When WandaVision's creators went to cast Agnes, they didn't have to look far. According to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Kathryn Hahn joined the series following a rare general meeting, which took place shortly before they sought to fill the role. What's more, her early casting influenced the voice and tone of the character.
"It was one of those miraculous things that happened," Feige recalled. "Maybe it was over the course of months. In my memory, it all happened very quickly. It was a rare general meeting, which we don't usually have a lot of time to do, but Kathryn came in and sat down with Luis D'Esposito. She was a fan of of what we were up to and we're fans of hers. At exactly that same time, we were sitting in that writer's room trying to think of who to play Agnes. It probably took five seconds for somebody to say, 'Wait, what about Kathryn? She was in yesterday.'"
"We don't usually cast like that. It's not usually like, 'Who came in the other day? Let's cast them.' It's almost never like that, as a matter of fact, but it's usually never as perfect as this," he added. "I think it happened very very quickly and it also -- I don't want to speak for Jac [Schaeffer] -- but I think also solidified the voice of the character. It kind of... I almost said something I shouldn't. Who is the greatest nosy neighbor in the world right now? Not in real life!"
In the series so far, Agnes has remained a constant, but mysterious presence in Wanda and Vision's lives. As of the latest episode, it appears she knows more about their bizarre reality than she is letting on, since she actively prevented a fellow Westview citizen from telling Vision a secret about "Geraldine," aka Monica Rambeau.
Disney+'s WandaVision takes place following the events of Avengers: Endgame, which saw Earth's Mightiest Heroes reverse Thanos' Infinity War snap and bring back half of all life in the universe. In the wake of that, Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, has found herself in a bizarre reality where her life is a sitcom. However, something insidious lurks beneath the surface of this picture-perfect world, and that may spell trouble for more than just Wanda and Vision.
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. A new episode of the series releases every Friday on Disney+.