As James Gunn and Peter Safran work to build out their vision of the DCU, the DC Studios’ co-chairs have made it clear that the shared narrative will extend beyond the screen and into multiple other media. Live-action streaming series, animated streaming series and video games will all help create the all-new, all-different canon of the DCU and part of the plan to maintain a sense of continuity is to have one actor play a role across all the different medium. As an example, Frank Grillo will enter the DCU as the voice of Rick Flag Sr. in the animated Creature Commandos and then reprise the role in live-action in Season 2 of Peacemaker.
Television, movies and games all intertwine within the same universe. We’re going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this, as well as in other things, some of which we’ve already cast.
-James Gunn
According to Gunn, part of the reason that they’ll seek to maintain continuity between the different projects is to ensure that all DC Studios’ projects are in equal ground. “We don’t want the series to feel in any way like step-children or lesser than,” said Gunn in a 2023 interview. It’s an intriguing way to move forward as it may continue to allow, as is the case for Grillo, actors to enter the DCU first with their voice before physically embodying their character.
With that notion in mind, the recently announced animated film, Dynamic Duo, could become the door through which the DCU’s Caped Crusader enters the chat.
Animation will lead into live action and back into animation. It’s a way to tell stories that are gigantic and huge, but without spending, you now, $50 million an episode.
-James Gunn
As part of the initial reveal of DC Studios’ Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, The Brave and the Bold was announced and described by Gunn as “a very strange sort of father-son story.” As one of the first five movies to be announced, it was easy to assume that The Brave and the Bold would make its way to screens sooner rather than later but for a multitude of reasons, that’s not yet come to pass. And that brings us to the newly announced Dynamic Duo.
It’s important to note that as of now, there’s no clarity on whether or not Dynamic Duo will be set within the DCU, only that despite Matt Reeves‘ 6th and Idaho producing the film, it is not set in Reeves‘ Batman Epic Crime Saga. Indeed earlier this year Gunn cautioned that not every DC Studios’ animated project would be set in the DCU and Dynamic Duo may be the first example of that; however, if it is not, then it seems extremely likely that a project which features two Robins would also include Batman. In fact, Reeves pretty clearly indicated it would.
I have wanted to make a film with Arthur and Swaybox for many years, and for that film to be Dynamic Duo, an incredibly special and unique Batman and Robin story for families, is a dream.
With a script by Coco and Lightyear scribe Matthew Aldrich already in the works and a director on board, work could begin on the project at any time which means casting could get underway imminently. When that happens, will Gunn be searching for the voice of (and eventually the face of) the DCU’s Batman? Hopefully, given his social media presence, that question is answered by Gunn before long.
With Deadpool & Wolverine now available digitally after a record-breaking theatrical run, some fans are catching the buddy comedy for the first time from the comfort of their home theater. Though Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are the film’s stars and the ones out to save the day, they get plenty of help from a surprising group of heroes.
Despite being made by Marvel Studios and containing a scene set in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline, most of Deadpool & Wolverine takes place on Earth-10005, multiple other Earths across the Multiverse or in The Void at the End of Time. While there’s plenty of fun had as Wade hops from Earth to Earth in search of the right Wolverine for the job, it’s in The Void where the film really flexes its creativity, bringing in a ragtag team of washed up heroes known as The Resistance. The Resistance generated a lot of buzz during the film’s theatrical run and is likely to do so again as the project’s second life begins. So, who are the characters who make up The Resistance and why are they there? Let’s take a look!
The Members of The Resistance
Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
Played by: Chris Evans
References: Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
The first member of The Resistance met by Wade and Logan, Johnny Storm also meets a horrible fate at the freaky hands of Cassandra Nova. The film cleverly exploited Evans‘ return, baiting the audience into believing they might be seeing the triumphant return of Captain America. While that didn’t turn out to be the case, Evans gave Johnny a proper sendoff which includes a profanity-laced tirade for the ages.
Thank you to Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy for letting me be a part of such an incredible movie! They’re three of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Special thank you to Ryan for making it all happen. Playing Johnny again was a dream come true and he’ll always have a special place in my heart.
Chris Evans
Elektra Natchios
Played by: Jennifer Garner
References: Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005)
After debuting as the character along Ben Affleck‘s Matt Murdock/Daredevil in 2003 and leading an Elektra film in 2005, Jennifer Garner suited back up as the assassin almost 20 years later and didn’t miss a beat.
I didn’t know that Elektra and I needed an ending, but Shawn and Ryan did. They are gifted in many ways, but seeing and elevating people around them is at the top of the list.
