Tag: Agatha: Coven of Chaos

  • Theory Thursday: Salem’s Seven’s Beef with Agatha Harkness in ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    Theory Thursday: Salem’s Seven’s Beef with Agatha Harkness in ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    Note: This article was first published on June 15, 2023

    A recent plot summary of Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Agatha: Coven of Chaos 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 of Chaos 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.

  • Marvel Studios’ Reshuffles its Disney+ Release Slate as ‘Agatha’ Gets a New Name

    Marvel Studios’ Reshuffles its Disney+ Release Slate as ‘Agatha’ Gets a New Name

    Marvel Studios has been shifting quite a few of its release dates as of late. While they certainly are going to for all projects that have yet to finish, it seems they also decided to map out some of their TV shows that were set to release on Diseny+ in the coming months. The biggest surprise is that Echo was pushed back (again) to a January release date even though it was previously slated for November 29th.

    What If…? is going to be released on Christmas Day, which is our first confirmation as it was initially going to be released in 2023. So, it’ll be the only other show releasing this year besides Loki later in October, which is already being heavily advertised by Marvel Studios. X-Men ’97 also seemingly is getting a release timing, as it is set for early 2024 after initially planned to release later this fall. Season 2 of the series is already in the works.

    Ironheart is off the schedule for now, as it seems it is affected by the strikes. The same goes for Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man, which had to pause in the middle of production. The big surprise is that Agatha: Coven of Chaos is getting another new name, this time Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. It initially was announced with the title Agatha: House of Harknes and is now set to release on Halloween next year.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Sasheer Zamata’s ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Role Confirmed

    Sasheer Zamata’s ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Role Confirmed

    In late 2022, Deadline broke the news that SNL alum Sasheer Zamata had joined the cast of the WandaVision spinoff, Agatha: Coven of Chaos. Once shrouded in secrecy, plot details of the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series started rolling out pretty steadily once Zamata’s co-star, Patti LuPone, broke Marvel Studios’ well-known vow of silence. Rumors about the project–both legit and bogus–have been commonplace since including one about the identity of Zamata’s character. Now, in an interview with Mashable, Zamata followed LuPone’s lead and confirmed which witch she’ll be playing in Agatha: Coven of Chaos.

    According to Mashable, Zamata will be playing Jennifer Kale, a character with some interesting connections in the Marvel Comics. The daughter of the leader of an ancient cult, Kale has shared adventures with some of Marvel’s most heavy-hitting supernatural characters such as Doctor Strange, Ghost Riders Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch and recent MCU newbie, Man-Thing. Interestingly enough, she’s also been part of the Midnight Sons, a team that’s oft-rumored to be on its way to the MCU. However, according to Zamata, the MCU’s Kale might be a bit different than the one first introduced in the comics in 1972.

    I definitely did do as much [comic book] research as I could,” said Zamata, “but the way we formed this character is very different from what I think people expect.” As long-term fans of Marvel Studios projects know all-too-well, that could very well mean that the character is essentially an entirely original character who is simply borrowing a name from an established comic book character. Whatever the case, Zamata made it clear that the production took its witchiness seriously, calling her time on set “magical and ethereal.” “It brought that out of everyone on set,” explained the actress, saying “there were crystals and candles everywhere. We saged and cleansed the stage all the time. It was the perfect environment for me.

    Though Agatha: Coven of Chaos completed principal photography before the WGA and SAG strikes began, there’s still no firm release date for the project. While it’s expected to stream in 2024, it is believed that–like all MCU projects–it’ll need some additional photography and reshoots which won’t be able to be completed until the strikes come to an end. At this point, it seems like it’s now destined to be released at some point in the second half of 2024.

