As the first of Marvel Studios’ streaming efforts, WandaVision blazed the Disney Plus trail for the MCU and that wasn’t always a good thing. Matt Shakman’s nine-episode series was a wonderful character study of Wanda Maximoff but week after week outrageous fan theories led to outraged fans. One such outrage came when the obvious villain of the series, Agatha Harkness, was revealed to be the actual villain of the series. Kathryn Hahn was wonderful in the role and is set to reprise it in an Agatha-centric series, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which is tentatively slated to release in 2024. The series has been closely followed by the very same fans of WandaVision whose uproarious online behavior made early 2021 so memorable and the rumor mill around the sequel series has been churning for quite some time. Let’s look at the most popular rumors and see what’s what.
The Identity of Joe Locke’s Character
One of the most ridiculous controversies around Agatha: Coven of Chaos centers around the character being played by one of the series co-stars, Joe Locke. While semi-obscure comic book character Nicholas Scratch became one of the most popular characters in the history of Marvel Comics overnight as people were led astray in believing Locke was set to portray the weird wizard, that’s simply not the case. Locke is set to play Billy Kaplan, as we’ve believed since October of last year. That’s not to say Scratch have an impact on the series but he’s certainly not played by Locke and isn’t even expected to appear.
While it’s great that Wiccan is finally going to appear in the MCU, Locke’s Kaplan isn’t going to be an exact translation from the comics. In fact, the path the people at Marvel have chosen to explain how Billy Maximoff becomes Billy Kaplan seems incredibly odd on paper and may end up ruffling more than a few feathers. Whatever the case, Locke’s your Wiccan and will be paired up with Agatha over the course of the series.
Salem’s Seven
Not too very long ago, a plot summary of Agatha: Coven of Chaos emerged which indicated that the witches of Salem’s seven were out for revenge. As explained here, it’s not too hard to figure out what these witches have been holding against Agatha for a few centuries. Agatha’s lust for power put her in a bad spot and she responded by…taking more power and killing 8 witches, including her mother. That leaves 7 other witches whose descendants will be coming for vengeance now that Agatha’s hiding spot has been revealed to the world thanks to The Hex.
Aubrey Plaza’s Character
As was recently revealed, Aubrey Plaza’s Rio and Agatha have a LONG history together that will be explored in the series. Were they married? Not married? I truly don’t know but whatever the case, the two WERE lovers and did have a son (told you Scratch had some part in all of this). In the comics, Agatha Harkness is over 20,000 years old and while these two haven’t known each other that long in the MCU, their time together can be measured in thousands of years. While Plaza’s character seems to be an original character, her identity as the Green Witch could have been influenced, in part, by James Robinson’s work with the Scarlet Witch for Marvel Comics. In 2015, Robinson introduced the Emerald Warlock to the witchy world of the comics and while Plaza’s character is certainly not him, the idea of different witches tied to different colors is certainly a theme in Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
Fans looking for a page-to-screen adaptation of Billy Kaplan’s origin story, The Children’s Crusade or James Robinson’s Scarlet Witch series will be sorely disappointed with Agatha: Coven of Chaos as that’s just not what Marvel Studios does. Instead, buckle up for an original adaptation inspired by (parts of) those stories–and more–that while may be full of some weird choices has some very good performances and sets the stage for another project set in the same corner of the MCU…should it ever come to fruition given the absolute chaos in Hollywood and the climate around the TV side of things at Marvel Studios.
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