Marvel's Agatha All Along creator says that Mephisto reference is "a nod" to all of those WandaVision fan theories
Sep. 26, 2024Exclusive: Writer/director Jac Schaeffer discusses the role fan theories play in the Marvel show and that Mephisto name-drop
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Warning – the following features spoilers for episode 3 of Agatha All Along.
It finally happened –Mephistohas been name-dropped in the MCU! During the third episode of new Marvel show Agatha All Along, titled ‘Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials’, the fan-favorite comic book demon was mentioned.
As the characters shared their theories on what happened toAgatha Harkness’sonNicholas Scratch, a member of her makeshift coven mentioned that he could be “an agent of Mephisto”. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean the supervillain will make an appearance in the series (however, keep your eyes peeled just in case), but the reference will be sure to delight fans, especiallythose who expected him to show upinWandaVision.
In fact, as Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer tells GamesRadar+ and theInside Total Film podcastin an interview, this name-drop is explicitly dedicated to all of those fans who continually theorized that Mephisto was secretly lurking in WandaVision. Upon asking Schaeffer if it’s a “nod and wink” to those theories, she replied with: “That was a nod, definitely, yes.”
Speaking further about fan theories, Schaeffer does reveal that they play a role in shaping the show. Although they don’t inform the actual plot itself, the writer/director says she reads them to see what exactly is engaging fans. After all, we wouldn’t have Agatha All Along at all if fans didn’t respond so positively to Kathryn Hahn’s cackling witch in WandaVision.
As Schaffer tells us: “So the fan theories themselves don’t inform like the actual plotting that I do or that Marvel does either. It’s really more, I like to think about what is 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.”
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
New episodes of Agatha All Along drop weekly onDisney Plus– to stay up to date, check out ourAgatha All Along release scheduleand you can read our thoughts on the series with ourAgatha All Along review.
And for more from the world of the MCU, check out our guides to all theupcoming Marvel movies and shows, as well as how to watch theMarvel movies in order.
As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I’ve worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.
Daredevil: Born Again star reveals that the MCU series is set five years after the Netflix original
Kathryn Hahn says Agatha All Along was a “satisfying” way for her to say goodbye to Agatha Harkness, but offers one ray of hope: “We’ll see what the future holds”
“It seems we’ve missed the mark”: As their Steam review score drops to 14%, Dauntless devs wade into feedback after a disastrous update that gutted progress
