“As seen in WandaVisionAgatha couldn’t imagine anything more disgusting than working with other witches. Also, for her, the very concept of sincerity is disgusting. Not to mention opening up to anyone. Then she would feel like throwing up!” summarizes Kathryn Hahn, with a wry smile and an amused glint in her eye, in a virtual interview with The Duty.
It is with rare generosity and deadpan humor that the actress partially lifts the veil on what will happen in Agatha All Along (Agatha every time in French), of which journalists were able to view four of the nine episodes and which will begin broadcasting on September 18 on Disney+.
Agatha All Along picks up three years after the relentless duel between witches Agatha Harkness and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) at the end of the series. WandaVision, also created by Jac Schaeffer. A final episode of which it would be a good idea to watch at least the first half in order to refresh your memory. And remember how Agatha’s disappeared. As well as her powers.
She has (re)become Agnes, known as the neighbor who pokes her nose into everything. She would remain so for a long time if it were not for the intrusion, at her home, of a teenager we will call Teen (Joe Locke, from Heartstopper). Her presence triggers a series of incidents. The bubble that is the small town of Westview cracks. Agatha takes back her rights over her life. She only has to find her powers again. To do this, she will need to walk on the Witches’ Road (hard) in the company of other witches (ark!). And Teen, who does not take off (painful!).
A teenager like no other
“I can’t say anything about him. Teen is Teen,” says the Manx actor who auditioned seven times to get the role. “It was a long process, but I dreamed of being part of the Marvel universe.” So he was all set when he took the plunge into the role of a teenager who is very knowledgeable in… “witchcraft”: “He loves witchcraft, a bit like a young person who is passionate about music and who would know everything about his favourite musicians. He is a huge fan of Agatha.”
Why? Especially since it has been off the map for three years! You can’t count on the team ofAgatha All Along to find out. And it’s better that way. The guesses will come thick and fast, and the answers will be given in due time, promises Jac Schaeffer — who, in addition to creating the series, wrote and directed a few episodes. “My favorite moment is that scene where Agatha says something that everyone thinks is a lie. We later realize that she was telling the truth. I find that moment absolutely delicious, because Agatha is a liar. She wears a mask. But when that mask falls, who is she really? What is her truth? That’s what we dig into and explore in the series. And it was made possible by Kathryn’s talent.”
Which, for its part, owes a lot to that of Jac Schaeffer. The “ showrunner ” has managed to create a series that has a reason for being other than “let’s make a sequel to something that worked really well.” The Agatha we meet here is more nuanced than the one we meet in WandaVision where, boastful and sarcastic, she was “only” the bad guy in the story.
A multiple witch
“I don’t even know how to describe her,” Schaeffer says. “Agatha is not the type of person who can be identified with anything. She’s so beyond labels! Let’s just say that in a universe like Marvel’s, she’s an unexpected villain.” [unexpected villain] in that she doesn’t have a cataclysmic agenda like taking over a population or a planet. None of that really interests her. While she is fascinated by the power of others, what she seeks is power for herself. To cast spells, to create life, to be a mentor. She has an insatiable appetite for it.”
And she is deprived of it. Her pain, when she regains consciousness and detaches herself from Agnes, is unspeakable. “It was a terribly interesting place to find her,” says Kathryn Hahn. “A witch who is doing whatever it takes to reconnect with her power. I see it as a beautiful metaphor for the situation of anyone, for whatever reason, who has been deprived of their voice, their authenticity, and wants to find it again to be heard, to take back their place.”
To this end, take the road. Here, that of the witches. Which one does not frequent alone if one wants to survive there. Agatha has no other choice but to be accompanied. Enter Rio (Aubrey Plaza), Lilia (Patti LuPone), Jennifer (Sasheer Zamata) and Alice (Ali Ahn). Each has her own quest, her own powers, her own shortcomings. And it is only together, by overcoming their disagreements and their differences, that they will obtain (perhaps) what they came for.
To get them on the road, a key. A song, in fact.