The idea for the first episode of Agatha All Along came from an axed WandaVision pitch.
Agatha All Along is the new MCU series that debuted its first two episodes on Disney+ last week. The series sees Kathryn Hahn reprise her role as Agatha Harkness, while Jac Schaeffer serves as showrunner.
Schaeffer, who also directs three episodes of Agatha All Along, previously created 2021’s WandaVision for Marvel Studios.
What did Jac Schaeffer say about Agatha All Along’s first episode?
Speaking to Variety, Schaeffer said that her original pitch for WandaVision, which was made before the series even had a writers’ room, was to include a “CSI episode” mimicking a classic TV police procedural.
When the idea to make WandaVision be about family sitcoms came along, the CSI episode pitch fell to the wayside; however, when she signed on to make Agatha All Along, Schaeffer brought the idea back.
“I think that’s what WandaVision fans love, that fully immersed feeling inside of something that’s so familiar and dear to them,” Schaeffer said. “I love gritty drama, murder mystery stuff, but I don’t ever do it because I don’t like the dead girl tropes. I don’t like how exploitative they often are. So it was such a cheat for me to be like, ‘I’m gonna put on this costume, and pretend that I’m doing one of these shows.’”
She added, “Agatha delights in seeing darkness in others, in seeing people be selfish and self-serving and nefarious,” she says. “So I believe that she would love the true crime genre — not as a viewer, but because I think she would think it points to the ugliness in people.”
Marvel‘s Agatha All Along also stars Joe Lock as Teen, Debra Jo Rupp as Sharon Davis, Aubrey Plaza as Rio Vidal, Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer Kale, Patti LuPone as Lilia Calderu, and more.
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along, along with all eight episodes of WandaVision, are currently streaming on Disney+. New episodes of Agatha All Along will continue to be released on Wednesdays, with the final two episodes dropping on October 30, 2024.