    Source: Mashable

  • Rumor Control: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    Rumor Control: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    As the first of Marvel Studios’ streaming efforts, WandaVision blazed the Disney Plus trail for the MCU and that wasn’t always a good thing. Matt Shakman’s nine-episode series was a wonderful character study of Wanda Maximoff but week after week outrageous fan theories led to outraged fans. One such outrage came when the obvious villain of the series, Agatha Harkness, was revealed to be the actual villain of the series. Kathryn Hahn was wonderful in the role and is set to reprise it in an Agatha-centric series, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which is tentatively slated to release in 2024. The series has been closely followed by the very same fans of WandaVision whose uproarious online behavior made early 2021 so memorable and the rumor mill around the sequel series has been churning for quite some time. Let’s look at the most popular rumors and see what’s what.

    The Identity of Joe Locke’s Character

    One of the most ridiculous controversies around Agatha: Coven of Chaos centers around the character being played by one of the series co-stars, Joe Locke. While semi-obscure comic book character Nicholas Scratch became one of the most popular characters in the history of Marvel Comics overnight as people were led astray in believing Locke was set to portrary the weird wizard, that’s simply not the case. Locke is set to play Billy Kaplan, as we’ve believed since October of last year. That’s not to say Scratch have an impact on the series but he’s certainly not played by Locke and isn’t even expected to appear.

    While it’s great that Wiccan is finally going to appear in the MCU, Locke’s Kaplan isn’t going to be an exact translation from the comics. In fact, the path the people at Marvel have chosen to explain how Billy Maximoff becomes Billy Kaplan seems incredibly odd on paper and may end up ruffling more than a few feathers. Whatever the case, Locke’s your Wiccan and will be paired up with Agatha over the course of the series.

    Salem’s Seven

    Not too very long ago, a plot summary of Agatha: Coven of Chaos emerged which indicated that the witches of Salem’s seven were out for revenge. As explained here, it’s not too hard to figure out what these witches have been holding against Agatha for a few centuries. Agatha’s lust for power put her in a bad spot and she responded by…taking more power and killing 8 witches, including her mother. That leaves 7 other witches whose descendants will be coming for vengeance now that Agatha’s hiding spot has been revealed to the world thanks to The Hex.

    Aubrey Plaza’s Character

    As was recently revealed, Aubrey Plaza’s Rio and Agatha have a LONG history together that will be explored in the series. Were they married? Not married? I truly don’t know but whatever the case, the two WERE lovers and did have a son (told you Scratch had some part in all of this). In the comics, Agatha Harkness is over 20,000 years old and while these two haven’t known each other that long in the MCU, their time together can be measured in thousands of years. While Plaza’s character seems to be an original character, her identity as the Green Witch could have been influenced, in part, by James Robinson’s work with the Scarlet Witch for Marvel Comics. In 2015, Robinson introduced the Emerald Warlock to the witchy world of the comics and while Plaza’s character is certainly not him, the idea of different witches tied to different colors is certainly a theme in Agatha: Coven of Chaos.

    Fans looking for a page-to-screen adaptation of Billy Kaplan’s origin story, The Children’s Crusade or James Robinson’s Scarlet Witch series will be sorely disappointed with Agatha: Coven of Chaos as that’s just not what Marvel Studios does. Instead, buckle up for an original adaptation inspired by (parts of) those stories–and more–that while may be full of some weird choices has some very good performances and sets the stage for another project set in the same corner of the MCU…should it ever come to fruition given the absolute chaos in Hollywood and the climate around the TV side of things at Marvel Studios.

  • Evan Peters’ Ralph Bohner Rumored to Pop Back into the MCU

    Evan Peters’ Ralph Bohner Rumored to Pop Back into the MCU

    It appears that Marvel Studios did NOT learn anything from WandaVision. Marvel Studios first streaming series generated an inordinate amount of buzz each week as fans theorized that everyone from Reed Richards to Magneto to Mephisto would appear and then went into frenetic outrage when their theories came up empty. Adding to the frenzy was the appearance of Evan Peters who after portraying Quicksilver in the Fox X-Men franchise, popped into WandaVision as Wanda’s twin brother only to be revealed to be an out-of-work actor named Ralph Bohner. Week to week, the outrage over Bohner grew and grew as it became clear that Peters‘ Bohner was nothing more than a misdirection. Despite all the rage over Bohner, a new rumor suggests that Marvel Studios is ready to revisit the flaccid role in its WandaVision follow-up.

