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It was clear from the moment Kathryn Hahn first revealed herself as Agatha Harkness on WandaVision, that she had redefined the character from Marvel Comics and made it her own. And in fact, while it wasn’t a one-to-one, Marvel made the Agatha in the books much younger, to line up with her on-screen counterpart. And then, funnily enough — and spoilers past this point — in the Agatha All Along finale, the Agatha Harkness ghost that was introduced brought the character back to her Marvel Comics origins… With a more faithful look that brings in bits from several different storylines.
In case you missed the episode, Agatha dies saving Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) from Death (Aubrey Plaza), trading her life for his. And she is dead now, she just refuses to leave Earth… Mostly because she’s not ready to face her son, Nicholas Scratch, in the afterlife.
When Agatha does show up in Billy’s bedroom as a ghost, she’s now got long, grey hair, instead of Hahn’s brunette. She’s also wearing a completely new outfit… Still purple, but with a shiny silver design down the front and other fashion notes that I do not know how to describe, since my entire life has been devoted to comic books and I can barely dress myself.
In any case, she’s got a new look, and that’s where we leave her when she and Billy head off to find his brother, Tommy, in the series’ final moments.
So, how does this all tie into the comics? Well, I’ll tell you.
Agatha All Along, like the best of the MCU, has been remixing several pieces from the comic book lore. For example, way back in 1985’s Vision and Scarlet Witch #3, Nicholas Scratch and the Salem Seven burned Agatha at the stake. She then appeared as a ghost, and not only helped the Scarlet Witch defeat Nick Scratch, but also told her how she could create Billy and Tommy, despite Vision being an android.
Rather randomly, Agatha came back to life, and just in time. It turns out that Billy and Tommy were souls belonging to Mephisto, Marvel’s devil. He absorbed them (with the help of a minion named Master Pandemonium), and Wanda was distraught. In order to take that pain away, Agatha erased Wanda’s memories of her children… But sort of did a bad job.
During the Avengers: Disassembled storyline in Avengers #500, Wanda finally got her memory back. One of the first things she did? Killed Agatha, and left her in the wreckage of Avengers Mansion as a lifeless husk. If that last part sounds familiar, see the husks Agatha left behind after siphoning their power on Agatha All Along.
Agatha eventually came back as a ghost again, this time after Wanda had mostly recovered. They teamed up a bunch, and ultimately Agatha came back to life during one of their adventures. And then after Hahn started playing her, she looked a whole lot younger, thanks to the events of a series called Midnight Suns.
Contrast that look with old Agatha, and you can sort of see how MCU’s Agatha Harkness Ghost came together. There’s the cape and grey hair of the original, and the purple and silver of the younger version’s costume… But of course, it’s also its own thing for the MCU.
Will on-screen Agatha ever get that weird swoopy grey poof of hair the classic Agatha Harkness had? I guess we’ll have to wait and see wherever Agatha and Billy show up next to find out. Unless they ghost us with that storyline.
“]] Agatha’s new look is actually an amalgamation of several storylines. Read More