Jennifer Garner
Eric Brooks/Blade
Played by: Wesley Snipes
References: Blade (1998), Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004)
A decade before the MCU kicked off with Iron Man, Wesley Snipes brought Blade the Vampire Hunter to the big screen, lending legitimacy to superhero properties and changing the pop culture landscape forever. Despite Reynolds and Snipes having a fairly well-known feud with one another while filming Blade: Trinity, Reynolds reached out and the two found a way to not only bring Blade back but give him the proper send-off he never got.
Well, if you can make it happen. Sure. I’ll come and do it. I did not think it was possible. I didn’t think he would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it. Disney was into it.
Wesley Snipes
Remy LeBeau/Gambit
Played by: Channing Tatum
Reference: None
Though a version of Gambit appeared in the absolutely awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine, there’s little more to the story of this particular version portrayed by Channing Tatum. When Disney and Fox merged in 2019, Tatum’s long-developing Gambit film went by the wayside as the Fox X-Men franchise was euthanized. Tatum’s passion for the character came through in Deadpool & Wolverine, leading for fans to call for his return as the Cajun down the road.
I thought I had lost Gambit forever.
-Channing Tatum
Laura/X-23
Played by: Dafne Keen
Reference: Logan (2017)
Dafne Keen first starred as X-23, a clone of Wolverine, in 2017’s Logan and instantly became a fan favorite. While her return to the character was rumored months ahead of the film’s premiere, Keen kept the secret from almost everyone. Unlike the other members of The Resistance, Laura eventually ended up on Earth-10005, seemingly promising more in store for the character in the MCU.
Shawn [Levy] told me this lovely story about him reading this scene where Deadpool was telling Wolverine about X–23, and thinking, ‘Maybe we should just have X-23.’ She’s a big emotional motor for Wolverine, and Wolverine is her entire emotional motor.
Dafne Keen
Deadpool & Wolverine is now available for purchase on digital platforms.
Despite being the lead character of a Disney Plus series, Agatha Harkness is no hero. Kathryn Hahn‘s wicked witch with over 300 years of dirty deeds to her credit. Flashbacks in WandaVision revealed that in the 1690s, Agatha broke the rules of her coven by practicing dark magic. Accused and put on trial by the coven’s leader, her mother, Evanora, Agatha revealed the extent of her abilities by absorbing the powers of all the other witches and killing them all, including her mother. She done a bad, bad thing…but unfortunately, as revealed in the third episode of Agatha All Along, “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials”, she was just getting started.
Episode 3 pits Agatha and her coven of chaos against the first of their many trials as they walk the Witches’ Road and, according to series’ creator Jac Schaeffer‘s grand design, lays bare each witch’s worst nightmare. While the house by the sea is technically where Jennifer Kale’s trial as a potions witch is held, a little is revealed about each member of the coven after they drink the wine poisoned with Alewife’s Revenge and begin to hallucinate. Working to locate the ingredients for an antidote for the poison, everyone who drank the wine is forced to relive her worst nightmare and for Agatha it’s a shocking revelation that lays bare the depths of her depravity and lust for power…and one that likely explains not only why the rest of the witches don’t trust her but also why Rio is rip roaring angry with her and wants her dead.
Dating back to WandaVision, there have been plenty of teases–both subtle and not-so-subtle–about Agatha’s comic book son, Nicholas Scratch. From the bunny she called Senor Scratchy to the child having an empty room in the house her spellbound persona Detective Agnes O’Connor inhabits, Agatha’s son has made quite an impression by NOT being there. And now we know why. As shared with Teen by Jennifer Kale and confirmed by Agatha’s hallucination, Agatha traded her son to Mephisto in order to acquire the Darkhold. Kale’s story alludes to the possibility that Teen may well be Scratch but we all know that’s just more misdirection but it does help make clear why Agatha has been so protective of the character: even she’s not sure how her own son might look. At this point, Agatha seems pretty irredeemable and there’s really no longer any reason to wonder why Rio–obviously a former lover of Agatha’s–wants her dead. It would seem Scratch wasn’t Agatha’s son but the son of both Agatha and Rio.
With these shows, so often there is something that is at once a joke and a wink and a nod, and actually has something legitimate underneath it. As we all know, Mephisto is a character who’s very wrapped into Agatha’s storyline. I mean, people have to watch, but we’re always playing with the audience in that way.
