‘Agatha: Darkhold Diaries’ Gets New Title and Release Date
We wanna join the coven!
Marvel’s first Disney+ series WandaVision had a lot going for it, but one of the best things about the series was Kathryn Hahn’s portrayal of Agatha Harkness, a charismatic but malevolent witch who tries to steal Wanda’s power. Agatha fans everywhere celebrated Marvel’s announcement that Hahn would be starring in a spinoff series, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (formerly titled Agatha: Coven of Chaos, and Agatha: House of Harkness before that).
The series has undergone some shakeups because of the WGA and SAG strikes, but here’s what we know so far.
The Agatha: Darkhold Diaries release window
At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Kevin Feige announced Darkhold Diaries‘ release window as part of its Phase 5 slate and gave the series a release window of late 2023 or early 2024. Filming for the series began in earnest in January 2023, and in June, cinematographer Jon Chema posted an Instagram story showing pictures from a wrap party, showing that principle photography had concluded. Although the story isn’t up anymore, multiple fans took screenshots.
However, in February 2023 Feige told EW that Marvel would be spacing out its Disney+ shows “so that they can each get a chance to shine.” In September 2023, Marvel announced that Darkhold Diaries would be premiering in fall 2024.
Who’s in the Agatha: Darkhold Diaries cast?
We don’t have a full cast list yet, but some major announcements have come out.
First off, we know that Kathryn Hahn will return as Agatha Harkness. Also, in October 2022, Emma Caulfield (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) confirmed in an interview with Vanity Fair that she’ll be reprising her role as Dottie, the snobby neighbor who’s actually under Wanda’s control. In January 2023, Deadline announced that Debra Jo Rupp, who played Mrs. Hart in WandaVision, would also be reprising her role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, WandaVision cast members David Payton, David Lengel, Asif Ali, Amos Glick, Brian Brightman, and Kate Forbes will also be appearing in Darkhold Diaries.
Broadway legend Patti LuPone (Beau is Afraid, Steven Universe) is playing a 450-year-old Sicilian witch named Lilia Calderu who reads tarot cards and, according to LuPone, “is really hot.” According to remarks LuPone made to EW, Lilia is in a coven with Agatha and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation)’s character.
Joe Locke (Heartstopper) has also joined the cast, and although we don’t know who he’ll be playing, he looks an awful lot like a grown-up version of Wanda Maximoff’s son Billy. This has led to speculation that he’ll be playing Billy Kaplan, a reincarnated version of Billy who goes by the superhero moniker Wiccan. However, in her EW interview, LuPone called Locke’s character a “familiar” (that is, a helper or servant to witches).
Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting several more cast members: Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, and Sasheer Zamata, who may be playing witches; Eric André, who may appear in one episode; and Miles Gutierrez-Riley and Okwui Okpokwasili in undisclosed roles.
In fall 2022, Murphy’s Multiverse revealed a casting call that included an athletically built 18-20 year old “kind soul” who loves his boyfriend. Fans believe this character could be Teddy Altman, a.k.a. Hulkling, since Teddy and Billy are boyfriends in the comics. A rumor has been circulating that Gutierrez-Riley could be playing Hulkling, but this rumor has been disputed.
Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, The Dictator) is rumored to be playing the Marvel villain Mephisto in both Ironheart and Darkhold Diaries. However, Mephisto rumors tend to run wild when it comes to the MCU, so viewers should take these rumors with a huge grain of salt.
Finally, Elizabeth Olsen said during an interview at SXSW that she thinks she’ll return as Wanda Maximoff. Will the Scarlet Witch be in Agatha: Darkhold Diaries? Marvel hasn’t confirmed it, but Olsen seems confident that it’s happening.
Is there an Agatha: Darkhold Diaries trailer?
There’s no trailer yet, and there probably won’t be one for awhile. Sorry, Agatha fans.
The Agatha: Darkhold Diaries plot: what is the show about?
When Agatha: Darkhold Diaries was first announced, there was some speculation that it might be a prequel to WandaVision—after all, Agatha is at least several hundred years old. However, set photos of a shopping mall (where Agatha seems to be grabbing a drink with Joe Locke’s character) and a police van have confirmed that the new series takes place at least partly in modern-day Westview. Plus, with Dottie returning, the series is much more likely to pick up where WandaVision left off.
At the end of WandaVision, Agatha was trapped under Wanda’s control, doomed to play the part of nosy neighbor Agnes indefinitely. Now, it seems that someone—Lilia? Joe Locke’s character?—has perhaps freed her. Will Agatha search for Wanda and the Darkhold, only to find out that the Darkhold has been destroyed? Will we find out what really happened to Wanda on Mount Wundagore? Both of these questions could play into the plot of Darkhold Diaries—especially with Darkhold right in the title.
There’s also the matter of the coven itself. In an interview at last fall’s Chicago International Film Festival, Hahn made the first reference to the show’s titular coven.
In the video, Hahn says that it’s “very, very exciting” to be able to play Agatha in WandaVision and Darkhold Diaries. She goes on to say that “we’re getting the coven together” and “it’s going to be very delicious.” So who’s in that coven, besides Agatha, Lilia, and Aubrey Plaza’s characters? Could Dottie become a witch? Is Lilia the coven leader? We’ll have to wait and see.
We’ll keep posting updates as we get them!
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
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