'Agatha All Along' Promises to Be Marvel's 'Gayest Project Yet'
IT'S BEEN OVER three years since the mind-bending Marvel Studios series WandaVision made its debut on Disney+, and that show's scene-stealing villain is finally taking center-stage. Agatha All Along follows Agatha Harkness, the nosy neighbour who was revealed to be an ancient (and fourth wall-breaking) witch, as she sets off on a quest to walk the fabled "Witches' Road" and regain her powers.
If you saw Kathryn Hahn's arch, campy performance in WandaVision then you already have a pretty good idea of what the tone in Agatha All Along (which comes from the same creative team) will be. At the show's premiere this week, its cast teased that this might actually be the gayest thing to take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and not just because Broadway legend Patti Lupone is on the lineup.
"It’s got many layers and gay is one of them," said Joe Locke, who plays a character called "Teen" who is widely rumored to be Billy Kaplan, one of the most prominent queer characters in Marvel Comics. "That’s one of the great things about the show," he added. "Teen is a queer guy on the show, but it’s not the driving force, which I think is really great. It’s really nice to just have these positive queer characters."
Meanwhile, Ali Ahn, who plays Alice, put it a little more simply. "It is the gayest show on Marvel," she said. "I think the thing that makes it more gay is that we are singing with Patti."
When asked to confirm if this was Marvel's queerest project yet, Parks & Rec star Aubrey Plaza told reporters: "It better be, because that's what I signed up for." She went on to say that Agatha All Along will be " a gay explosion by the end of it."
Previous LGBTQ+ representation in the MCU has included Valkyrie in the Thor movies, Phastos in Eternals, and that cameo from director Joe Russo as an unnamed gay man in Avengers: Endgame, which was hyped up prior to the film's release and then fell notoriously flat among audiences. But representation goes beyond having a character on-screen who "just happens to be" gay or bisexual, or who makes some offhand reference to a same-sex partner. It goes beyond even showing them in a relationship. It's about capturing a sensibility. Because queer people? We're a vibe.
So much inclusive and well-meaning LGBTQ+ messaging about in media focuses on our similarities, our sameness, as if to reassure straight, cisgender people that we're harmless. "Don't be afraid! We're just like you." What that messaging overlooks is that sometimes, we're not just like you. In fact, part of what makes being part of the LGBTQ+ community so fulfilling and, frankly, fun, is in embracing that difference, and finding fellowship with people who have been similarly marginalized.
Former Saturday Night Live performer Sasheer Zamata, who plays Jennifer, spoke to that subtext in Agatha All Along. "Witches are queer, inherently, just because we are outcasts and set aside for many reasons," she said. "This show shows a really good representation of different types of people and that we can all use the power we have within to go forward and be great."
Plaza, Locke, and Zamata all play leading roles in Agatha All Along, and are all openly queer. Aside from Locke, Agatha All Along boasts an almost entirely female-identifying cast. Both of these things are practically unheard of for an MCU property, and that's notable for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, it's encouraging that a franchise so associated with typically masculine power fantasies (MCU heroes are frequently kings, super-soldiers, and CEOs) is putting its money and creative heft behind such a femme-coded series. Just as important, though, is the fact that when there are multiple people of a shared identity included on-screen, the burden of representation is lightened. Agatha Harkness herself, Kathryn Hahn, told the press: "What is the most exciting thing about it is is that’s not exactly what it’s about. It’s so normalized."
Hopefully this casually diverse approach to storytelling will yield some unexpected magic. And maybe the Witches' Road will lead the MCU to a more inclusive place.
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