-Jac Schaeffer on Mephisto’s role in Agatha All Along, EW, September 25, 2024
While theorists who’ve been claiming for the past three years that Mephisto will show up in every MCU project can finally thump their chests at the name drop, the search for Scratch continues. In the comics, Scratch went on to father the members of the Salem’s Seven. That spooky group of shape-shifting freaks showed up in Episode 2 but don’t expect them to be Agatha’s grandkids in the MCU. Once Mephisto has his claws in someone, it’s typically for good but who knows exactly what becomes of a baby raised by a Class Two demon? Maybe we’ll find out at the end of the Witches’ Road.
Note: This article was first published on June 15, 2023
A recent plot summary of Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Agatha: Coven ofChaos indicated that a group of villains ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics will be stirring up trouble for Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness and her coven. According to insider Daniel RPK, Salem’s Seven will be headed to Westview to “seek out revenge” on Agatha Harkness…but revenge for what?
In the Comics…
First seen in the pages of Fantastic Four #186, Salem’s Seven were, in their own words, “a supernatural squadron” capable of mutating themselves through magic to take on some pretty horrifying forms. Led by Vertigo, the group was made up of mystics named Brutacus, Gazelle, Hydron, Reptilla, Thornn and Vakume all of whom were the grandchildren of Agatha Harkness. As it turned out, Agatha’s son, the wanton sorcerer Nicholas Scratch, had quite an itch to scratch indeed and spread his seed liberally amongst the potential baby mamas of the quaint magical community of New Salem, a hidden Colorado town founded by the survivors of the Salem Witch Trials.
While each member of the Seven wielded reasonably powerful magic, their transformations made them far more formidable. Brutacus got brutey. Gazelle morphed into a super speedy deer lady. Hydron became a merman with a stump water canon. Reptilla turned into a snake with bitey snake arms. Thornn became a demonic porcupine. Vakume lost his face and could control the wind. And Vertigo…well you can probably guess. It’s best not to overthink these types of things and just accept that they did what they could do because crazy animal sorcerers provided a much more fertile landscape for telling weird witch stories.
And Salem’s Seven found their way into more than one weird witch story, though their primary purpose remained largely the same: get Agatha. Despite their father being one of the most popular characters in the long history of Marvel Comics, the children of the Scratch mostly failed miserably in their attempts to bring harm to their powerful granny. When it’s all said and done, other than looking cool when they mutate, they were mostly cannon fodder.
In the MCU…
In what might be the least mysterious mystery in the history of MCU mystery, the origin of the vengeful Salem’s Seven began in 1693. As seen in Episode 8 of WandaVision, “Previously On”, Agatha’s taste for dark magic put her in a rather precarious predicament as she was put on trial by her own Salem-based coven. Eight witches, including her mother, Evanora, held court as Agatha was accused of a bevy of witchy crimes and sentenced to death by energy beaming. Unfortunately for the coven, Agatha’s reverse energy beaming powers were stronger and she laid those witches low.
Eight dead Salem witches. One of them Agatha’s mother. Seven dead witches whose descendants would have reason to be out to give Agatha some smoke. Salem’s Seven. The math checks out. Drawn to Westview, perhaps, after the incredibly powerful hex cast by Wanda caught the attention of every magic user across the globe, Vertigo and crew would seem to have a leg up on Agatha given that last time she was seen, she didn’t know who she truly was following Wanda’s spell. Maybe a powerful “familiar” can help her find herself.
As in the comics, it sounds like the Seven will be led by Vertigo, who is reportedly being played by Okwui Okpokwasili. The only burning question about Salem’s Seven is whether or not Marvel Studios will bring their funky mutant powers from page to screen. The answer, probably, is yes. Much like Len Wein and George Perez, Jac Schaeffer and crew likely recognize that having funky-looking sorcerers is cooler than having a bunch more who look like people. It’s also likely that they’ll pose little actual threat to Agatha and Billy, though they might be able to take out one of their coven just to keep it interesting. If that’s the case, it begs the question of why Marvel Studios would make the main villains of Agatha: Coven ofChaos so underwhelming. Easy one: because they aren’t the true big bad.
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney Plus.
The two-episode premiere of Agatha All Along certainly didn’t disappoint the legions of fans who had been waiting to return to Westview. Star Kathryn Hahn stepped right back into the role of the spellbound Agnes O’Connor before quite literally stripping away the layers that created that persona until Agatha Harkness reemerged. And while fans are rightfully looking forward to Agatha and her coven of chaos making their way down the Witches’ Road, series’ creator Jac Schaeffer had a good old Easter egg hunt planned first.