    According to insider Daniel RPK (via @ScarletWitchUpd), Peters‘ will take another stab at Bohner in the WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Coven of Chaos.

    It might seem that revisiting Peters‘ Bohner might not have much left to offer the MCU following a disappointing first ride but clearly Jac Schaeffer and the powers that be don’t see it that way. However, while it seems unlikely that Bohner will fill a huge gap in the plot of the series, given where WandaVision left his character and Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha, there’s probably a little space for the character to slide into the plot in some satisfying way.

    Agatha: Coven of Chaos is currently expected to stream on Disney Plus at some point in 2024.

    Source: Twitter

  • How the Writers’ Strike Could Impact Marvel Studios 2024 Slate

    How the Writers’ Strike Could Impact Marvel Studios 2024 Slate

    As production delays begin to stack up amid the ongoing WGA strike, fans are becoming increasingly concerned that Marvel Studios 2024 slate will be wiped out. While that’s certainly one possibility at this point, there are plenty of other options that are far rosier. With the content-less 2020 still fresh in fans’ minds, it’s worth taking a look at how the dips and dives of 2023 might help dodge a deserted 2024.

    The Original Plan

    Just over a year ago, Kevin Feige rolled out a massive slate update at SDCC ’22. That slate included an ambitious 2024 plan that included two Phase Five series (Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Daredevil: Born Again), two Phase Five films (Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts) three untitled Phase Six series and one Phase Six film (Fantastic Four).

    Ch-ch-ch-changes

    By late September 2022, another Phase Five movie was added when Deadpool 3 was officially announced. Just a month later, Blade was given a September 6, 2024 release date, moving Deadpool 3 to November 8, 2024 and pushing 2024’s Phase Five film total to 4 and sliding Fantastic Four into 2025.. Bob Iger’s return to Disney further altered the 2024 slate as his new mandates concerning the curation of the company’s streaming content shuffled Marvel Studios’ 2023 plans a bit, pushing Agatha: Coven of Chaos firmly out of 2023 and indefinitely delaying the release of Ironheart.

    The WGA Strike

    The 2023 strike by the Writers Guild of America has put several of the studio’s projects in a state of uncertainty. The first domino to fall was the Mahershala Ali-led Blade project. After having multiple writers and directors leave the project, it seemed Marvel Studios had finally found solid ground on the film when writer Michael Starrbury and director Yann Demange took over creative duties on the project in November 2022. Then, in late April 2023, True Detective creator Nic Pizzolato hopped on board to touch up Starrbury’s script. When the WGA strike began just a few weeks after, it became obvious that Pizzolato’s work wasn’t done and the studio decided to delay production indefinitely.

    Though both projects began production ahead of the strike, the New York City production of Daredevil: Born Again had a couple of one-day delays and the Los Angeles production of Wonder Man, which was likely originally intended to end up in 2024 but has never been given a release window, was ultimately suspended indefinitely. Over in the UK, production on Deadpool 3 started up with no reports of any pending delays; however, production on Thunderbolts, which much like Blade had recently brought on a new writer in Lee Sung Jin, was set to kick off in June but was also delayed indefinitely.

    It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to understand that if these projects don’t restart/start production in a reasonable amount of time then they won’t make their 2024 release dates. Could fans be looking at another content-less year in 2024?

