| Creator: | Jac Schaeffer |
| Based On: | Marvel Comics |
| Showrunner: | Jac Schaeffer |
| Budget: | $40 million |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | |
| Num Episodes: | 9 |
| Runtime: | 29–49 minutes |
| Company: | Marvel Television |
| Network: | Disney+ |
Agatha All Along is an American television miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Agatha Harkness. A spin-off from the series WandaVision (2021), it is the 11th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios and the first to be released under its Marvel Television label, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. Schaeffer serves as showrunner and lead director.
Kathryn Hahn reprises her role as Agatha Harkness from WandaVision, with Joe Locke, Debra Jo Rupp, Aubrey Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Okwui Okpokwasili, Patti LuPone, Evan Peters, Maria Dizzia, Paul Adelstein, and Miles Gutierrez-Riley also starring. Development began in October 2021, with Schaeffer and Hahn attached, and the series was formally announced the next month. Schaeffer, Rachel Goldberg, and Gandja Monteiro were set as directors in early 2023 ahead of filming, which took place from January to May 2023 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Los Angeles. Cast and crew returned from WandaVision, including the series' musical team. Several different titles were announced for the series as part of a marketing campaign before the official title of Agatha All Along—referencing the song of the same name from WandaVision—was announced in May 2024.
Agatha All Along premiered on Disney+ on September 18, 2024, and ran for nine episodes until October 30. The series is part of Phase Five of the MCU. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its production value, humor, and the cast's performances, especially those of Hahn, Locke, LuPone, and Plaza.
Three years after being trapped under a magical spell in the town of Westview, New Jersey, at the end of the miniseries WandaVision (2021), the witch Agatha Harkness escapes with the help of a goth teen who wishes to face the trials of the legendary Witches' Road. Without her magical powers, Agatha and the teen form a new coven of witches to face the trials, while contending with some of Agatha's old enemies such as the Salem Seven.
Reprising their roles from WandaVision as Westview residents who simulate playing characters within Agatha's Agnes of Westview reality are Emma Caulfield as Sarah Proctor / "Dottie Jones", David Payton as John Collins / "Herb Feltman", David Lengel as Sarah's husband Harold Proctor / "Phil Jones", Asif Ali as Abilash Tandon / "Norm Gentilucci", and Amos Glick as a pizza delivery man / "Dennis Webber", with Kate Forbes also reprising her role as Agatha's mother Evanora Harkness.
The remaining six members of the Salem Seven who appear in the series include Marina Mazepa as "Snake", Bethany Curry as "Crow", Athena Perample as "Fox", Britta Grant as "Rat", Alicia Vela-Bailey as "Owl", and Chau Naumova as "Coyote". Additional guest stars include: Elizabeth Anweis as Alice's mother Lorna Wu;[3] Laura Boccaletti as Lilia's Maestra;[4] Scott Butler as a doctor linked to Jen's past; Jade Quon as the demon from the Wu's curse; and Abel Lysenko as Nicholas Scratch, Agatha's son.[5] Hannah Lowther, Tetra Lloyd White, Henriette Zoutomou, Holly Bonney, and Kim Bass appear as witches trapped by Agatha and Nicholas during the 1750s.
At Disney's biennial D23 Expo convention in August 2019, Kathryn Hahn was revealed to be cast in the role of Agnes, Wanda Maximoff and Vision's neighbor, in the Marvel Studios Disney+ television series WandaVision (2021). That series' seventh episode reveals that "Agnes" is actually Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch from Marvel Comics. In May 2021, WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer signed a three-year overall television deal with Marvel Studios and 20th Television to develop additional projects for the studios' Disney+ slate. In pitches for several different projects centered on various characters, Schaeffer kept suggesting that Agatha be included as part of those series. This led to her and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige pursuing a series centered on that character instead. By October 2021, a "dark comedy" spin-off from WandaVision centered on Hahn as Agatha was in early development for Disney+ from Marvel Studios, with Schaeffer returning from WandaVision as head writer and executive producer. Hahn's involvement was part of a larger deal she signed with Marvel Studios to reprise her role in series and films.