Before Agatha escapes the spell cast on her by Wanda Maximoff, she finds herself living out her days as a Westview PD detective. As she works a mysterious murder case, Detective O’Connor grows frustrated in her attempts to deduce any reasonable conclusions from the clues she’s collected which include a familiar-looking locket. Upon returning home for the evening, a distressed Agnes opens a door to a room in her house which, in turn, opens a great big can of worms related to one of the central mysteries of the series.
Revealed to be the room of her son, the room is shown to be filled with drawings, trophies and otherwise everyday kid stuff…but there’s no kid. Oh, and the kid who isn’t there: it’s Nicholas Scratch. Son of a bitch!
Who Is Nicholas Scratch?
Like his mother, Agatha’s comic book son, Nicholas Scratch, has a bit of a sordid history. Scratch was referenced as somewhat of an Easter egg in WandaVision, with Harnkness’ pet bunny (who returns for Agatha All Along) sharing the name, but in the comics, he was a powerful warlock in his own right who had less than a loving relationship with his mother.
Schaeffer smartly seeded Scratch into the tapestry of Agatha All Along out of the gate…and Episode 1 is hardly the last time he’ll be referenced.
Scratch’s presence in Agatha All Along has been predicted and debated since the series was announced and speculation reached a fever pitch when Joe Locke was cast in a role that has yet to be fully disclosed. Despite some evidence to the contrary, dozens of dedicated fans of Nicholas Scratch and at least one once prominent “leaker” held fast to the belief that Locke was cast as the son of Agatha Harkness.
Unsurprisingly, Schaeffer not only refuses to resolve the debate over the course of the first two episodes but rather encourages further discourse around it. The recovery of Agatha’s Neopaganistic Triple Goddess broach/locket complete with a lock(e) of curly dark hair shrewdly sustains the suspense over the true nature of Locke’s character, providing hope to the Nicholas Scratch fan club, now 36 strong.
The two-episode premiere of Agatha All Along set the stage for plenty of mystery and mischief to unfold over the next six weeks. Though there truly wasn’t much mystery behind the identity of Episode 1’s murder victim, there are still plenty of questions left unanswered by the end of the series’ double-dip debut. There seems to be much to discover about Aubrey Plaza‘s Rio Vidal and her past with Agatha Harkness and, of course, the true identity of Joe Locke‘s Teen will haunt theorists and speculators for the duration of the show. However, creator Jac Schaeffer may have already given away more information about who Teen truly is than you might think.
Episode 1 of Agatha All Along, “Seekest Thou The Road”, makes an overt effort to drag viewers in one particular direction when it comes to the true identity of Teen. While still trapped within Wanda’s spell as Agnes, it’s revealed that Agatha once had a son named Nicholas Scratch. If that name isn’t too familiar to you, you’ll be forgiven, but it is a name that fans and leakers alike threw around as the “true” identity of Locke‘s characters dating back to when he was cast in the series. GIven the way Episode 1 plays out, it’s understandable that fans might conclude that Locke is Scratch; however, the devil (Mephisto!!) is in the details.
Misdirection is well utilized by magicians and it seems as though Schaeffer has employed some “look over here” type shenanigans in Episodes 1 and 2. While fans are busy Googling Nicholas Scratch, growing his fan club to nearly 4 dozen, Detective Agnes O’Connor dropped a fairly important clue of her own in Episode 1 that likely went unnoticed. When she was visited at her home by Rio Vidal, Agnes mentioned a car crash that took place one hour before the time of death of the murder victim she found in the creek. When found in Eastview, the car’s front two airbags had been deployed and there was blood in the backseat. Though Agnes is sure there’s some connection to the dead body that was recently discovered, she’s unable to make all the pieces fit. However, her intuition is sound as the car accident is very likely related to the true identity of Locke’s character.
Schaeffer has sprinkled clues to the identity of Locke’s character everywhere and more will pop up as the show goes on. Everything seen and heard in the first two episodes was seen and heard for a reason. Agnes’ conversation with Rio about the car would be completely unnecessary if it weren’t going to come back into play sometime down, down, down the road. And while the full reveal hasn’t come along just yet, Episode 2 holds further clues that tie to the car accident. While Teen and Agatha go witch shopping, they hop into Teen’s car…or at least a car he says is his.
