Who Is Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal in Agatha All Along?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along Episode 1, “Seekest Thou the Road.”

Aubrey Plaza just made her MCU debut in Agatha All Along as Rio Vidal – a sinister and enigmatic figure. So what’s the deal with Rio Vidal in Agatha All Along, and is she also a character in the show’s comic book source material?

Who Is Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal in Agatha All Along?

Rio Vidal shows up early on in Agatha All Along‘s debut episode, “Seekest Thou the Road.” She’s an FBI agent assigned to assist Agnes O’Connor – in reality, the amnesiac Agatha Harkness – solve a Jane Doe murder case. Or at least, that’s who Vidal is pretending to be. By the time the credits roll on Agatha All Along Episode 1, Rio’s unmasked herself as a powerful warrior witch who shares a not-so-pleasant history with Agatha. What exactly went down between the pair? Presumably, we’ll find out in Agatha All Along‘s remaining episodes. We should also be in for a spectacular duel, as Agatha (her memory restored) convinces Vidal to postpone her revenge plans until Agatha’s magical powers return.

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That’s all we know about Rio Vidal from Agatha All Along‘s two installments aired to date. Fortunately, pre-release coverage has supplied additional info about the MCU’s newest baddie. Notably, Aubrey Plaza confirmed in an Entertainment Weekly interview that Vidal is a Green Witch: a sorceress who specializes in Earth magic. In the same interview, Plaza also hinted that there’s more to Rio than meets the eye. “I can’t say everything about my character now, but I’ll say that there’s all kinds of layers,” she teased. “I really wanted to try to bring some kind of chaotic energy and a spontaneity to it that would keep Agatha on her toes, and just have fun playing in that dynamic.”

Is Rio Vidal a Character in the Comics?

Nope, Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer created Rio Vidal specifically for the Disney+ series, so she doesn’t appear in any Marvel comics. That said, Schaeffer seemingly took inspiration from comic book continuity while developing Rio. Notably, Agatha and Wanda Maximoff run afoul of Dian – the self-proclaimed Emerald Warlock – in 2016’s Scarlet Witch series. This showdown even takes place on the Witches Road, a major locale in Agatha All Along. So, presumably, Rio Vidal is a gender-swapped version of Dian, whose backstory was likewise reconfigured to more prominently feature Agatha.

Agatha All Along is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.