It finally happened. After years of speculation and theorizing, Mephisto is now canon in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. While the demonic entity hasn’t shown his face just yet, he does earn a surprising namedrop in Agatha All Along, Marvel’s latest Disney+ series. In a conversation with Agatha’s mysterious Teen (Joe Locke), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) reveals that Mephisto is, in fact, kicking around somewhere in the MCU.
As Agatha is a spin-off of WandaVision, the series that kicked Mephisto theories into high gear in 2021, this Easter egg feels like a full-circle moment. With writer-director Jac Schaeffer at the center of both shows, one might assume this was part of the plan all along. In truth, though, Schaeffer has never been all that interested in the Mephisto discourse, as it tends to distract from the emotional threads of the story being told.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Schaeffer revealed that Agatha’s Mephisto reference resulted from a larger conversation with Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “It is a mention that is larger than me and this show,” the filmmaker said. “It is the larger Marvel-ness of it.”
This kind of fan service is par the course for the MCU at this point, but that doesn’t make it any less significant. That Agatha was the Marvel project to finally mention Mephisto feels like a moment bigger than a mere reference, and if Winderbaum and Feige were involved in the decision, it could position Agatha as a new cornerstone of the Marvel Universe.
Mephisto as a character is something of a deep cut for casual Marvel fans, but his presence in the comics can’t be understated. He’s essentially Marvel’s take on Satan; though he isn’t actually Lucifer, he’s more than happy to weaponize Christian theology — and mankind’s general fear of Hell — to wreak havoc. Naturally, Mephisto loves to strike deals with Marvel heroes, giving them their heart’s desire but taking something equally crucial in return. That may be best exemplified in the controversial Spider-Man storyline One More Day, in which Peter Parker sacrifices his marriage to Mary Jane Watson to save his Aunt May and retain his secret identity.
One More Day is just one comic arc that has since been loosely adapted in the MCU without Mephisto’s involvement, but the character has a storied history with so many Marvel heroes that there are plenty of opportunities to bring him into the saga. In Mephisto’s debut, The Power And The Prize, the devil seeks to corrupt the Silver Surfer and consume his soul. He tries the same with Daredevil, leveraging his Catholic guilt in Daredevil #266. He’s also faced off with the Fantastic Four, Midnight Sons, and the Avengers, so there are plenty of opportunities to position Mephisto as the MCU’s next Big Bad. Any storyline could feasibly bring the character into the franchise; it’s just a matter of how and when.
Though Marvel seems to have found a villain to replace Thanos in the MCU, the franchise is still on shaky footing. The saga needs powerful antagonists to rally against, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mephisto pop up in a future film. He might even appear in a later episode of Agatha, provided it doesn’t interfere with the story being told. And if Agatha plants the seed for a major supernatural storyline, the show could be required viewing for Marvel fans going forward.
The magical corner of the MCU is still pretty small, but Agatha is working hard to expand it and enhance its importance. Schaeffer and her team are focused on telling a good story rather than crafting another show just like WandaVision, which ultimately revolved around its relationship to other Marvel stories. That’s a winning strategy. But Agatha doesn’t exist in a vacuum either, and if Feige has his way, it may inform a new chapter of the MCU just as WandaVision did.