While Teen is clearly comfortable with the vehicle and familiar enough with its contents to know that there’s a pen in the dashboard compartment, there’s at least one compelling reason to believe that it doesn’t belong to him but rather to his mother. Remember that lovely string of pearls that Agatha “borrows” from the mirror and wears around her neck while collecting the coven? That might just be one of those clues you were supposed to notice but missed. And why might that matter?
If he’s not Nicholas Scratch, Teen is probably Billy Kaplan, a character he’s looooong been rumored to be. And if he’s Billy Kaplan, he’s also Billy Maximoff, kind of…and it’s all pretty confusing how that works out; however, it’s very possible that the car crash has a lot to do with how Billy Maximoff’s disembodied soul might find its way into Billy Kaplan’s body. Unless you had the captions on, you probably missed the dialogue in Episode 2 that revealed that Teen was born and raised in Eastview…where the car crash happened. Delievered during a conversation with Agatha in which she realized she couldn’t hear him speak, it may have seemed like some throwaway lines that were just part of the sigil gimmick but pretend for a minute that it wasn’t. One possible explanation that does provide a somewhat reasonable explanation for what’s going on is that Billy Kaplan died in a car crash, his body was taken over by Billy Maximoff’s soul, he abandoned the car found his way to his house where he took his mom’s car and hatched his plan to get down the Witches’ Road. And why might it be his mom’s car? That string of pearls looks just like the one worn by Rebbecca Kaplan, Billy’s mom, in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1.
It’s all conjecture at this point but as the show progresses and we all continue to wonder what Agatha is up to, what’s up with Rio and what surprises await down the Witches’ Road, keep in mind that the most innocent member of the group might just be the one dissembling the most and hiding his true intentions.
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney Plus.
Marvel Studios’ latest Disney Plus streaming series, Agatha All Along, came out of the gate strong in its two-episode debut. Picking up three years after the events of WandaVision, “Seekest Thou The Road” finds a still bewitched Agatha starring in an episode of a True Detective-esque murder mystery. The pilot episode sees a recently reinstated Detective Agnes O’Connor on the scene of an unsolved murder that has everything to do with who she was and who she will be again. While it might seem fairly straightforward, there’s no harm in breaking down exactly who the vic was and how the evidence ties Agatha All Along to other Marvel Studios’ projects.
The Victim
The opening moments of the first episode of Agatha All Along resembles the early episodes of WandaVision by putting the series lead in the middle of a decade-appropriate genre piece which, in this case, is a camped-up version of an episode of HBO’s True Detective. Starring the residents of Westview, the episode within the series revolves around the mysterious murder of an unknown victim. Still trapped inside the spell cast by Wanda Maximoff in the season finale of WandaVision, Agatha Harkness stars as Detective Agnes O’Connor who feels an immediate an inexplicable connection to the murder victim. As the episode unfolds, it becomes clear that the current-ish events of the real world have leaked into the distorted reality in which Agatha is trapped.
Though Agnes is initially incapable of comprehending what’s occurred, the events of the third act of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are neatly dove-tailed into the Agatha All Along opener by series’ creator Jac Schaeffer. And so, the victim is indeed Wanda Maximoff, who died by her own hand while she destroyed the castle of Chthon at Mount Wundagore.
The Evidence
While it’s probably pretty clear early on to most folks that Wanda is the dead woman in the creek, Schaeffer planted an incredibly clever clue at the murder scene. Throughout Episode 1, Detective O’Connor digs into a library slip with multiple dates and zero names. That card leads to the Westview library which allows Agnes to dig up the title of a book that she discovers was stolen from the Natural Science section. Following up on the book’s original location, Agnes learns that every copy of the book, Dialogue and Rhetoric: Known History of Learning & Debate, written by Andrew Ugo, has been burned. As Agatha works out for herself, the title of the book has a one-to-one relationship to the Darkhold, the book of the damned that Wanda stole from Agatha before choosing to destroy every copy of it throughout the Multiverse. As for Ugo, the author’s name is simply a rescramble of Wundagore, the Eastern European mountain that served as the setting for the final act of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Tying the victim’s death back to that location explains the cause of death, the presence of foreign soil and why all the copies of the D.A.R.K.H.O.L.D. appear burned up in the library.