During a Disney+ Day event in November 2021, the series was officially announced. Schaeffer was revealed to be directing episodes of the series a year later, and Gandja Monteiro was revealed as another director in December 2022, along with Rachel Goldberg in January 2023. Each directed three episodes of the series. By October 2023, Marvel Studios was changing its approach to television, hiring more traditional showrunners instead of head writers; Schaeffer was being credited as the series' showrunner by July 2024. Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, said Agatha All Along was the studio's least expensive series, costing less than the $40 million budget of Echo (2024), and he attributed this to the series' use of practical effects rather than computer-generated imagery.[6] Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Mary Livanos also served as executive producers. The series is being released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label. Actress Debra Jo Rupp, who returned from WandaVision, described the spin-off as being a second season of WandaVision in an anthology sense, similar to the different seasons of the television series American Horror Story (2011–present). Agatha All Along is intended to be second in a trilogy of series that includes WandaVision and Vision Quest (2026).
The series was initially announced with the title Agatha: House of Harkness, but was renamed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos by July 2022. The series was revealed to have been retitled once again in September 2023, this time to Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. Actress Aubrey Plaza had previously posted a photo in May 2023 of a director's chair with that title, in a font based on the one used for the Disney film The Princess Diaries (2001). Adam B. Vary at Variety reported that the multiple title changes were not caused by indecision from Marvel Studios and were instead indicating that the main character was "up to her old skulduggery", and he said it was possible that the series was simply titled Agatha; that is what the series was referred to as in a filing for the first episode with the United States Copyright Office as well as on the official Disney+ website.
In May 2024, Marvel Studios released a new logo on Twitter with the title Agatha: The Lying Witch with Great Wardrobe, but took down the post soon after. Germain Lussier at Gizmodo thought this may have been a joke or a mistake and noted that it was referencing the C. S. Lewis novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950). He felt it was "the worst title of the bunch" despite being accurate to the character, and questioned why the series had received so many publicly announced titles during development. He felt the best choice would be Agatha All Along, referring to the 'theme song' of the same name used when Agatha was revealed as the true villain in WandaVision. The next day, Disney announced at an upfront presentation that the official title was Agatha All Along, and released a video showing that the changing titles were "orchestrated by [Agatha] as a way of messing with Marvel fans". Schaeffer and the writers conceived the various titles. Livanos enjoyed releasing "crazier and crazier" titles throughout the marketing stunt and felt it was appropriate for Agatha.
Laura Donney, Cameron Squires, Giovanna Sarquis, Laura Monti, Jason Rostovsky, Gia King, and Peter Cameron served as writers on the series, alongside Schaeffer. Squires, Cameron, Donney, and Monti all returned from WandaVision, alongside Megan McDonnell, who was a consulting producer, serving as the on-set writer. Monti had served as Schaeffer's assistant on WandaVision, aiding in the creation of the acclaimed line "What is grief, if not love persevering?" King and Rostovsky contributed to the writing process with their respective interests in divination and gothic horror. Livanos said the chance to continue Agatha Harkness's story and to get to know the character further was "immediately an imperative" for the creatives. Winderbaum compared Agatha All Along to Marvel Studios' series Loki (2021–2023), because they both feature antiheroes, are different from the studios' other series, and explore similar emotional depths for their title characters. Winderbaum called Agatha All Along a "Halloween show" that features a "Marvel brand of scary" with deadly stakes, while still being fun and dramatic. Feige likened Agatha All Along to the film The Goonies (1985). Comics that influenced the series included Scarlet Witch vol. 2 by James Robinson that introduced the Witches' Road, Agatha Harkness's early appearances in Fantastic Four, and The Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2.
Schaeffer said Agatha All Along would follow Agatha as she is joined by "a disparate, mixed bag of witches" who are all coven-less, explaining that the series would explore what happens when these witches, who are "defined by deception, treachery, villainy and selfishness", are forced to work together. She also noted that the series plays with witch lore and assumptions about them, in a similar way to how WandaVision played with the sitcom format, looking to have "a similar mechanism and involve pastiche" as that series did. Schaeffer was able to define witchcraft within the MCU with the series. The first episode sees Agatha in a true crime drama as a detective, in an homage to the HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown (2021). As Agatha and her coven travel the Witches' Road, each of its trials alters the attire of the coven to "emulate a particular kind of witch from pop culture": "WASP-y east coast women in collared shirts" which Schaeffer described as "coastal grandma chic" who are "backstabbing and duplicitous", drawing from Practical Magic (1998); a "Fleetwood Mac-style band" drawing from singer Stevie Nicks' "white witch" era and the film Season of the Witch (1972); and 1980s summer camp attire using a ouija board. The series also draws from other well-known portrayals of witches, such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Maleficent (2014), incorporating visual cues and narrative elements inspired by these films.[7] Early attempts at creating the trials were elemental based, which did not allow for the infusion of illusion or pop culture or the creativity from the costume and production design.
