WandaVision villain Agatha Harkness was originally written as a direct mentor to Scarlet Witch, according to series creator Jac Schaeffer. Played brilliantly in the MCU show by Kathryn Hahn, Agatha, who goes undercover in Westview as quirky neighbor Agnes, was a hit with fans and a great foil to Wanda Maximoff. But what would the show have looked like if Agatha weren’t the main villain, and was instead an ally and teacher for Wanda?

In the comics, Agatha Harkness fills that role. An old woman in physical appearance and an incredibly powerful witch, she fights on the side of good more often than not and instructs Wanda extensively in the ways of Chaos Magic. The character was changed up substantially for her MCU debut, though she still carries much of the same general backstory and overall powers. According to Jac Schaeffer, however, the original WandaVision Agatha was much closer to the comics.

Related: Why WandaVision Season 2 Just Became More Likely (Despite Its End)

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Schaeffer discussed several of the big changes WandaVision underwent from conception to production, which included the role of Agatha Harkness in the story. Schaeffer described the original Agatha as more of a “mentor and magic-expert,” and explained that the character was turned into the main villain after it became clear the show needed one. Read Schaeffer’s full quote below.

“In the original conception, Agatha’s character was more in the mentor and magic-expert space. One of the things that never changed was that in the finale, Wanda would have to say goodbye to Vision. In my original notion of it, that goodbye was like a final binding spell that she had to do. And it was tied to a spell that Agatha had taught her early in the series, where a gravy tureen had shattered, and Agatha taught her this very basic binding spell. In the end, what she has to do is integrate her trauma, and she has to bind Vision back to herself with that spell. Agatha ended up becoming more of an antagonistic force, because we needed that in the series. 

“There was more dissection of the idea of chaos magic [the source of Wanda’s powers] in the [writers] room, too. When we hired Matt, there was a long period where we were trying to design a chaos dimension, which ended up not serving us and wasn’t necessary.”

Scarlet Witch tries to put Agatha Harkness under a spell in WandaVision.

The end of WandaVision left the door open for Agatha to return in future MCU projects. Given how popular Hahn was with fans, that seems likely. Scarlet Witch’s next major outing in the franchise will be a co-starring role in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which could see her traveling to some frightening dimensions in search of her lost children, Billy/Wiccan and Tommy/Speed. Depending on the specifics of the story, Agatha could make a cameo in the new Doctor Strange as well.

Beyond Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Scarlet Witch could play a major role in the MCU’s future crossover events. WandaVision sets her up solidly as one of the most powerful characters in the entire MCU, and her ability to shape reality to her will could come into play in some interesting ways. The Marvel comics feature a number of major storylines with Wanda and her Chaos Magic at the center – stories that could serve as inspiration for Marvel Studios going forward. The next big crossover will be the Disney+ limited series Secret Invasion, which could be altered from the comics to include Wanda in a more prominent way. With WandaVision standing as one of the MCU’s most critically acclaimed projects to date, characters like Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness could return frequently for years to come.

Next: Marvel’s Secret Invasion Cast: Every Actor Confirmed So Far

Source: Rolling Stone

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