Interestingly enough, the library card–which doubles as a toe tag for Wanda–may just serve as a list of the former owners of the Darkhold. As seen toward the end of the episode, Agatha Harkness’ name is on the card above Wanda’s which begs the question of who just might make up the rest of the list. While the pages of Marvel Comics provide a fairly straight lineage which includes Doctor Strange, Conan the Barbarian baddie Thulsa Doom, Morgan Le Fay, Werewolf By Night‘s Jack Russell’s ancestor Gregor Russoff and the book’s author, Chthon, the MCU’s own list of owners is yet to be defined and may well play a major part in the events of the remainder of the episodes of Agatha All Along.
Few Marvel Comics IPs have as interesting of a story to tell over the last decade and a half as the Runaways. Originally intended to be one of the studio’s earliest Infinity Saga films with development beginning in 2008, the project was scrapped following the success of 2012’s Avengers and the realization that the MCU could truly thrive financially by going bigger. In 2016, Marvel Television–no, the old one–partnered with Hulu to begin development on a streaming adaptation of the property which debuted in 2017. Over three seasons and 33 episodes, Runaways proved to be a critical darling but as the old Marvel Television branch run by Jeph Loeb began to be put down, the series came to a premature end in 2019.
Despite sharing some storytelling elements with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Runaways is not only nowhere to be found in the Marvel section of Disney Plus but also was pulled from Hulu, the streaming service that originally presented it. So while Marvel Studios has mad moves behind the scenes to canonize Marvel Television’s Netflix Defender-verse series, Runaways–despite being both popular and promising–has been given the Sloth treatment and been chained in the basement by Mama Fratelli, hidden away while its brother and sister series are allowed to see the light of day. It was strange fate indeed for a property that once seemed to hold so much promise as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but even as time and measures taken by Disney help erode the memory of the Hulu series, there might be some hope on the horizon for at least one character who played a major role in Brian Vaughan‘s comic book series and was always intended to play a role in the the TV series.
The Runaways Throwaway
Introduced in 2005’s second volume of Marvel Comics Runaways, Victor Mancha is an incredibly interesting character who was a big-time threat in the comic book series, was supposed to show up in Hulu’s Runaways and whose lineage might just make him a perfect fit for an upcoming MCU project. As Marvel Television was putting together Season 1 of Runaways, they had every intention of including a character by the name of Victor Mancha. Those plans never materialized and Mancha’s role in the show was reduced to an easy-to-miss mention and his name appearing during a brief shot of a note from the future found by Alex Wilder in the series finale.
In Mancha’s case, having not appeared at all in Runaways may ultimately turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to the character.
El Diablo Robotico
Victor Mancha is a significant character in Marvel Comics, particularly known for his association with the Runawaysseries. Created by Ultron, Victor is a sophisticated android designed to infiltrate and destroy the Avengers. However, his destiny took a different path when he joined the Runaways, a group of young heroes with complicated backgrounds.
Origin and Creation
Victor Mancha was conceived as part of Ultron’s plan to create a synthetic being capable of harnessing incredible power to defeat the Avengers. As a half-human, half-android, Victor possesses a unique blend of abilities inherited from both his human mother and his robotic father, Ultron. His powers include electromagnetic manipulation, super strength, and advanced computing capabilities, which make him a formidable opponent.
Joining the Runaways
Despite his origins as a potential threat, Victor defied his programming and joined the Runaways, a team of teenagers who rebel against their villainous parents. Victor quickly became an integral member of the group, contributing his technical expertise and raw power to their various missions. His affiliation with the Runaways marked a shift in his character, emphasizing his struggle to choose his own path rather than succumb to the dark designs of Ultron.
Role in the Marvel Universe
Victor’s story extends beyond the Runawaysas he also interacted with other major Marvel entities, including the Avengers AIand Vision. His struggle between his inherent programming and his desire to be human continues to define his journey within the Marvel Universe, making him one of the more complex characters in the pantheon of Marvel Heroes.
The Son of Ultron
The news of James Spader‘s return to the MCU as Ultron in the as-yet-untitled Vision streaming series was met with nearly universal celebration by fans. While Avengers: Age of Ultron didn’t initially land as well with fans as 2012’s Avengers, it has grown on fans over time and Spader’s performance as rogue AI peacekeeping program has always been well-regarded. Fans of the comics know Ultron never truly dies and the character’s return to the MCU could open the door for Victor Mancha.
In the comics, Victor’s mother, Marianella, came into possession of one of Ultron’s chrome domes with an intact CPU. Over time, Marianella rebuilt Ultron and the two became besties. And as a woman and a detached robot head often do, the two hatched a plan to create a child. Weaving Marianella’s DNA into a nanite-based robot, Ultron created the cyborg known as Victor and placed within him programming that would allow him to make his way into the Avengers as a sleeper agent designed to wipe them out. While Victor ultimately overcame his programming, it was a great move by Ultron and one that can easily be adapted into the MCU.
