Marvel Studios Attempts To Turn Its Inability To Title Its Agatha Harkness Show Into Marketing Gimmick

May 15, 2024  ·
  John F. Trent

(L-R): Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Marvel Studios kept changing the name of its Agatha Harkness show starring Kathryn Hahn and now they are turning that inability to name the show into a marketing gimmick.

Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Suzanne Tenner. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

The show has gone through a number of different titles. It was originally titled Agatha: House of Harkness back in 2021 when it was announced during the Disney+ Day presentation.

The show would be retitled to Agatha: Coven of Chaos in July 2022. it would receive a third title in September 2023, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries.

The show received a fourth title earlier this week: Agatha: The Lying Witch with Great Wardrobe. Marvel Studios revealed this title in posts to social media that have been subsequently deleted.

READ: Hollywood Screenwriter Rejects ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Director Joe Russo’s Claim That The MCU’s Problems Are Due To A “Generational Divide”

After deleting those posts, Marvel Studios revealed a fifth title and attempted to play up their inability to title the show as a marketing stunt.

The show is now titled Agatha All Along and it will have a two episode premiere on September 18, 2024.

The series stars the aforementioned Kathryn Hahn as she reprises her role as Agatha Harkness. It also features Aubrey Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, and Debra Jo Rupp as Mrs. Hart.

The story follows in the wake of WandaVision Season 1 that saw Hahn’s Harkness lose her powers. Harkness will be gathering a number of allies to her as she seeks to reclaim her powers.

Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 MARVEL.

READ: Rumor: Marvel Studios To Tap Jac Schaeffer To Craft “Magikal” Section Of MCU, Schaeffer Previously Admitted Her Disdain For Canon “That Violates My Values System”

The show is written and executive produced by Jac Schaeffer who also worked on WandaVision and wrote Black Widow. It’s rumored that Schaeffer has been put in charge of building up Marvel Studios “‘magikal’ section of the universe.”

That rumor came from CanWeGetSomeToast who posted to X in September 2023, “Just like how James Gunn was tasked with shepherding the cosmic side of the MCU, Jac Schaeffer is tasked with crafting her own “magikal” section of the universe…”

“The puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place,” the scooper added.

Schaeffer’s Marvel Studios work is controversial to say the least. She publicly stated she was uninterested in adhering to canon if it violated her feminist values system. She told Inverse in 2019, “I’m not interested in adhering to comic canon that is discriminatory in any way or that violates my values system.”

The writer also made it clear she was using the Marvel Cinematic Universe to push her own ideological agenda, “I wasn’t a huge superhero movie fan before starting to work [at Marvel], but now that I’m doing it, there’s just so much opportunity to make big, positive statements.”

“Especially something like Captain Marvel and Black Widow, to have these female-centered stories — I just can’t not be involved in that,” Schaeffer added.

(L-R): Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

READ: WGA Member Confirms Speculation About Why Superhero Films And TV Shows Have Gone To Hell

Schaeffer also revealed she staffed the WandaVision writers room based on gender quotas telling Inverse that the makeup of the room was “incredibly intentional, and it was very much supported by Marvel.” The writers room featured eight staff writers with four of them being women.

To this point she also stated, “I choose to be a part of projects that are about positive representation. We need to see women, we need to see people of color, we need to see nuanced experiences, and we need to see different perspectives on screen.”

Schaeffer continued, “I choose to work with people who are interested in changing perspectives for the better, and putting a world on screen that is something we can aspire to and have conversations about, and moving in a direction that will create a world I hope will be better for my children.”

Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Schaeffer also noted she wanted to tone down the violence in superhero films. She said, “I would like to see alternatives to violence in superhero movies.”

“Maybe I would qualify that by saying, alternatives to glamorizing guns and weaponry,” she admitted. “That’s one of the reasons that I love Captain Marvel — it’s all about inner power. And the destruction is not at the expense of human life.”

The showrunner also indicated she wanted to feature more morally “gray” characters as well, “My kids are really obsessed with ‘good guys vs. bad guy. Sometimes I explain [to them], ‘Every good guy can be a bad guy’ and vice versa. It’s complicated, but that’s sort of lost on them. That’s one thing that I think can be explored more in the future — I would hope that there are ever-increasing moves toward the gray and toward complexity.”

Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

What do you make of Marvel Studios attempting to turn their inability to title the series into a marketing stunt?

NEXT: After ‘The Marvels’ Box Office Failure And Abysmal Disney+ Numbers, Marvel Studios Doubles Down On Ms. Marvel, Will Be “Center” Of ‘Marvel Zombies’ Series

Join the Conversation
Subscribe
Notify of
5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
TimP

Call it Agatha Agony.

Omicron

I didn’t mind Wandavision when it was focusing on Wanda and Vision but the rest of the characters were terrible and don’t need their own shows.

CleatusDefeatus

Call it what whatever you want just don’t call me to come and see it.

Alex Chaudhari

How cucked like of you.

Kae

Dude. Are you like 12?