The Marvel Cinematic Universe has made such a huge impact because of how it interacts with its fans. Every story encourages discussion, speculation, and the occasional tinfoil hat moment. But as the franchise continues to rebuild itself after Endgame, some of that interaction has fallen by the wayside as fans get lost in meandering, pointless plots.
Now, however, an upcoming spinoff is teasing the return of a strategy Marvel found success with, and it could reinvigorate the MCU fan experience.
In an Empire Magazine preview, Marvel released new looks at its upcoming Disney+ original series Agatha All Along, a spinoff of its first Disney+ series, WandaVision. In the article, the name of actor Joe Locke’s (Heartstopper) character was revealed — kind of. Apparently, the script merely calls him “Teen.”
“Teen is a big fan of witchcraft and witches, so for him to be taken under Agatha Harkness’ wing and form a coven and go down the Witches’ Road is his dream,” Joe Locke said. “He’s fanboy-esque, and in his element. Which is very fun — because I was [too]!”
There’s no hedging where Locke calls him “my character” or “the character I play.” He’s just Teen. WandaVision pulled the same trick: when Kathryn Hahn was announced as a cast member, she wasn’t called Agatha Harkness, or even just Agnes, her pseudonym. Instead, she was merely “a nosy neighbor.”
WandaVision’s air of mystery is what made it so successful with fans. It spawned reams of fan theories; for weeks, it was considered a foregone conclusion that the villainous Mephisto would show up in WandaVision, before viewers got the big reveal that Hahn’s nosy neighbor was actually the main villain.
Is Locke’s character being named “Teen” a resurgence of this approach? Will he be revealed to be Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s canonical son? Is he a variant of Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan the Young Avenger? Is he Mephisto? Will he be involved in another big villain reveal?
Maybe he’s just a kid who prefers to be called Teen, but Agatha All Along already has fans asking questions and spinning wild theories. That’s what Marvel TV has been missing: vast conspiracy corkboard speculation that gets more and more complicated with every passing episode. That’s what keeps fans invested and Marvel in the spotlight. And come on, a kid named just Teen has to be up to something, right?