    Potential New Scenarios

    The answer is almost definitely not thanks to streaming. In March, Marvel Studios seemingly accidentally tipped their hand and revealed what looks to be a pretty accurate slate for their LIVE-ACTION series on Disney Plus. Ironheart looks slated to kick off 2024 and there have been no reports that any reshoots or additional photography have been or will be impacted by the strike. It seems most of the work being done on that series is in post-production VFX and it’ll be ready to stream whenever Iger gives it the go-ahead. Principal photography on Agatha: Coven of Chaos should be wrapped by June-ish allowing the show to go into post-production and get ready for a 2024 release. Like every Marvel Studios project, it’s certainly scheduled for a round of reshoots/additional photography and while that likely can’t happen while the strike is ongoing (they would have to have written the reshoots before the strike), they could take place at any time after the strike ends in 2023 or 2024 and still make its way to Disney Plus by mid-2024. Given its nearly year-long shoot, Daredevil: Born Again‘s status is far more tenuous than either of the other two aforementioned projects but so far, so good. It’s also set to be an 18-episode series with recent rumors suggesting it will be broken into two, nine-episode chunks and it’s safe to say that given the shooting schedule, they’ve probably filmed 4 or 5 of those episodes already. While it’s no sure thing, the first nine episodes could be ready to roll for late 2024.

    It would seem there is far less certainty surrounding the studio’s 2024 theatrical offerings. Captain America: New World Order has completed a significant chunk of its production and, so far, has not been shut down as a result of the strike; however, reshoots are built-in and as mentioned above will not be done until after the strike. It’s currently set for a May 3, 2024 release, so unless the strike goes on through the end of the year, that date is manageable, though it’s beginning to look like the studio won’t have to hold it.

    Even though the delay was just announced, it’s already tough to imagine that Thunderbolts will hit its July 26th, 2024 theatrical release. The strike would likely have to end in the next 4-6 weeks to allow the project to avoid the sort of rushed post-productions that have had Marvel Studios in the spotlight for the last year. Should the strike go on longer than that, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Captain America: New World Order being moved to July and having Thunderbolts move as well. But where would it land?

    That answer might depend on the content of Deadpool 3. Should production on that project go on uninterrupted, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be ready to hit theaters by next July, should Captain America: New World Order be able to make its May 3, 2024 date. Whether or not the plot of Deadpool 3 is reliant on the other projects currently slated to release before it or not is another consideration and one that we can’t answer at present. However, if it can be moved and it does continue production, it could be ready for July or September, stepping in where it once was before Blade moved there.

    While there’s no guarantee, Captain America: New World Order and Deadpool 3 are currently the best bets to release in 2024. The statuses of Thunderbolts and Blade, however, are inextricably tied to the timeline of the resolution of the WGA strike. Films that aren’t filmed can’t be released, so it is currently impossible to know when they’ll hit theaters. However, should the strike end by mid-to-late July, it’s possible that both films could still end up in 2024 with one taking the September 6th date and the other taking November 8th. Which one ends up where would simply then become a matter of which one is further along in production.

    All that is contingent on Marvel Studios even feeling as though they need to stay on track with their current scheduled dates which is in no way certain because they are hardly the only studio whose slate will be impacted by the strike. Dates could shuffle at any time which is something we just can’t predict but if we assume they keep the four dates, dozens of scenarios unfold with a few that seem more likely than others.

    Best Case Scenario

    Q1-Ironheart
    May 3-Captain America: New World Order
    Q2-Agatha: Coven of Chaos
    July 26th-Deadpool 3
    September 6-Blade/Thunderbolts
    Q4-Daredevil: Born Again
    November 8-Thunderbolts/Blade

    A Scenario That Is Neither Best Case Nor Worse Case

    Q1-Ironheart
    May 3-Captain America: New World Order
    Q2-Agatha: Coven of Chaos
    July 26th-Deadpool 3
    Q4-Daredevil: Born Again

    Not Quite Worst Case Scenario

    Q1-Ironheart
    July 26-Captain America: New World Order
    Q3-Agatha: Coven of Chaos

    While the last scenario seems improbable, it’s still on the table. Should the strike stretch out across the summer and into the fall, Marvel Studios will have to greatly rethink their slate. Should the strike end before SDCC ’23, it’s possible that Kevin Feige will stroll on stage with an updated slate; however, given how much things have changed since last year, how seriously should fans even take it?

