sort of mental breakdown (which at least part of WandaVision seems to be based on) – and, over the course of the series, we’d seen a number of clues that Agatha and Agnes were one and the same.
During a sequence in WandaVision’s sixth episode, set at Halloween, Wanda and Vision both wear versions of their retro comic-book costumes, revealing their true inner selves through outerwear. And what is Agnes wearing? A witch costume, tying her closely to comic-book Agatha’s identity.
Fans have also noticed that Agatha’s house exterior is nearly identical to that of the house used in classic sitcom Bewitched. With hindsight, this was clearly a less-than-subtle nod from the WandaVision crew that Wanda isn’t the only magic-user in town.
Hell, even Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige (who is closely involved with WandaVision) inadvertently dropped a hint that Agatha may be more important than she first appears, which, in the light of episode seven’s revelations, is all the more telling.
“I think [it] solidified the voice of the character,” Feige told RadioTimes.com and other press of the decision to cast sitcom regular Hahn in the role. “It kind of… I almost said something I shouldn’t.”
Well, we now know what he almost said. Not only is Agnes Agatha, but she’s apparently the villain of the piece – she killed Sparky the dog! – in a departure from her more heroic comic-book counterpart. Exactly how involved she is with the Westview Hex, what she wants with Wanda and/or Vision and what the deal is with her “husband” Ralph is still less clear, but we’re sure the whole thing will be cleared up in WandaVision’s final episodes.
Still, for now, fans can take some pleasure from the fact that, amidst a sea of fan theories about this show one finally came true. It really was Agatha, all along.
Want more WandaVision content? Check out our latest WandaVision review, our guide to the WandaVision cast, the WandaVision release schedule, Agatha Harkness and the creepy WandaVision commercials. Plus, we ask:When is WandaVision set and how did Vision survive?
WandaVision releases new episodes on Disney Plus on Fridays. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £5.99 a month or £59.99 a year.
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