The latest project on the list of Marvel's upcoming TV shows is the the WandaVision spinoff Agatha All Along, which premieres on the 2024 TV schedule in mid-September. The series starring Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness promises spooky vibes for Halloween lovers, and it'll especially appeal to fans of Hocus Pocus and The Craft. Along with that, as one star recently discussed, there’s also plenty to love for those from the LGBTQ+ community, too.
The miniseries is packed full of queer icons, from Heartstopper’s Joe Locke playing an openly gay familiar to Aubrey Plaza (who is openly bisexual) being a warrior witch named Rio Vidal to one of Broadway’s gay icons, Patti LuPone. From the marketing, we also know it will blend horror, camp and musical elements. Saturday Night Live alum, Sasheer Zamata, who plays sorceress Jennifer Kale, shared her thoughts on how Agatha All Along itself may speak to the LGBTQ+ community:
I do think there’s a lot of queerness in witches, and being a witch, being the ‘other’, you’re cast out by nature, and you’re pushed aside for many reasons.
Witchcraft and the queer community have long been familiars, just look at how Buffy the Vampire Slayer often discussed themes of sexuality through that lens. When speaking to PinkNews about the upcoming miniseries, Zamata also said this:
There’s something to creating your own community and using the magic within. The reason that you are different is the reason that you’re special.
Agatha All Along follows the events of WandaVision where Hahn’s Agatha Harkness and Locke’s character form a new coven of witches and face the trials of the legendary Witches' Road. Among the witches there’s even a returning WandaVision character in the form of Debra Jo Rupp’s Sharon Davis. She played Wanda’s neighbor in Marvel’s first ever Disney+ series from 2021.
Sasheer Zamata is playing the comic book character, Jennifer Kale, a sorceress who has been recruited by the likes of Doctor Strange and was part of one of the Midnight Sons teams as well. When speaking about Agatha All Along, she continued:
I love that the show shows so many different types of witches and so many different types of people. We have different ages, different races, different types of love being displayed. It’s really special.
When it comes to the queer community being represented in the MCU, there have only been a few short instances of LGBTQ+ characters. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was confirmed as bisexual in his series, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie has been presented as bisexual in the Thor movies, and Brian Tyree Henry had the first same-sex kiss in a Marvel movie in The Eternals.
Time will tell how Agatha All Along handles its queer character (characters?) or whether it’s simply an undertone in the series. However, Zamata will certainly be looking to the community when it premieres, as she said:
I think a lot of people will get a lot from it, but also I hope that queer audiences like it.
Will Agatha All Along join the best LGBTQ+ shows we’ve seen? You can tune into the premiere with a Disney+ subscription on Wednesday, September 18, with new episodes premiering weekly, to find out.
