Agatha All Along offers a distinct story with more than enough charm to stand on its own. Yet it’s tough to forget the fact that the show is a spinoff of the acclaimed Marvel Cinematic Universe-set series WandaVision. That link was clear early on in the 2024 TV schedule entry, as Wanda Maximoff’s body appeared in the pilot. Most probably won’t be surprised to hear that Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda, wasn’t actually on set. Still, I was shook when the hair and makeup department heads told CinemaBlend how they made the double look like Olsen.
Cindy Welles and Vasilios Tanis – who headed Agatha’s hair and makeup teams, respectively – were kind enough to speak with me about their work. A question I had going into our chat was whether or not Wanda’s body was portrayed by a real, living actor or whether a dummy of sorts was used. Tanis and Welles confirmed that a trained professional, who had to stay “very still,” was used for that Agnes of Westview segment. That information alone was fascinating to me, but I was also intrigued by Welles’ comments about styling the hair:
The hair was literally just a weft of hair that stuck out from the, you know – I don't remember if she was when she was laying face down in the dirt, if the hair stuck out. I don't think it did. I don't think it popped out until the morgue. But that was literally just a weft of hair that we curled into the pattern of what Wanda's hair would have been.
On the surface, these may sound like minor details, yet they’re actually quite important in regard to maintaining continuity. Wanda’s hair is quite distinct and, even if viewers only see that curl in the morgue, it still has to appear as her hair would otherwise. As someone who tends to (over) analyze smaller elements, I certainly appreciate Cindy Welles and her team’s commitment to detail. That commitment also extends to the efforts of the team led by Vasilios Tanis, who talked more about the touches that were added to the body double:
And, for me, it was just like, basically, you know, the way that they found the body in a ditch and water in the mud. She just had to be dirty. So we used a lot of dirt, and we just made sure that, you know, we found someone that kind of matched the physicality of Wanda as best as we could, because we didn't know how much of it was going to be utilized. So we just made sure that we were true to the scene, as far as what the scene was dictating for the character to be portrayed as.
I personally didn’t find it hard to buy into the idea that the body that was discovered by Agnes and her team of fellow law enforcement officers. They did indeed find someone with Elizabeth Olsen’s physicality, and kudos to that actor for effectively staying still. I’ll tell you who hasn’t been staying still, though – fans who want to see Wanda Maximoff return!
There’s been a lot of chatter as of late regarding the fate of Ms. Maximoff, who was seemingly killed at the end of 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Despite the fact that her body seemingly appears on Agatha All Along, the show doesn’t provide a definitive answer on the former Avenger’s mortality. As of late, there have even been rumors of a solo film involving the heroine. One person who’s down for that movie is Jac Schaeffer, who created WandaVision and its spinoff. Nothing has been confirmed just yet, though Kevin Feige’s latest Scarlet Witch comments suggest that he and his collaborators have some interest in bringing the character back at some point.
Fans can only hope that Wanda truly returns in upcoming Marvel movies or TV shows. For right now, though, let’s just marvel (no pun intended) at the incredible work that Cindy Welles, Vasilios Tanis and their co-stars did with the Agatha Harkness-centric series. You certainly have to be on your toes when working on an MCU production, and I have no problem saying that these two industry pros, in collaboration with their colleagues, knocked it out of the park.
Agatha All Along’s entire season is available to stream now using a Disney+ subscription, and you can use that same membership to watch WandaVision. Do yourself a favor by also keeping track of the upcoming Marvel TV shows.
