Agatha All Along is gearing up for an explosive two-episode finale, but its most shocking reveal may have come in Episode 5, when Joe Locke’s character, known only as “Teen,” was revealed to be none other than Billy Maximoff. It turns out that when local teen William Kaplan was slain in a car crash, he was the perfect vessel for the soul of one of the sons Wanda Maximoff created in WandaVision, escaping after the destruction of Wanda’s spell over Westview.
Billy, aka “Wiccan,” has a long and illustrious career with the Young Avengers in the comics, and it looks like the series was establishing a similar origin story. However, Jac Schaeffer, showrunner of Agatha All Along, clarified that one of the biggest similarities to the comics isn’t a purposeful comics reference — it’s a sentimental shout-out.
In Episode 2, we learned that Teen had a boyfriend he calls when he’s out with Agatha recruiting the coven, but the contact name is listed as just “Boyf.” It isn’t until we learn Teen’s true name that we learn his boyfriend’s name: Eddie.
Comics fans instantly drew a connection between Eddie and Billy Maximoff’s comic boyfriend (now-husband) Teddy Altman, aka Hulkling. The names were so similar, it seemed like it couldn’t be a coincidence. But according to Schaeffer, that’s exactly what it was.
“We had awareness of Teddy and Teddy was discussed in the room,” Schaeffer tells Inverse. “The name Eddie was given to that character because Eddie is somewhat important to the writers’ room, so that’s why that’s his name.” In other words, Eddie was given that name as a tribute to someone close to the the writing team, not as a hint of a big Hulkling reveal. Schaeffer declined to go into detail about who his namesake was, but said it is “someone that collectively the room loves.”
So if Eddie isn’t Hulkling, who is? In the comics, Hulkling is completely unrelated to The Incredible Hulk — instead, he’s a hybrid of the Skrull and Kree species. But in the MCU, we do actually have a “Hulkling”-esque character: Bruce Banner’s Hulkish son Skaar, introduced at the end of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Skaar does have his own comics analog, but it’s possible he’ll be a composite character with Hulkling in the MCU.
But in order to get there, MCU fans need to face an uncomfortable truth. In order for Billy to meet and fall for Hulkling eventually, his relationship with Eddie will have to end. But for Agatha All Along, at least, we can see him be the devoted boyfriend to the MCU’s latest witch on the scene.
