While "Agatha All Along" may have taken the internet by storm, WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer said that Wanda was the show's true villain.
Schaeffer, who created the Marvel series and served as its head writer, appeared on the Empire Film Podcast to discuss the hit show. And while Agnes was revealed to be Agatha Harkness the entire time, manipulating things from the shadows, Schaeffer made it clear that Wanda was the one responsible for the horrors in Westview.
"[Agatha's] just messing with things, like, she’s not actually responsible for anything," Schaeffer said. "She does some things with the kids and Vision, and she’s kind of nasty, but the majority of the things that she says to Wanda are true and correct, and she’s right. Heroes don’t torture people."
The show was primarily focused on Wanda's grief. And as a character often used by others and defined by her trauma, it was important that she have agency. So while Agatha certainly made things worth, Wanda was the one controlling things.
"It was important to us that it be all Wanda and that it would be her responsibility because we didn’t want—we weren’t doing Mephisto, Nightmare, the Grim Reaper, or any other people or entities,” Scheffer continued. "If we’re not going to take the cheap way out that there’s this other force, right, if we’re going to give the gift of storytelling to Wanda, I give the whole power, she also then has the culpability and has the accountability."
While fans were disappointed that Mephisto or Magneto didn't show up, Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman have made it clear that those reveals were never part of the plan. The story was always about Wanda (and Vision, of course) and Agatha was merely an additional antagonist. In the end, Wanda will have to deal with the fallout of Westview and what she did to its citizens, which a future MCU installment will hopefully explore.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes/Agatha Harkness. The series is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Empire Film Podcast (via io9)