  • Aubrey Plaza Teases ‘Agatha’ Disney+ Series With Disney Reference

    Aubrey Plaza Teases ‘Agatha’ Disney+ Series With Disney Reference

    Marvel Studios just recently used the Disney Upfronts to tease what the rest of the year has in store for us for its Disney+ series. We finally have a release date for not just Loki but also Echo, which has finally been confirmed to release later this year. Yet, they also have other projects in development and it seems Aubrey Plaza is having fun teasing another project that is rumored to arrive tomorrow.

    Without any real word, Aubrey Plaza has shared an image that states Marvel Studios: The Darkhold Diaries. While it might be easy to think this might be a new spinoff series from Agatha: Coven of Chaos, there’s been no word that they’d want to add even more shows after already dialing it back this year.

    What is more likely, this might be a reference to the series she’s working on and the logo might be a new production title for it. Plus, the logo and font seem to be a dark twist on the Disney classic The Princess Diaries. We still know very little about the project but it’s great to see the excitement of Plaza’s involvement with the project.

    For now, we might not know for quite some time what exactly the is teasing with this image. Perhaps we will get a better tease in the near future and this is just the beginning, but it’ll generally be interesting what the future has in store for Marvel Studios’ overall Disney+ strategy.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s success might push them towards reworking where Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania fell into a slump. Perhaps dialing it back with their Disney+ projects is just the first step and spreading them out even further. We don’t know how long the wait will be for the next but there’s a chance after Echo, we’ll see another slowdown until the summer kicks off.

    Source: Instagram

  • Joe Locke’s ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Role Revealed Disappointing Dozens

    Joe Locke’s ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Role Revealed Disappointing Dozens

    Ever since he was cast in Marvel Studios WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Joe Locke has been at the center of one of the greatest controversies of our time. Would Locke’s character, described as “a gay teen with a dark sense of humor” and “a fanboy”, be an immensely popular character from the Marvel Comics who fits the description perfectly and, like Agatha, is connected to the events of WandaVision or would he be a character that dozens of fans of Wikipedia skimming recently discovered?

    Despite it making much more sense for Locke to be playing Billy Kaplan, the former of the two characters, more than one insider and plenty of fans were sure he was playing the latter: Nicholas Scratch. The mystery was deepened even further recently when actress Patti LuPone, who admittedly has no clue what the MCU is all about much less too much about the comics on which it’s based, said Locke was playing a “familiar” in Coven of Chaos. LuPone’s words threw fans into a tizzy but fortunately, it seems everyone can relax as Locke’s body double has revealed the Heartstopper star’s role.

    The Scarlet With Update Twitter account uncovered stunt actor Jamie Sears‘ resume which lists Locke’s character as Billy.

    The news comes as a major shot to the gut to the legions of Nicholas Scratch fans out there. If Locke truly is playing Billy Kaplan, it may mean that all of Nicholas Scratch’s great comic book arcs may never be realized in the MCU. Fortunately, with or without Scratch, there’s still plenty of room for Salem’s Seven to appear on Coven of Chaos when it hits Disney Plus next year.

    What’s your favorite Nicholas Scratch story? Let us know in the comments.

    Source: Twitter

  • Marvel Snipers Be Damned: Patti Lupone Reveals the Identity of Her ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Character

    Marvel Snipers Be Damned: Patti Lupone Reveals the Identity of Her ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Character

    To hear the stars of Marvel Studios film and streaming projects tell it, somewhere out there exists an omnipresent Nick Fury Man on the Wall-esque character out there ready to silence them the moment they dare even consider sharing information about their projects. If he is real, Patti Lupone is not afraid of him. Lupone is starring in the upcoming Marvel Studios streaming series, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, a project about which very little information has been made publicly available by the studio. During a visit to The View, Lupone changed all that pretty quickly.