Agatha All Along is set in 2026, three years after the events of WandaVision, which saw Agatha trapped in her "Agnes" persona by Wanda Maximoff. However, the spell has now become distorted because of Maximoff's death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and the Teen's intervention. Following the abundance of fan theories and speculation on WandaVision that ultimately were not intended for that series, Schaeffer was more careful with her language in Agatha All Along to still be able to protect some of the series' surprises while hoping it would not create expectations in the fandom that would not come to fruition, dismissing such as Thanos appearing due to his backstory with Death in the source material, with Schaeffer intending to just leave some of Death's characterization for interpretation in the show.
Hahn was expected to reprise her role in the series with the reveal of its development in October 2021, which was confirmed with the series' official announcement a month later. Emma Caulfield Ford revealed in October 2022 that she would reprise her role as Sarah Proctor / "Dottie Jones" from WandaVision. In November, Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, and Sasheer Zamata joined the cast. Locke plays "Teen", the male lead of the series, while Plaza plays Rio Vidal. Ahn plays the witch Alice Wu-Gulliver, with Dizzia also reported to be portraying a witch, and Zamata set for the recurring role of the sorceress Jennifer "Jen" Kale. Patti LuPone joined the cast in December, as the witch Lilia Calderu. Miriam Margolyes turned down a role in the series after Marvel offered to pay her half of what she had asked for and because she did not want to film in Georgia.
In January 2023, several cast members were revealed to be reprising their roles from WandaVision: Debra Jo Rupp as Sharon Davis / "Mrs. Hart"; David Payton as John Collins / "Herb Feltman"; David Lengel as Harold Proctor / "Phil Jones"; Asif Ali as Abilash Tandon / "Norm Gentilucci"; Amos Glick as a pizza delivery man / "Dennis Webber"; Brian Brightman as the Eastview, New Jersey, sheriff; and Kate Forbes as Agatha's mother Evanora Harkness. Miles Gutierrez-Riley was cast as Teen's boyfriend, with Okwui Okpokwasili also cast in the series as Salem Seven member Vertigo.
Daniel Selon served as the costume designer, after previously working as an assistant costume designer on WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and (2022). John Collins was the production designer. The different witches in Agatha's coven all have their own styles which were categorized by Gordon Jackson of Gizmodo as the goth, the clairvoyant, the hippie, and the "coastal grandmother". The series end credits examines where many of the misconceptions and stereotypes about witches originated.
Principal photography began on January 17, 2023, at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Schaeffer, Monteiro, and Goldberg directing episodes of the series. Caleb Heymann, Jon Chema, and Isiah Donté Lee served as cinematographers. The series was filmed under the working title My Pretty. Filming with Rupp also occurred in Los Angeles by February 2023, before moving to Atlanta for two months. The start of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike in May 2023 was not expected to impact production of Agatha All Along, with Marvel Studios reportedly planning to shoot what they could during principal photography and make any necessary writing adjustments during the series' already scheduled reshoots. Plaza filmed some of her scenes concurrent with the last two weeks of her commitments to the film Megalopolis (2024), also in Atlanta. Filming took place on Blondie Street at the Warner Bros. Ranch for Agatha's house and other Westview exteriors prior to the street being demolished.
Hahn stated that filming used as many practical elements as possible, including practical magic opposed to having it done through CGI. Livano said this was done to be an homage to the golden age of fantasy and horror films, using many in-camera effects such as backdrops, miniatures, special effects, makeup effects, and creature effects. The creatives wanted Agatha All Along to elicit similar nostalgic feelings for the audience as WandaVision had with that series' homage to sitcoms. Filming wrapped by May 28. Hahn said in January 2024 there were a few days left of reshoots to take place, which were completed in one day in early February.
Jamie Gross, Libby Cuenin, Dane R. Naimy, and David Egan serve as editors on the series.
Kelly Port served as the visual effects supervisor for Agatha All Along, after previously working on some MCU films, with Digital Domain providing visual effects.
