WandaVisionwas Marvel’s first smash hit of 2021, and part of that has to do withKathryn Hahn’s fantastic portrayal of Agatha Harkness. However, showrunnerJac Schaefferrevealed that the cunning witch wasn’t always poised as the show’s ultimate villain.
In the newRolling Stone articlethat breaks down the making of the show, Schaeffer revealed that she almost took a more benevolent approach to Agatha. “In the original conception,” Schaeffer said, “Agatha’s character was more in the mentor and magic-expert space.” This mirroredAgatha and Wanda’s relationship in the comics, in which she helped the Scarlet Witch understand herself while also purposefully keeping her unaware of dark secrets looming above. Elements of this were still somewhat present in the final cut of the show, in which Agatha offered to teach Wanda about chaos magic and how to control the hidden magic inside of her.
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Despite these original plans, Schaeffer also revealed that part of the show’s ending was always the same. “One of the things that never changed was that in the finale, Wanda would have to say goodbye to Vision,” said Schaeffer. However, she also described how this goodbye was different in the version of the show that didn’t really have a villain:
“In my original notion of it, that goodbye was like a final binding spell that she had to do. And it was tied to a spell that Agatha had taught her early in the series, where a gravy tureen had shattered, and Agatha taught her this very basic binding spell. In the end, what she has to do is integrate her trauma, and she has to bind Vision back to herself with that spell.”
But as development progressed, Schaeffer said that the show needed a more villainous force, so they adjusted Agatha from mentor to antagonist. This was a significant change to the show’s original storyline and the character itself. After all, we wouldn’t have gotten the banger that is“Agatha All Along”if she’d kept her mentor role!
Schaeffer also talked about chaos magic and how to introduce it to the story, revealing that she and directorMatt Shakmandeveloped a whole sequence set in the chaos dimension before scrapping the idea.
“There was more dissection of the idea of chaos magic [the source of Wanda’s powers] in the [writers] room, too,” she says, although this will eventually be explored inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Indeed, Schaeffer reveals that the team had begun planning ideas on introducing and visualizing the chaos dimension during the finale, although Schaeffer said it ended up not serving any purpose. It’s a shame, though, as that would have been cool to see.
You can learn more about the history and creation of the show in the article linked above. If you’re craving a rewatch or just want to hear thecatchy songsagain,WandaVisionis available to stream on Disney+.
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