There are so many Marvel shows on Disney+ that it’s hard to remember they used to be a novelty. The MCU moved into the new streaming service in 2021 with WandaVision, Marvel’s love letter to sitcoms that followed Wanda Maximoff as she reflected on her love and loss of Vision. It was a strong entry into a new medium for the franchise, but the definition of an MCU show changed in the three years that followed.
Now, WandaVision’s breakout villain, Agatha Harkness, is getting her own spinoff, Agatha All Along, and one of the many changes it’s making to its source material involves its runtime.
Twitter account @ScarletWitchUpdates claims the runtime of the first four episodes of Agatha All Along are 39:49, 41:25, 37:02, and 40:52, respectively. While this is an unconfirmed leak, this account previously predicted several details of What If Season 2. Don’t take it as gospel, but it’s a solid bet to assume they’re right.
If this claim is correct, it would be a notable change from the precedent WandaVision set. Excluding credits, WandaVision’s first four episodes didn’t even crack a half hour. The entire series hovered around 30-minute runtimes until the final two episodes, which were about 10 minutes longer. This made sense in context; WandaVision spent most of its time modeling itself off of classic half-hour comedies, so the runtimes would naturally be shorter.
Agatha All Along is breaking away from that and going with 40-minute episodes from the get-go. That’s become the standard for MCU TV shows, with a few exceptions, like the lengthy Loki Season 2 finale. While this new series may be a spinoff of the MCU’s most experimental show, it’s sticking to modern Marvel standards. That’s a bit disappointing — WandaVision’s oddball premise felt like a breath of fresh air, while Agatha will apparently be a more straightforward adventure. Outside of She-Hulk, no TV show since WandaVision has really played with the TV format, which is part of why Marvel’s television slate has felt so underwhelming.
But there are more ways to experiment on television, and you can count on Agatha to find as many ways to surprise as she can. At least longer runtimes mean more room for Agatha Harkness to wreak havoc in Westview and down the Witches’ Road, and she’s sure to have no shortage of tricks to play.
