Agatha All Along's Mephisto namedrop might've been more important than we thought: "That is larger than me and this show"

Oct. 9, 2024

Showrunner Jac Schaeffer has opened up about what that reference could mean in the wider MCU

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In its third episode, new Marvel seriesAgatha All Alonglooked to poke fun at all of our wild Mephisto-based theories surrounding WandaVision. According to showrunner Jac Schaeffer, though,thatnamedrop might wind up being more than just a throwaway gag…

“It was a conversation with [Agatha] executive producer Mary Livanos, [Marvel’s head of streaming] Brad [Winderbaum] and [Marvel Studiosboss] Kevin [Feige], but it is a mention that is larger than me and this show. It is the larger Marvel-ness of it,” Schaeffer toldThe Hollywood Reporter. “So it is not about me bristling or having any kind of a reaction or agenda, mostly because that type of fevered discourse that is very, very rooted in the comics is not as interesting to me as the current story being told in the series at hand.”

In episode 3, titled ‘Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials’, Sasheer Zamata’s Jennifer Kale suggests to Teen (Joe Locke) that Agatha Harkness’s son Nicholas Scratch could be “dead, a demon, or an agent of Mephisto.” Whenweasked Schaeffer about the ear-pricking reference, she simply referred to it as “a nod”, before going on to add: “The fan theories themselves don’t inform the actual plotting that I do, or that Marvel does either. I like to think [more] about the thing people are engaging on? Like, what is the thing that’s sort of lighting them up? And is it the thing that’s lighting me up?

“That’s where I feel that I’m successful and my team is successful, when we can find that sweet spot of we are excited about it, it’s making our brains tingle, and making us want to dress up, but it’s also having that effect on fans,” she concluded.

Rather unsurprisingly, the speculation of a possible Mephisto reveal has carried over from WandaVision, with someDisneyPlus subscribers reckoning that Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal could turn out to be the demonic comic book character.Other people, however, are convinced she’s Death. With five episodes to go, we’ll have to keep tuning in

Agatha All Along is streaming now, with episodes dropping weekly. Make sure you don’t miss one with our handyAgatha All Along release schedule. For more on the wider MCU, check out our guides to all of theupcoming Marvel movies and showsand how to watch theMarvel movies in order.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.

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