Indeed, the thought of Victor being used in an MCU project is hardly a new one. Fans theorized how the character might be used in WandaVision or even as the big bad in a Young Avengers project. However, while it’s unclear exactly what role Ultron will play in the upcoming Vision series–currently in development under the care of showrunner TerryMatalas–it’s time to revisit the idea of bringing Victor into a Marvel Studios project.
The Pieces Are in Place
As seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming, bits and pieces of Ultron and Sub-Ultrons that the Department of Damage Control collected ultimately found their way onto the black market as weapons. The DODC also houses the head of Ultron which is really all anyone needs to kick off another age of Ultron in the MCU.
While it is still being put together, it’s believed that the Paul Bettany-led Vision series will follow the White Vision as he tries to regain his memories. At some point, that will certainly include learning he was an Avenger and the realization that his “father” was one of the Avengers’ deadliest foes. It would make for compelling television to see Ultron being physically reassembled while his son reassembles the memories of who he once was. Once put back together again, Ultron would obviously seek vengeance against his foes–who he would sadly find are almost all nowhere to be found. It would not, however, be too tough to locate his son, Vision, who he might feel particularly apt to get even with. And, as Vision will also likely feel the absence of his family, the appearance of a “brother” would make for a nice Trojan Horse for whatever Ultron’s newest evil plan might be.
It would only seem right that the Vision series eventually sees Vision reunite with Ultron. And since Ultron has proven to be incapable of permanent destruction in the comics and has never truly been defeated, the best one could hope is to continue to foil his plans. In this case, that might simply mean that Vision helps Victor overcome his programming and choose his own path.
After stealing scene after scene alongside MCU veterans Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany the 2021 Disney Plus Streaming Series, WandaVision, Kathryn Hahn‘s wonderfully wicked Agatha Harkness is set to make her return in Agatha All Along. Hahn takes the lead in the nine-episode series which picks up right where the final episode of WandaVision, The Series Finale, left off: with a depowered Agatha trapped in a spell cast by Wanda that left her believing she was the most neighbor Agnes from the sitcom portion of the show. Challenged by a figure from her past to regain her strength, Agatha collects a coven of witches and sets out to travel the legendary Witches’ Road in hopes of taking back what was hers.
As has become the norm, Agatha All Along will debut with two episodes before moving into the familiar weekly format. With the series premiere set for September 18th, it’s time to start prepping for launch and so, as is our way, we bring you…THE ULTIMATE LIST OF WHAT TO WATCH BEFORE AGATHA ALL ALONG.
Tier One
Getting yourself prepared to enjoy Agatha All Along is not quite the same titanic task as it has been with other Marvel Studios properties. Hahn‘s witch has only appeared in WandaVision and only one MCU project would seem directly related to what is expected to go down in Agatha All Along. Since we consider Tier One projects to be the bare minimum, non-negotiable prep, we have only selected two properties for your required reading.
WandaVision (2021)
Excluding credits and recaps and other assorted business that’s part of every project, a full rewatch or first viewing of WandaVision will only take right around four and a half hours. The early episodes certainly set the stage for the series’ twists and turns and the back half of the season has all sorts of juicy bits that you might need to take in before watching Agatha All Along. Trailers for the series have made it clear that in addition to the difficulty of traveling the Witches’ Road, Agatha will be dealing with the repercussions of her wicked past. And if that’s not enough, it’s widely accepted that Joe Locke’s character, Teen, is the re-embodiment of Wanda’s son, Billy. Though Billy, and his brother Tommy, were magically created within the Westview Anomaly, aka The Hex, and disappeared when Wanda lifted her spell, they have had plenty to do with Wanda’s story and are very likely to play a large role again down the road.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
The post-credit scene following Episode 9 of WandaVision, “The Series Finale”, showed Wanda studying an ancient text known as the Darkhold. The consequences of her time with the tome became clear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where it was revealed she had been corrupted by the book and been transformed into the Scarlet Witch.
According to Wong, the “Scarlet Witch is a being of unfathomable magic” who “can rewrite reality as she chooses, and is prophesized to either rule or annihilate the cosmos.” In a Multiversal search for alternate-dimension Variants of her children, the Scarlet Witch used her power to Dreamwalk into other realities, threatening their existence. We know how it all ended but it is likely not to be the end of Wanda’s story and while it’s unclear exactly how much of this will be referenced in Agatha All Along, Wanda will absolutely have an impact on the series.
