Written by Thomas Oxby
Agatha all along is the latest show to be released by Marvel and is part of phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is set three years after the events of WandaVision, which followed the relationship between Wanda Maximoff and Vision in the town of Westview, New Jersey and introduced viewers to the witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn).
As the series opens Agatha is still trapped in a spell which was cast by Maximoff at the end of WandaVision. She is freed with the help of a teenager (Joe Locke), who is referred to simply as Teen by Agatha. He asks her to take him to the witches’ road- a path which presents those travelling along it with numerous trials. If they can survive these and reach the end of the road they will be rewarded with the thing they want the most.
In Agatha’s case, it will allow her to regain her powers, which were taken by Wanda. In order to reach the start of the road, Agatha and Teen must assemble a coven which consists of Lilia Calderu ( Patti LuPone), who is capable of divination, Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), who is an expert in potions and protector witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn). The coven also includes Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp- reprising her role from WandaVision), who is unwittingly recruited by Agatha to act as the coven’s green witch despite having no magical abilities. The coven then has to face multiple challenges which test their skills as they journey along the road while at the same time evading the menacing Salem Seven.
Kathryn Hahn brilliantly portrays the cunning and charismatic Harkness. While, for the most part, Harkness is devious and calculating, Hahn also gives the witch a level of emotional depth which reveals itself during the show. She has great chemistry with both Locke and a scene-stealing Aubrey Plaza, whose character Rio Vidal tries to kill Agatha in episode one before joining the coven later in the series.
In WandaVision, each episode takes the styles of different sitcoms, while in Agatha All Along, during their journey along the witch’s road, the coven enters a different house for each trial they face. Each house has its own aesthetic, and the characters’ costumes are transformed each time they enter a different house to reflect this. This feels like a slightly silly and unnecessary call back to WandaVision but ultimately does nothing to take away from how entertaining the series is. Tonally, it’s quite different from previous Marvel films and shows, but again, this does not diminish the quality. It is just different from what fans may be used to. This is not unexpected, however, given the novel approach, WandaVision took in recreating classic sitcom formats.
The show is able to shift easily from humorous to frightening keeping the viewer engaged easily. Episode one may be hard to understand for viewers who have not seen WandaVision, and while the show quickly becomes self-contained, developments later in the series mean it would be beneficial for viewers to have seen the previous show before watching this.
Overall, I would give Agatha All Along four stars out of five because it is a fun and original addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So, is there hope for the future of the MCU? Based on this series in isolation, it appears there is. It has been favourably received by critics (with an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes), while in the first week of streaming, it reached 9.3 million views worldwide, according to Disney (which owns Marvel). Meanwhile, according to Variety, Marvel Studios’ head of streaming,
television and animation Brad Winderbaum stated that the show had achieved a higher audience retention than any other Marvel show so far. He also said that Agatha All Along is “the least expensive show” Marvel has made so far. Based on the reception to this show there is the possibility for Marvel to have continued success if it can produce more shows which are high quality and entertaining despite a limited budget.
According to the business magazine Fortune, the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, wants to prioritise quality over quantity when it comes to the company’s output. He said: “Volume can sometimes be detrimental to quality and in our zeal to greatly increase volume… some of our studios lost a little focus”. He went on to say, “We’ve reduced output, particularly at Marvel”. This attitude has been reflected in Marvel’s releases in 2024. Apart from Agatha all along only two shows have been released this year: Echo ( a follow to the 2021 show Hawkeye) and the animated X-Men ‘97. Meanwhile, the only MCU film released this year was Deadpool and Wolverine. All three were reviewed positively and performed well, suggesting that prioritising quality over quantity is an effective strategy for the future of the MCU.
However, Marvel appeared to reveal a lack of confidence in its future releases when it announced at San Diego Comic-Con this summer that Robert Downey jr would be returning to the MCU not as Iron Man but as Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The fact that Marvel felt the need to reveal this bombshell piece of casting almost two years before the first film came out rather than saving the reveal to surprise cinema-goers indicates that they want to guarantee that people will watch the film. His return also lessens the impact of the emotional conclusion to Iron Man’s character arc in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Ultimately, however, we do not know whether Marvel’s decision to cash in on Downey Jr’s casting means that the films will be good or bad. Based on the shows and films that have been released as part of the MCU this year and the fact that there are highly anticipated releases in the pipeline, I think there is hope for the future of this cinematic universe.