The following story contains spoilers for episode 5 of Agatha All Along, “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power.”
IT’S BEEN CLEAR from the very start that Agatha All Along was building toward a big reveal with “Teen,” as played by Joe Locke, and at the end of the show’s fifth episode, “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power,” we finally got it. The twisty-turny episode featured just about everything you could want in your spooky mid-October content: a Ouija board, ghosts, possessions, and, of course, a scheming coven of witches, each with their own agenda.
And while no one who watched WandaVision would be surprised for Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) to have her own sinister (or, at least, selfish) agenda, the end of the episode—revealing “Teen”‘s power and identity—makes for a big splash that should change the path for Agatha All Along and the all of its characters for the duration of the show.
Here’s how it all played out. After the latest trial along the Witches Road found Agatha and the Coven attempting to communicate with the dead via a Ouija board, they ultimately communicated with Agatha’s mother, Evanora. You remember—the one who had her burned at the stake during the flashback sequence that we saw during WandaVision. After Evanora revealed herself, she possessed Agatha, creating a frightening sight until Alice (Ali Ahn) stepped in and pushed Evanora out. One problem—Agatha then appeared to suck Alice’s magic out for herself, draining the life from Alice, only stopping when “Teen” learned the name “Nicholas Scratch” from the Ouiji board, shouting it and getting Agatha to stop. But it was too late for Alice, who was just as dead as Mrs. Hart was just a few episodes earlier. RIP Alice.
Agatha claimed this was an accident initially, much to “Teen”‘s chagrin, before Agatha, Lilia (Patti LuPone), and Jen (Sasheer Zamata) all said that they (and every witch) were in it for the same thing: power. That, combined with Agatha’s snarky response to “Teen”‘s earnestness—”You’re so much like your mother”—set the Teen loose; he used his magic to mind control Lilia and Jen to throw Agatha into a bog, before throwing them in too. A cut back revealed a headpiece atop his head similar to what Wanda wore at the end of WandaVision and in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Agatha’s knowledge of who “Teen” really was, combined with the end of the episode, would seem to confirm that “Teen” is, in fact, Wanda’s son, Billy/Wiccan.
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Is Teen actually Wiccan, Wanda’s Son?
While we haven’t gotten any backstory yet, it’s safe to confirm at this point that “Teen” is, indeed, Wiccan, Wanda Maxmoff’s son. Wiccan typically has most of the same powers and abilities as Wanda—that includes flight, chaos magic, telekinesis, force fields, reality warping, and more.
We’ve already seen a version of Billy Maximoff—one of the “Billy and Tommy” twins—in both WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But, typically in Marvel Comics lore, Wiccan is actually Billy Kaplan, and not Billy Maximoff—a distinction we’ll explain in the next section below, though we’ll certainly hear more on this as Agatha All Along continues to unfold.
So, who is Wiccan/Billy Maximoff/Billy Kaplan in Marvel Comics and the MCU, really?
This is where the history of Marvel Comics and the story that’s played out thus far in the MCU really start to intertwine. Let’s start with Marvel Comics.
In Marvel Comics lore, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision originally got their twin sons, Billy and Tommy, thanks to a deal with Mephisto—the Marvel Comics version of the devil. Mephisto tried to take the spirits back, but the spirits of the twins overrode his power thanks to the sheer strength of Wanda’s magic, and eventually (years later!) their spirits found new bodies.
YOUNG AVENGERS BY HEINBERG & CHEUNG OMNIBUS (Young Avengers Omnibus)
In the first volume of Young Avengers, Billy Maximoff was reborn (identical looks, powers, and personality, albeit to different parents and in a new body) in the form of Billy Kaplan, son of Jeff and Rebecca Kaplan. Billy Kaplan looked up to the Avengers, and, after a chance run-in with Wanda/Scarlet Witch, discovered his similar powers to her. He initially went by the superhero name “Asgardian” before switching permanently to “Wiccan.” (The reborn Tommy, who is now Thomas Shepherd, would eventually become the superhero “Speed,”)
Wiccan is one of the most prominent gay characters in Marvel Comics, and even eventually married his boyfriend, the Skrull named Hulkling.
How will this fit in with what we’ve seen in the MCU? Good question.
Since the Billy and Tommy we’ve already seen (at least the ones in our main, 616 universe) turned out to be a creation of Wanda’s magic and her hex, it seems likely that that the Billy Kaplan we’re seeing in Agatha All Along was either reborn into another body, like what happened in the comics, or that he came from another dimension of some sort.
However, the fact that Agatha clearly knows he’s Wanda’s son (and he seems to know this as well) make an interesting wrinkle in everything that we’re eager to see play out from a logistical standpoint.
Teen/Wiccan is played by Joe Locke
At just 21 years old, actor Joe Locke’s career is off to a great start. He’s only been in two projects thus far, and both have been acclaimed series: Netflix’s Heartstopper, where he plays one of the lead characters, Charlie Spring, and now Agatha All Along, where his role as Teen/Wiccan/Billy is clearly central to everything that’s unfolding. Also, coincidentally, both projects are based on acclaimed comic properties.
Locke was born in the Isle of Man, in Northern Europe, and has spoken our prominently through the years on a number of issues for gay people both in his home country and elsewhere.
In addition to his roles on screen, Locke has also been a prominent theater performer; earlier this year, he played Tobias Ragg in a Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
