Agatha All Along brought back a familiar face from WandaVision this week and should probably spawn a popular piece of Marvel merch. Episode 6 decided to give us Billy Maximoff’s extended backstory for everything that happened in WandaVision until now. In doing so, Joe Locke’s character enlisted the help of Evan Peters’ Ralph Bohner. Now, MCU fans of the Disney+ shows haven’t heard that name in a while. But, the Quicksilver actor cameoed again and relayed a lot of the Westview details to Billy and his boyfriend. He also told the kids that Agatha Harkness basically lured him in, took his house and ruined his life. The witch seems to have laid claim to all his stuff and that includes his wardrobe. Agatha’s shirt choice near the end of this episode stems from this otherwise innocuous comment.
Marvel fans are now blaming a new character for the carnage of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Agatha All Along Episode 6 revealed that Lilia Calderu was the one to put the sigil on Billy Maximoff and that opens up quite the can of worms for Scarlet Witch fans. On one hand, the older witch was clearly trying to protect Joe Locke’s character from witches like Agatha Harkness. But, at the same time, she indirectly set all of that wildness after Wanda Maximoff got the Darkhold into motion with her little spell. Calderu couldn’t have dreamed that all of this would tumble down this way. And still, here we are with a dead Scarlet Witch and a young boy on a quest to reunite with his brother. (Oh yeah, and multiple casualties over in Earth-838!)
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Billy Maximoff just wanted to have his palm read, and this all led to him receiving that bad news from the divination witch. From there, she discovered his identity and placed a sigil on him so that no one could locate him and use his latent power for nefarious purposes. One problem, that means his mother wasn’t able to find him at the tail end of WandaVision. She took the Darkhold because of the loss of her family and desire to reunite with the boys. Who knows what happens if she discovers that a boy a few towns over somehow magically acquired Billy’s soul. (There’s also the lingering question of what happened to Tommy in all of this…) Still, maybe the Scarlet Witch doesn’t decimate that parallel Earth if she had been aware of her son.
Marvel Fans Blame New Character for Doctor Strange 2 After Agatha All Along
Wanda Maximoff’s characterization is a topic that still ignites an immediate firestorm online anytime it’s brought up. The Darkhold is corrupting influence and she simply wasn’t in the mental state to stave off its evil allure. But, after WandaVision, any attempt to make the Scarlet Witch a villain was going to ruffle some feathers. This reveal of Lilia Calderu as partially responsible for the domino effect fits right into these moments of characterization. Poor Wanda is just a passenger on this wild ride we’ve all gone on. For director Jac Schaeffer, it’s more complicated than all that. It’s both the reality of wielding such power and making the decision to employ special abilities. She told Deadline about that dance this week.
“Yeah. I mean, I think that these moments like Agatha siphoning Alice’s power, Wanda creating the hex, these moments of big power … I don’t like being like, ‘They have no control, and the power is controlling them,’ but I do think it’s always a discussion, and I think that’s what big feelings are, to me,” Schaeffer clarified. “The big power expressions are just metaphors for big feelings, so to answer your specific question about him blasting them off the Road, there will be more unpacking of that in later episodes.”
“But what I do hope is clear from Episode 6, is that he does not have a handle on his power. From both the blasting to the telepathy, that is not something that he can actively control,” she adds of Billy. “He can’t, at this point, seem to actively control any part of it, which makes him the perfect person to be with Agatha. And also, it’s the scariest situation.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Still Falls On Wanda, But Fate Is At Play Too
Interestingly, Schaeffer’s read seems to indicate that this whole situation is caused by Wanda. She had a choice about the Darkhold and got seduced by its power. Our girl isn’t completely spotless here. However, the strings of fate are moving all the while. It feels like a previous iteration of Agatha All Along probably had someone pulling the strings, but those plans have probably changed! Mephisto fans should be excited by the prospect. But, it’s hard to tell for sure. However, none of that really undoes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or the damage Wanda has caused in recent years. Maybe she’ll come back and we can see how Marvel addresses all this new information by the end of the show?
Do you feel like it’s really Lilia’s fault? Check out all the pop culture discussion over at @ComicBook!