The most recent episode of WandaVision introduced the world to Agatha Harkness. However, while she was painted as the true evil in the series, there is more to her than meets the eye.
Spoilers follow for WandaVision Episode 7, “Breaking The Fourth Wall.”
Agatha Harkness in WandaVision
Everything changed in WandaVision this week.
As Vision and Darcey Evans tried to get back to Wanda, Monica Rambeau made her way back into Westview.
While something was keeping Vision from returning home, Monica reached Wanda and proved to have the powers that fans know she has in the comics.
However, this also brought about the biggest twist of the series.
Wanda’s kind neighbor Agnes came over and saved Wanda from the intruder and took her back to her home. When Wanda realized her kids were not around, Agnes mentioned they were probably playing in the basement.
Wanda went down to find them and then found a long labyrinth and realized that Agnes was not who she seemed.
In a quirky song to end the episode, Agnes revealed to be Agatha Harkness and said she was responsible for this entire fake world.
Agatha Harkness is the bad guy— or is she?
Who is Agatha Harkness?
Agatha Harkness is not a villain in Marvel Comics.
Agatha is a very old witch, living back to the time period before Atlantis sunk into the ocean. She has gone through the years as one of the strongest witches in the world.
She eventually made her way to the Salem Witch Trials and used this period to ensure only the strongest of witches survived.
However, she entered the world of Marvel Comics when she took a job as the nanny to Reed and Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four, knowing their son Franklin would grow up to have great powers.
Later, Agatha became the nanny for Scarlet Witch and Vision’s children, Tommy and Billy.
This is where things tie into the story of the series. In the comics, Wanda created these children using dark magic and Agatha had to destroy them to save the world, before wiping Wanda’s mind of the memories of the boys.
When Wanda remembered the children, she went on a rampage trying to bring them back and killed two members of The Avengers and Agatha Harkness in her sense of pain and rage. Doctor Strange had to step in and shut down Wanda’s mind to stop her reign of terror.
Now, this is the comics, and the WandaVision series seems based on more than one story, including this one (Avengers Disassembled), House of M (Wanda creating a fake world), and the critically acclaimed Vision series where he created his own family.
Agatha Harkness was not a villain in the comics, but the MCU could easily make her responsible here. There are two more episodes left before we all find out.
WandaVision airs on Fridays on Disney+.