Congratulations to Agatha All Along for being the third good Marvel show on Disney+

As someone who has been a die-hard Marvel fan since the early days of Iron Man, I can confidently say that the MCU has been a significant part of my life’s journey. The Avengers movie was a turning point for me, and I still remember the excitement it brought to millions of fans worldwide. But it’s shows like Agatha All Along that make me fall in love with Marvel all over again.

The narrative of the films released during the 2010s era can essentially be summed up as the rise and dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The groundwork was laid with ‘Iron Man’ in 2008, but it was ‘The Avengers’ that catapulted the series to a cultural phenomenon in 2012. From then on, Disney capitalized on this success and reaped substantial profits. The high point came in 2019, when three Marvel productions – ‘Captain Marvel’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ – all surpassed the billion-dollar mark at the box office.

In those days, the streaming battlefield was intensifying, and Disney and Marvel Studios identified television as their next conquest. Kicking off on a strong note, they unveiled “WandaVision,” an intriguing series revolving around Wanda Maximoff that drew inspiration from classic sitcoms. In 2021, I was one of the many captivated by this unique show; the excitement was palpable.

After that, things seemed to lose momentum. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” followed and while it was decent, it felt predictable. “Loki” showed promise but was not Marvel’s best move for some time. The subsequent shows could be enjoyable, but they seemed insignificant compared to the grandeur of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“Hawkeye”) or lacked the appeal to stand out on their own merits (“Moon Knight”). Many of these series were criticized for being good but not exceptional (“Ms. Marvel”). And then there was “Secret Invasion,” which was simply disappointing, a supposed epic about an alien invasion that ended up being Samuel L. Jackson and a few companions confronting people one by one in small rooms.

As a movie critic, I must admit I was skeptical about Marvel’s latest venture, “Agatha All Along,” given the recent commercial letdowns such as “Eternals” and “The Marvels.” With a history of underdeveloped shows, I wasn’t holding my breath for this spin-off from “WandaVision,” focusing on the intriguing antagonist Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn. I thought it would be just another Marvel production with an idea of its purpose but lacking a compelling reason to exist. Boy, was I wrong!

Initially, I had misjudged the series. Last night, Agatha All Along concluded its inaugural season with a two-part finale, and although I don’t believe it’s flawless, it managed to keep me hooked from start to finish and demonstrates a clear identity that many Marvel shows lack.

What Agatha All Along did right

How was it that Agatha All Along managed to bypass the defenses that other Marvel shows found challenging? Here’s an approach to consider:

• The casting. Sometimes, all a show has to do is cast the right actors in the right roles and let them do the rest. Agatha All Along had the good sense to cast people like Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza, Sasheer Zamata and Patti LuPone and then to let them volley, allowing them to build up a sassy, dangerous, funny chemistry that gained momentum as the show went on. Pretty much any of the actors on this show could hold down their own series, and putting them all together was a recipe for success. And how perfect was the goth-coded Plaza as Death? Some casting decisions make themselves.
• The style. Marvel movies and shows alike can struggle with the studio’s house style; go too far afield of it and they risk not feeling like part of the MCU, stick too close and they can feel boring. Agatha All Along strikes the right balance. With its sharp dark color palette, zinger-heavy dialogue, frequent costume changes, regular musical interludes, overt queerness and a plot that relies on magical logic, Agatha All Along doesn’t feel like anything else in the MCU, but it’s still consistent within itself.
• Threading the needle. This may sound like a back-handed compliment, but I think the best moments of Agatha All Along were the ones where I forgot it was part of the MCU and I was just enjoying the trip down the witches’ road. By the same token, I didn’t enjoy some of the bits that tied explicitly back to the wider MCU, in part because I was afraid the show was about to use what was unique and special about itself. But Agatha All Along never quite crossed that line.
• The darkness. Marvel has a reputation for being sanitary. Characters can push moral boundaries but not cross them. So I was happy that Agatha Harkness remained a bit of a duplicitous monster right through to the end, killing witches en masse without regret. And yet we still liked her; her backstory with her son was moving and Hahn is simply too charming to write off. The show also had real stakes, with characters like Alice and Lilia dying (spectacularly) and not coming back.

What can Marvel learn from Agatha All Along?

The series “Agatha All Along” isn’t flawless. Although I’m lenient when it comes to magical plots, I must admit that I find some aspects of the rules confusing. It seems Agatha acquired Alice’s powers midway through the series, but later she also takes Billy’s powers? What happened to the power she initially took isn’t clear. However, this minor confusion is easily overshadowed by the overall enjoyment I derived from watching the show.

Agatha All Along exhibits many similarities with WandaVision and Loki, the other two Marvel series that left a lasting impression on me. They aren’t shy about pushing creative boundaries, they present genuine conflicts, and they introduce characters that inspire both support and opposition. Notably, two of these shows were developed by Jac Schaeffer, suggesting her dedication to ensuring her projects receive the attention and care necessary to become truly captivating.

Essentially, it’s my belief that Marvel TV series (or films) have potential issues that could be resolved through time, dedication, and a bit of caution. To make quality productions, Marvel should only proceed with a show if it has a strong concept, the creative team is passionate about it, and they can invest time in developing, casting, and perfecting it. I think Disney realizes this, as CEO Bob Iger recently acknowledged that Marvel Studios had strayed from their focus and pledged to refocus on quality over quantity – a decision that seems wise. Perhaps we’ll see more shows like Agatha All Along in the future and fewer forgettable ones that aren’t worth mentioning at the end of articles like this one.

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2024-10-31 19:41