Agatha All Along: What If It’s Not Mephisto?

Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney+, and the two-episode premiere left Marvel fans with plenty of new theories to discuss. (SPOILERS FOLLOW) In the first two episodes, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) frees herself from the spell Wanda Maximoff left her trapped in and addresses the problem at hand: her magic powers are gone. The first two episodes followed Agatha as she began to gather a coven of ‘mad’ witches that could help her embark on a journey down the Witches’ Road – but to what end? 

With Agatha All Along being a sequel to the events of WandaVision, it’s only natural that this new show is inheriting one of the biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe fan theories from the previous one: that Marvel’s top devil, Mephisto, will (finally) be revealed in the show. 

…However, we’ve been here before. WandaVision kept Mephisto’s name trending every week it was on – and pretty much ever since, whenever a new MCU project with any kind of mysticism or supernatural elements (Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Moon Knight) is released. It’s already looking like Agatha All Along will be no different – but how about we look at another possibility?

What If Mephisto has nothing to do with this? 

It’s clear that Agatha All Along is opening a wider door into the supernatural/occult side of the MCU – a lane that is populated with some very powerful dark lords and demons. 

Child of Mephisto 

One popular fan theory is that Aubrie Plaza’s character, Rio Vidal, is actually more than the “warrior witch” that she initially seems to be. It’s clear that there is a history between Agatha and Rio, and a lot of fans think it involves how Agatha eventually got the Darkhold – with a little help from an inside woman. And if you’re stealing something hellish from a devil, who better to help than the devil’s kid? 

Marvel’s Blackheart is a demonic entity (or “Hell-lord”) that Mephisto created out of the evil energy built up around a town in New York where murder and bloodshed had occurred for centuries. However, when Blackheart tries to make his own bid for power, Mephisto banishes him to Earth, where Blackheart tried to corrupt souls and recruit them for his war against his father. 

Having Aubrey Plaza play Blackheart would be a fun twist on the character – and also a great Easter egg for Marvel fans. Plaza starred in the X-Men spinoff show Legion, where she was eventually revealed to be playing another major evil entity from the Marvel Universe (SPOILERS), the Shadow King. 

Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer has teased a potential name-drop of a long-awaited Marvel character coming in the show: whether it is played by Plaza or presented as another character entirely, Blackheart would be able to name “Mephisto” without the villain being directly involved, while still teeing up Mephisto for a later story arc or project. Mephisto’s kid would also be more on the scale of a Marvel TV project. 

Chthon

The practice of witchcraft in the MCU has had another entity attached to it: Chthon, the first demon. Like Blackheart, Chthon is an entity that has been in Marvel lore for quite a while. He was an Elder God who became the first master of black magic and, who with his brother Set became a demon. Chthon wrote the Darkhold as a link between Earth and his home realm, the source of his power.  Chthon is also the progenitor of the demonic creatures (goblins, harpies) and monster races (vampires, werewolves, zombies) that exist within the Marvel Universe. 

In the MCU, Chthon created Wundagore Mountain and first inscribed its walls with the prophecies and magic spells that would later be transcribed into the Darkhold book. That includes the prophecy of the Scarlet Witch, which guided Wanda’s fate in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With Wundagore gone, and Agatha needing to rekindle her black magic abilities, maybe the Witches’ Road is leading to the one who made witchcraft possible. 

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Wanda All Along 

It would be a big twist (or not…) to find out that the only way Agatha can re-empower herself is by bringing back the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Marvel Studios producers have played coy about where Wanda ended up when Wundagore Mountain fell – whose to say she didn’t land at the end of The Witches’ Road? 

Agatha All Along streams new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.