    While discussing the project, Lupone revealed the identity of her character, one of a coven of witches who team with series lead Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha against some less than good witches. “Well it’s a coven of witches, and I play Lilia Calderu, who apparently is in the Marvel world,” said Lupone. “And I researched her, she’s hot! She’s really hot! She is! She’s got a great body, raven hair.” Calderu, The Witch-Queen of the Gypsies, is hardly a household name but is indeed ripped right from the pages of the Marvel Comics. Fortunately for Lupone, her research on the character was pretty easy as Calderu made one brief appearance in the comics before dying. While that might mean Lupone’s character’s time in the MCU will be short-lived, it also provides the opportunity for Marvel Studios to give the character a brand new story without being held to any standard from the comics.

    Lupone didn’t stop there as she went on to detail just who else was part of Agatha’s coven of witches and what role Joe Locke will play in that coven. “We are a coven of witches, and the witches are Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza, and the familiar — if anybody knows ‘Heartstopper’ — is Joe Locke,” explained Lupone. “And Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, and myself. And I play Lilia Calderu, a 450-year-old Sicilian witch, whose power is divination, and whose trial is tarot.” It is widely believed (ok, it’s known) that Locke is playing Billy Kaplan, aka the Young Avenger known as Wiccan, in the series so it’s interesting to see that he’s referred to as the coven’s “familiar” here. That means Billy will begin the series as nothing more than a companion to the witches before likely beginning to discover his true nature which, in the comics, is fairly convoluted.

    Lupone’s willingness to share details about the project probably came as quite a shock to Marvel Studios; however, given the lack of positive buzz around the studio at the moment, they’ll hopefully be a bit forgiving with the actress. Agatha: Coven of Chaos is expected to stream on Disney Plus sometime in 2024.

    Source: The Wrap

  • Rumor: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ to Decanonize ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’

    Rumor: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ to Decanonize ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’

    Over the course of seven seasons of the ABC melodrama, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the events of the show seemingly became more and more detached from the goings on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, the majority of the events of the show’s final season were revealed to have taken place in an alternate timeline complete with its own unique history. Even before the show ended in 2020, the canonicity of it was a matter of debate and Marvel Studios has added fuel to that fire more than once in the last couple of years. Now, a new rumor suggests they may be preparing to do it again.

    Production on the WandaVision spinoff, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, has been ongoing for a few months now and while not much in the way of spoilers has made its way off the Atlanta set, something incredibly interesting–and in line with the decanonization of AoS–just did. According to insider Daniel RPK, the Kathryn Hahn-centric streaming series will delve a little further into Agatha’s personal past and explore her history with one of the MCU’s most dangerous objects: the Darkhold.

    The Darkhold played an important role in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness before being destroyed by Wanda so while it may not play a role in the future of the MCU, Agatha: Coven of Chaos is rumored to include a revelation about the book’s past that will open a Pandora’s Box. According to RPK, Agatha: Coven of Chaos will make clear that Agatha Harkness has been in possession of the Darkhold for hundreds of years. Fans of both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Runaways will most certainly understand how impactful that rumored revelation will be to the canonicity of those shows.

    Fans haven’t learned anything from WandaVision so while there’s certain to be any number of wild theories generated to work around what Agatha’s centuries-long possession of the book means, if this rumor is true it would effectively (once again) call into question the canonicity of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Darkhold played an integral part in Season 4 of the ABC series but if Agatha has kept the book with her for over one hundred years, Lucy and Joseph Bauer didn’t find it in a basement and Robbie Reyes didn’t take it to Hell with him because…you know…Agatha had it.

    In cases like this, Occam’s Razor works best and the simplest explanation makes the most sense: the Darkhold in Agatha’s possession in WandaVision isn’t the same as the one from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because the two shows don’t take place in the same timeline. Fans can still enjoy all seven seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but the evidence continues to mount that the entire series should not be considered MCU canon though an argument could be made that some early seasons were. Marvel Studios already went well out of their way to completely redesign the book for WandaVision, so this rumor shouldn’t ultimately be too shocking; however, we’ll have to wait to see Agatha: Coven of Chaos to get the full context and history of the Darkhold before knowing for sure what Marvel Studios intentions are.