I’m watching Marvel’s new show “Agatha All Along,” which is not yet completely released. The show follows Agatha Harkness and her coven of chaotic witches as they traverse the Witches’ Road. Agatha was trapped in Wanda Maximoff’s spell and begins the show in the delusion that the spell has put her in. She is broken out of her spell by a boy who has a sigil on him that does not allow witches to hear his name or backstory. Agatha and the boy, “Teen,” bring together a coven of witches of different talents to summon the Witches’ Road and earn the prize at the end. Agatha is being hunted by the Salem Seven, a coven of witches that are the children of a coven Agatha killed when she was younger.

I love this show because I like witches, Marvel, the characters, and the aesthetics. This is one of the first works in Marvel to have on-screen LGBTQ+ main characters. The cast is great, and the show is campy.

Spoilers below!

One character in particular applies to the doubles and doppelgangers aspect- “Teen.” Teen is actually two characters in one: Billy Kaplan and Billy Maximoff. Billy Kaplan celebrates Bar Mitzvah, but has to leave early because of Wanda Maximoff’s activity in Westview. Billy Kaplan and his parents are driving home to Eastview when they crash into a tree, and Billy dies. At the same moment in Westview, Billy Maximoff’s soul is leaving because his mother (Wanda) had created him with magic and dissolved all of her magic in Westview to let natural life return. When Billy Kaplan dies, Billy Maximoff’s soul takes over his body and he wakes up with no memories. So he has three names/identities- Teen, Billy Kaplan, and Billy Maximoff. In a way Billy Maximoff could be viewed as a doppelganger since he took over Billy Kaplan’s body and resumed his life.

There is another double aspect shown in “Agatha All Along.” In Westview, when Wanda Maximoff took over the town with her magic, she took its real inhabitants and made them into characters in her world. She controlled their minds to make them act in accordance with the roles she gave them, and gave them fake names and lives in Westview. In her world, Wanda made Agatha Harkness be Agnes, a nosy neighbor who helps Wanda deliver her children.

Note: this show is a spinoff of the Marvel show “Wandavision”– it will not make sense if you watch it on its own