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Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along begins in the wake of Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch’s (Elizabeth Olsen) presumed death shown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is a step in the process of villainous witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) freeing herself from the spell Wanda cast on her at the end of WandaVision. But while Agatha’s no longer trapped in her television-inspired alter ego of “Agnes,” she’s still without her own magical powers, which Wanda drained from her. At the urging of the mysterious “Teen” (Joe Locke) and in the hopes of both getting her power back and evading an assortment of enemies looking to kill her, Agatha forms a makeshift coven of witchesto walk the mysterious Witches’ Road. But just what is this mystical location, and how could it affect her story and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The Witches’ Road is a relatively recent addition to the Marvel Comics universe, having first appeared in Scarlet Witch #3 in 2015. In that series, Wanda traveled the world solving magical crimes with the help of the ghost of the then dead Agatha, with whom she had come to a grudging truce. While investigating a mystical plague in Ireland, Wanda surmises that she could find the villain responsible by using the Witches’ Road, which is described as something she and Agatha are both already aware of, despite its lack of prior appearances. Both know that only beings with magical powers can enter the Road.
Few other details about it are given, but Agatha does note that, as a ghost, she would not be able to enter it on her own but can accompany Wanda. She also tells the younger witch that “time is a vague thing” on the Road, which results in the pair encountering a young version of Wanda’s deceased biological mother, Natalya, who is shown to have previously used the mantle of the Scarlet Witch. Agatha warns Wanda against giving Natalya knowledge of the future, as doing so could alter events after her time. Different types of magic users sometimes have their powers increased or diminished on specific parts of the Road.
Why Can’t the Teen Say His Name in ‘Agatha All Along’?
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Later in the series, it is revealed that the Goddess of Witchcraft lives on the Road, along with the being known as Chaos, who works with her to allow magic to break the laws of physical reality. Although most of the Road takes the form of a forest, its appearance becomes more abstract and psychedelic the closer one gets to the Goddess’ home at the end of it. Many of the mystical creatures that reside on the Road are influenced by the Goddess’ health, or lack thereof. Eventually, Wanda, Agatha, and Natalya discover that Chaos has turned on the Goddess and attacked her, causing a kind of infection within magic itself. The three witches ultimately rescue the Goddess with the help of Wanda’s brother Pietro/Quicksilver, but only after Natalya sacrifices her soul.
Details on the MCU version of the Road are similarly limited so far, given that it is only introduced in full in the second episode of Agatha All Along, but it does already have some characteristics that differentiate it from its comic counterpart. Chief among these are the facts that both a coven and the singing of a ballad are required to enter the television version of the Road, while in the comics Wanda is able to access it solely on her own power. And although her internal monologue does note that the Road frightens the comic Wanda somewhat, she and Agatha still travel down it on several occasions with minimal hesitation. The television witches are much more frightened of it, with several of them also believing it to simply be a myth. Agatha herself plays into the latter assumption, initially telling Teen that the Road doesn’t exist, even though she later claims to be one of the few witches to have survived traveling down it.
Other than allowing Wanda to interact with Natalya, the Road hasn’t contributed much to the comic canon, but it will likely be much more influential on the MCU. Teen says that “The Road will give you the thing you want the most — if you make it to the end.” Assuming that he and Agatha both make it to the end, this could result in her getting her powers back (and, perhaps, achieving a more personal goal) and Wanda or other members of the Maximoff family returning to the MCU, if in fact, Teen is a version of Billy Maximoff, one of Wanda’s magically created sons, as most suspect is the case. If this version of the Road has time-altering properties similar to those in the comics, it could also play an important role in storylines not strictly limited to the mystical side of the MCU. Time travel and the multiverse are inextricably linked in the MCU, so if the Road is a location where one can travel through time, or at least experience it in an unusual way, it could play a crucial part in multiple projects in the Multiverse Saga, just as similar locales such as the Quantum Realm and Time Variance Authority have.
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S., with new episodes premiering Wednesday nights.
“}]] The mystical setting of ‘Agatha All Along’ is a recent addition to the Marvel Universe. Read More