In January 2023, Hahn hinted that the series would include original songs similar to those featured in WandaVision such as "Agatha All Along". In March, Christophe Beck revealed that he would be returning from WandaVision and other MCU media to compose the score for the series. The following month, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez were revealed to have written the series' original songs, also returning from WandaVision. Hahn serves as the lead singer for some songs, with the other witch actors such as LuPone acting as background singers. Schaeffer wanted to work with the composers to find a way to weave whatever songs they came up with into the series' narrative. One of their songs, "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", became an ancient tune in the series that all witches are familiar with. In September 2024, Michael Paraskevas was revealed to have composed the score with Beck, after previously working together in the MCU series Hawkeye (2021).
On September 19, Hollywood Records released the single album Songs from Marvel Television's Agatha All Along (Episodes 1 & 2), which includes two versions of "The Ballad of the Witches' Road"—one being the "true crime version" performed by Matthew Mayfield which was featured in the first episode, and the "sacred chant version" in the second episode.[8] Beck and Paraskevas' main theme composed for the series, titled "Agatha's Theme" was also released on the same day. On October 3, Songs from Agatha All Along (Episode 4) was released featuring Lorna Wu's version of the song performed by Seomoon Tak, as well as a 1970s rock cover performed by the cast.[9] [10] Another version performed by the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast, featured in the finale, was released on October 17.[11]
Beck and Paraskevas' score was released digitally by Marvel Music and Hollywood Records in two volumes: music from the first five episodes was released on October 11, 2024, and the music from the last four episodes was released on November 1, 2024. A soundtrack album was released on vinyl featuring all versions of "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", as well as selected tracks from the score, on October 30, 2024.[12]
The "Sacred Chant Version" of "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", performed by Kathryn Hahn, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp, and the Agatha All Along cast, debuted at No. 22 on Billboard Digital Song Sales chart for the week of October 5, 2024.[13]
| Peakposition | ||
| UK Singles (OCC)[14] | 45 | |
|---|---|---|
| US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[15] | 22 |
A first-look at the series was included in the bonus features of WandaVision physical home media, which was released in late November 2023. Hahn, Locke, and LuPone promoted the series at Disney's May 2024 upfront presentation, where the release date and official title were announced and the first trailer was shown. The title announcement was accompanied by a video, which was released online, that shows the progression of announced titles for the series leading up to the official title, Agatha All Along. The video is set to the song of the same name from WandaVision.
A teaser trailer was released online on July 8, 2024. Michaela Zee at Variety noted how it cycled through various genres, the first of which presented Agatha as a detective in "a hardboiled murder mystery". Charles Pulliam-Moore at The Verge felt that the trailer was giving a "promising horror turn" and indicated that the series was darker and more "horror-oriented" than other Marvel projects. Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica wrote that the series looked like "a lot of dark, spooky fun" and was the perfect fit for releasing in the Halloween season. Writing for Kotaku, Zack Zwiezen said the teaser was "promising a creepy, fun, and wild time" for the series. He was particularly curious about Rio's connection to Agatha and was excited for "a witchy, creepy, spooky show" for the Halloween season. Two days after the teaser's release, Hahn, who had been guest hosting the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ended her opening monologue with a song recapping the MCU.
Feige promoted the series at Disney's D23 convention in August 2024 with the Lopezes and members of the cast. The latter performed the song "The Ballad of the Witches' Road" at the panel, where the official trailer for the series also debuted. Nina Starner of /Film praised the costumes, cast, and music featured in the trailer. Nick Romano of Entertainment Weekly compared the tone of the trailer to the film The Wizard of Oz (1939), particularly Agatha and Lilia respectively resembling the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda from that film.
Agatha All Along premiered on Disney+ with its first two episodes on September 18, 2024, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly, before concluding on October 30 with the final two episodes. The series consists of nine episodes, with the release coinciding with the Halloween season. The series was previously expected to debut as early as late 2023, but by February 2023 it was not included on a list of "sure bets" to be released that year amid Disney and Marvel Studios re-evaluating their content output. The series is part of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Disney announced that Agatha All Along attracted 9.3 million views globally within its first seven days of streaming.[16] [17] The series also garnered over 9.8 million viewers during its premiere week.[18] [19] It became the No. 1 television show on Disney+ during that period.[20] Streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, which monitors daily updated VOD charts across the globe, reported that the series ranked in the top 10 across 56 countries and territories as of October 2.[21] Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming for Marvel Studios, noted that it achieved the highest audience retention rate of any Marvel series to date.[22] [23] Fan engagement on social media was also notably high, with enthusiasm comparable to the second season of Loki.[24]
The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which monitors real-time data from 20 million users in the U.S. for original and acquired streaming programs and movies across subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services, announced that Agatha All Along was the second most-streamed series in the U.S. during the week of September 19.[25] [26] Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, estimated that the series was viewed for 426 million minutes from September 16–22.[27] It subsequently garnered 365 million minutes of watch time from September 23–29.[28] The series returned to Nielsen's chart for the week of its fifth episode with 310 million minutes of watch time. It scored 410 million minutes viewed across its first six episodes the following week.[29] The show tallied 744 million minutes of viewing on Disney+ for the week of October 28—November 3, marking a 75 percent increase from its premiere week.[30] JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 40 million users around the world, reported it among the top ten most-streamed series in the U.S. from September 16 to November 3.
