Agatha All Along Creator Has Made Peace With WandaVision Fan Theories

[The following story engages with Agatha All Along’s marketing campaign and does not contain major spoilers.]

by Jac Schaeffer WandaVision wasn't supposed to kick off Marvel Studios' foray into television on Disney+, but that pandemic-related shift in early 2021 ended up going so well that the showrunner spun off his hit series into the Kathryn Hahn-led series Agatha for life. Moreover LokiEmmy Nominated WandaVision is widely considered the crown jewel of what is now labeled Marvel Television (the Kevin Feige version), but as a pioneer of the MCU on Disney+, there was one blemish that Schaeffer didn’t anticipate: an overabundance of fan theories.

Of course, any time a show or movie can garner that kind of energy from an audience, it's ultimately a positive, given how hard it is to capture someone's attention these days. But the theories surrounding WandaVision reached extremely rare levels, rivaling the intense speculation that ensued Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Fans had become convinced that Marvel's demonic supervillain Mephistopheles was the true Big Bad of the series and that Al Pacino would play him. There was also a reference to an unnamed “aerospace engineer” that some viewers believed would lead to the MCU's introduction of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. These are just two of many examples that never came to pass.

As a result, Schaeffer, who didn't want to disappoint anyone with something that had never actually been promised, couldn't help but initially view fan theories as a double-edged sword.

“At that time, with WandaVisionI took the fan theories a little personally and I feel like I've changed since then,” Schaeffer says. The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone at Marvel during WandaVision he was so relaxed about fan theories, and now I understand that there will always be theories. You just have to do your job and do it the best you can and hope that the audience enjoys the ride.”

Agatha for life has plenty of material for fans to ponder, such as the identity of Joe Locke's character; however, Schaeffer still took a few precautions to prevent something insignificant from turning into another big expectation.

“The short answer is there are a few things that I obviously can't explain. I've been very careful about the language I use to protect things,” Schaeffer says.

Below, during a recent conversation with DAYSchaeffer also expresses his only regret Agatethe series' upcoming premiere, prompting her to say, “Now I wish I could reshoot the pilot.”

The last time I spoke to you was for WandaVision finale, and I told you that Wanda putting her kids to bed as the hexagon collapses was very reminiscent of a similar moment in Titanic. And while you insisted that you hadn't noticed it until that moment, you acknowledged that there was a subconscious influence there. So, how Agatha for life'S marketing first released presentation trailerI wasn't surprised that you were back in Kate Winslet territory with a pun on Easttown Mare.

(Laughter)

The idea was to have Agatha for life do briefly for the prestige drama what WandaVision did you do for classic sitcoms?

First of all, I remember the Titanic what. I hadn't thought about that in a while, but yeah, you shook me up with that. I was like, “Ooh, that nugget that was deep in the subconscious just came out with a jingle.”

But yeah, that was the idea I wanted to do. I was like, “Bring me a prestige crime drama,” and I'm so glad you used the word prestige. When I was pitching it and explaining to Kevin Feige what I wanted to do, I kept saying, “But it's prestige. It's going to have that patina, that grit. True Detective which is something we're all really showing ourselves to be these days.”

And then there's Evan Peters in all of this. Aubrey Plaza, as the marketing also shows, basically represents his Easttown Sea character. But there was at least some discussion about having Evan WandaVision actor Ralph Bohner plays the detective visiting Aubrey, creating insane levels of meta-essence?

(Laughter.) It never occurred to me, but it's such a good idea. I love Evan Peters so much. He's such a spectacular performer, and he's one of those performers that I could see playing that role forever. If he continued to play that character, I'd be so happy. So I'm ashamed to say that it never occurred to me, and now I wish I could reshoot the pilot.

You admitted to me earlier that the fan theories surrounding WandaVision were pretty overwhelming at times. Obviously you don't want to discourage fan engagement on that level — and Agatha for life It contains material to theorize about, but have you taken steps to prevent people from making something insignificant bigger again?

It's true. At that time, with WandaVisionI took the fan theories a bit personally and I feel changed since then after walking through the WandaVision experience. Everyone at Marvel during WandaVision I used to be so relaxed about fan theories, and now I understand that there will always be theories. You just have to do your job and do it as best as you can and hope that the audience enjoys the ride. So I'm not as worried about them as I was before. But yeah, the short answer is there are a couple of things that I obviously can't explain. I've been very careful about the language that I use to protect things.

I love the character of Lilia (Patti LuPone) because she is always pushing back against misconceptions and stereotypes about witches. That said, the end credits show where a lot of these ideas originated. Was the goal to be both an homage and a subversion of witches on screen?

That was exactly the idea, and I remember now how much I love your questions because you have such an understanding of what we're trying to do and what I'm trying to do. So it's so gratifying. That's also what we were trying to do with sitcoms. [on WandaVision]: “We love sitcoms for all these reasons, and sitcoms are also ridiculous for all these reasons.” So we're going to celebrate but we're also going to laugh at the same time. I admire a lot of that kind of content. Galaxy Research It's one of my favorite movies, and I think it does it so elegantly. It's also an excellent example of a Star Trekking-a type of story that makes fun of the phenomenon throughout.

So with this show, we weren't doing sitcoms; we were doing witches. There are other allusions woven in as well. But there are a lot of ridiculous ideas of what a witch is, and it seems to me like you want to have access to all of that. These witches, if they want to be a trope, they can be a trope. If they want to be something different and unexpected, they can be that, too. They can be all of those things, so that's the ethos of the show.

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Agatha for life'S The two-episode premiere will stream September 18 on Disney+.