Plenty of time has passed since fans enjoyed the release of WandaVision and then saw what Wanda became in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, I’m still not over the massive chunk of missing character development in that gap, and I need Agatha All Along to rectify it.
When we left Wanda at the end of WandaVision, she was reeling. But she also seemed rooted in the desire to right her wrongs. Her world had just collapsed around her again with the loss of her Vision and the children she inadvertently tied too closely to the hex.
And yet, it was Wanda who made the decision to set everyone free from her magic. She chose to let her family go to right her wrongs – to stop imprisoning the entire town in her chaos magic.
So, while we did leave her determined to find the Darkhold and use it to recover her family, it felt like she’d also learned something. Her morals have always been malleable, but Wanda seemed to show genuine remorse for the suffering of the people in her imaginary WandaVision world.
We were left with the impression that she’d try pretty hard not to let grief lead her to do anything like that again. Fast forward to the Wanda we see in Multiverse of Madness, and things change drastically.
We know from the post-credits ending of WandaVision that our witch found the Darkhold, a text known to corrupt everyone who spends too much time with it. But for fans who feel invested in Wanda as a character, this hand-waving explanation for how we got from a Wanda who wanted to fix her wrongs to the woman we find ripping worlds apart isn’t enough.
It’s not that I can’t handle seeing Wanda become the villain. Scarlet Witch has always been a character who toes that line, and that isn’t the problem. The problem is that it just doesn’t do her character justice to lean on the Darkhold and motherly love and let that be enough to turn her from the woman we saw in WandaVision to a horror movie villain.
Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Agatha All Along
I want to see more of what led Wanda down that path. I want to sit with her and watch her struggle to find a way to reunite with her sons that doesn’t involve breaking apart the multiverse and killing another version of herself to get it. All of us fans deserve to see how she got to that raw, broken place where that truly felt like her only option.
At the end of Multiverse of Madness, it’s implied that Wanda sacrifices herself to right her wrongs this time. So, we’re back at square one again; sorry for the pain we caused and scrambling to fix it. And that, Marvel wants us to believe, is the end of her story.
Of course, seasoned Marvel fans know a character death that doesn’t take place on screen shouldn’t be trusted. I fully expect that we may well learn Wanda isn’t dead, at all. Either way, Agatha All Along needs to contend with the woman who left Agatha trapped in Westview.
Don’t get me wrong here. I’ve watched the Agatha All Along trailer a dozen times at this point, and I really think it has the potential for a great story that will stand almost on its own. The witchy vibes are immaculate, the spookiness is spooking, and the cast is on point. The premise makes it clear that this is Agatha’s story, and it’s a story I’m ready to enjoy.
But we all know why Agatha is a free agent again. Whether it’s truly from Wanda’s death or some other reason, the show begins where Wanda’s story ends. We’ll spend at least some time in the town Wanda once claimed for her perfect TV fairytale story. Agatha is powerless because of what Wanda stole.
You can’t tell me the show doesn’t owe us something when it comes to Wanda’s story. I need answers, and I know I’m not alone here. No, I don’t expect or even hope that we’ll get hours of flashbacks showing us Wanda’s whole journey. But I’d like some hints here and there that help fill in those massive character development gaps between the end of WandaVision and her heel turn.
And, of course, I’m sure many fans are hoping that Agatha All Along will prove once and for all whether that puff of red at the end of the movie was truly Wanda’s demise. Personally, I’m not holding out for that one, as I expect Marvel will wait for a cinematic moment to reveal that particular secret weapon in their storytelling arsenal.
I don’t know how they’ll do it or if they will, but I’m keeping an eye on the showrunners to right some wrongs. It will be Agatha’s story, but it’s got the remnants of Wanda written all over it. And if fan theories about the identity of a certain teenage member of her coven are true, it’s possible that a character close to Wanda just might be the key to helping tell more of her story.
Agatha All Along premieres September 18th on Disney+.
Published: Sep 13, 2024 07:38 am