TVision, which uses its TVision Power Score to evaluate CTV programming performance by factoring in viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps and incorporating four key metrics—viewer attention time, total program time available for the season, program reach, and app reach—calculated that Agatha All Along was the top-streaming show from September 16–29. It remained in the top five most-streamed shows from September 30 to October 20. Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, revealed that it was the second most-streamed original series in the U.S. from September 22 to October 6. It subsequently rose to first place from October 13–27.
Disney+, which calculates its "Top 10" list by considering daily views for episodes and movies alongside the growing popularity of newly released titles, announced that Agatha All Along was the second most popular title in the U.S. on October 30.[31] Disney later revealed that the seventh episode of the show achieved 4.2 million views globally within its first day of streaming, marking a 35% increase compared to the premiere episode.[32] [33] The eighth episode garnered 4.6 million views on Disney+ within its first day, reflecting a nearly 10% increase from the viewership of the seventh episode. The series finale, which premiered the same night, drew 3.9 million first-day views. In comparison to the premiere episode's 3.1 million views, the eighth episode represented a 48% increase, while the ninth episode saw a 26% increase.[34]
The series holds an 84% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 210 critic reviews with an average rating of 7.25/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The marvelous Kathryn Hahn is backed up by a coven of memorable performers in this MCU spinoff that refreshingly concocts its own distinct brew."[35] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the series a score of 66 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[36]
Writing for the Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall noted that the series "worked as a proper TV show rather than a chopped-up movie, and harks back to the comics giant's most successful project for the small screen, WandaVision."[37] Eliana Dockterman of Time felt that showrunner Jac Schaeffer "seems to be one of the few writers working in the superhero realm who understands that emotional revelations are far more compelling than CGI magic," and wrote that "the greatest trick of Agatha All Along is that the show used its extended time on the small screen to make us empathize with Agatha and Billy."[38] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave the show a grade of 5 out of 5, stating, "This royally entertaining Marvel series slips seamlessly from comedy to tragedy." She praised Hahn's performance, saying, "Kathryn Hahn is so good you can barely take your eyes off her" and commended the supporting cast, concluding that "although it remains indubitably Hahn's show [...] she is surrounded by excellence."[39]
In a less positive review, Rob Owen of The Seattle Times opined that although Hahn's "chemistry with Locke and Plaza, especially, makes Agatha watchable," the show "is not as creative as WandaVision and threatens to feature the same plot over and over, episode after episode."[40]
Hahn's performance was an honorable mention for TVLine Performer of the Week for the week ending October 12, 2024, with Rebecca Iannucci stating, "Kathryn Hahn has one of the most formidable acting ranges in the business" and commending her for "her comedy chops [...] and her subtle dramatic skill".[41] Locke was an honorable mention the following week. Matt Webb Mitovich lauded his layered performance, writing that "Joe Locke worked all kinds of magic with the variety of material given him".[42] LuPone received an honorable mention for the week ending October 26. Mitovich described her work as "a tour de force", and praised her character's impactful presence by concluding, "LuPone conjured every emotion."[43]
Locke was named SpoilerTV's Performer of the Month for October 2024, with Hahn and LuPone placing second and third, respectively. It marked the first time in the website's history that the top three spots were held by performers from the same series.[44]
| 2025 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series | Kathryn Hahn | [45] | |
| Best Breakthrough Performance In A New Scripted Series | Joe Locke | [46] | |||
| Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series | Patti LuPone | [47] |
See main article: ''Marvel Studios: Assembled''. In February 2021, the documentary series was announced. The special on this series, "The Making of Agatha All Along", was released on Marvel Entertainment's YouTube channel on November 13, 2024.