Tier Two
With so little connectivity to the rest of the MCU, Agatha All Along occupies rarified air. New fans often seem overwhelmed by the amount of work it would take to catch themselves up to speed on the MCU’s next big thing but, in the case of Agatha All Along, the two projects in Tier One are the only ones that are truly necessary. However, given that magic is the heart of the series, there are a couple of other projects that might add some context to the series or, at the very least, give viewers a more comprehensive view of how magic works within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Thor (2011),Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Millenia before Agatha Harkness was doing her dirty work in Salem, the Asgardians began to study and understand how to harness the energies of the universe and use them to their advantage. Asgard itself was a blend of magic and technology and many Asgaridans, such as Frigga and Loki, were known to be powerful magic weilders. The Thor trilogy also includes multiple weapons, relics and other assorted artifacts that are enchanted via spells by Odin and, perhaps, others as well.
Your ancestors called it magic and you call it science. Well, I come from a place where they are one and the same thing.
-Thor
Watching the original Thor trilogy is certainly not necessary for fans to enjoy Agatha All Along but it does provide some historical context for magic within the MCU and features one of its most powerful practitioners in Loki. An argument could be made that if one was going to watch these films they could watch Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and both seasons of Loki; however, there’s probably enough to be gleaned from the first three films to satisfy the need.
Doctor Strange (2016)
Doctor Strange not only introduces the titular Doctor but also the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Hidden in Kamar-Taj and led by The Ancient One, the Masters of the Mystic Arts are an order of sorcerers, founded thousands of years ago by Agomottos, who have learned to harness the energies of the alternate universes to protect Earth from mystical threats.
The language of the Mystic Arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language ‘spells,’ but if that word offends your modern sensibilities, you can call it a program; the source code that shapes reality. We harness energy drawn from other dimensions of the Multiverse to cast spells, to conjure shields and weapons, to make magic.
-The Ancient One
The film introduced different types of magic and warns against the use of many. There are some similarities between the way the Masters of the Mystic Arts harness and wield their magic and the way Agatha’s witchcraft is portrayed in WandaVision. If nothing else, Doctor Strange will open your third eye as to the great possibilities of magic used by humans.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (2022)
Any efforts to catch up on the use of magic in the Multiverse must include the latest adventures of the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth-616: Wong.
I need to make an example of Donny Blaze. Set a precedent that no unlicensed persons ever attempt to practice the Mystic Arts again.
-Wong
Episodes 3, 4 and 9 of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law follow up on Wong’s friendship with Emil Blonsky–as first seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings–and see the Sorcerer Supreme target Donny Blaze, a former student of Kamar-Taj who was expelled and now works as a stage magician. Wong crossed Blaze’s path when the latter opened a portal and sent Madisynn King to another dimension where she met a demon named Jake…
Tier Three
Tier Three inclusions are never, ever necessary for anyone to enjoy an upcoming MCU project but they can sometimes increase viewing pleasure by adding context, providing thematic connections or allowing viewers to watch films or shows that have inspired the creators of their new favorite Marvel thing! We’ve broken this very different Tier Three into two parts.
Part 1: More MCU Magic
While the Tier Two projects can help new viewers understand more about how magic works in the MCU, they are far from the only projects in which magic was used. To that end, we present a list of MCU projects in which magic played a role. NOTE: This list is intended to be comprehensive, however, if any projects have been left off please let us know and we’ll be happy to add them!
Avengers (2012)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) mid-credit scene
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Loki, Season 1 (2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Moon Knight (2022)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Loki, Season 2 (2023)
Part 2: Other Inspiration
As the press junkets and interviews used to promote Agatha All Along have started to emerge over the past few weeks, the cast and crew of the streaming series have named various projects that served as inspiration for the show.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Poltergeist (1982)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Goonies (1985)
Hocus Pocus (1993)
The Craft (1996)
Practical Magic (1998)
About Agatha All Along
In addition to Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along stars Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, Paul Adelstein, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Okwui Okpokwasili, with Debra Jo Rupp, with PattiLuPone, and Aubrey Plaza.
In Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…
The executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Mary Livanos and Jac Schaeffer. In addition to series creator Schaeffer, episodes of Agatha All Along will be directed by Rachel Goldberg (Mayans M.C. and Gen V) and Gandja Monteiro (Wednesday, The Witcher and The Walking Dead: Dead City).
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