Does Agatha All Along seal Wanda Maximoff’s fate with its mystery body?

The Scarlet Witch was the first MCU hero to encounter the devious Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), who infiltrated her hex on the residents of Westview in a risky bid to steal her power.

Alas, that didn't quite go to plan for Agatha, who ended up drained of her own magic and confined to the suburbanite persona she had crafted during Wanda's sitcom-inspired delusions.

However, it's Agatha who has the last laugh because – if the first two episodes of her spin-off series are any indication – it appears that her one-time rival really has met an untimely demise.

Is Wanda dead in Agatha All Along?

The Scarlet Witch's status in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was left somewhat ambiguous by 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Agatha All Along has now confirmed that Wanda is dead.

This might come as a nasty surprise to some viewers.

While it's true that the destruction of the Darkhold Castle atop Mount Wundagore looked cataclysmic, horror movie fans know not to assume a character is truly dead unless the film directly acknowledges it – which Multiverse of Madness declines to do.

Instead, Wanda simply disappears into the rubble and, given her incredibly powerful abilities, it's not hard to imagine that she could have cast a life-saving spell at the last moment to keep her in play for future MCU stories.

And yet, if Agatha All Along is to be trusted, that appears not to have been the case.

The series kicks off with an homage to Mare of Easttown and True Detective, casting Agatha Harkness as a small town cop investigating grisly cases; including an unidentified body that appears in the woods of Westview, as if from nowhere.

It is later confirmed to be that of Wanda Maximoff – and we don't have to just take the show at its word.

The strongest supporting evidence is how the curse that Wanda placed on Agatha is substantially weakened after the body's discovery, allowing her to retire 'Agnes' and reclaim her true identity.

So, it seems that Marvel fans hoping for Wanda's imminent return to the franchise should perhaps lower their expectations. Or should they?

How could Wanda come back to the MCU?

Death isn't really a thing in the world comic books. I mean, it is technically, but characters bounce back and forth from the great beyond like its a local convenience store.

On the one hand, this damages the dramatic impact when a beloved hero makes the ultimate sacrifice; on the other, it means that fans never have to bid a permanent farewell to their favourite character.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has also presented a flexible interpretation of 'death', finding ways to resurrect Loki (several times) and Gamora (just the once), not to mention all the heroes that were 'snapped' by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

So, if Wanda is really dead, how could she come back to life in the MCU?

Well, the most likely place in which Olsen's Scarlet Witch could reappear is in the upcoming two-parter Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, the latter of which is expected to take place on a surreal amalgamation of parallel realities (as was the case in the comics).

Therefore, it's possible that Olsen could return to the MCU as a Wanda variant, of which we have already met two – suburban Wanda in Multiverse of Madness and zombie Wanda in What If...? (likely to return in the upcoming Marvel Zombies spin-off).

Alternatively, the original version that we all know and love could be resurrected via some form of dark magic, perhaps becoming a pawn of demonic villain Mephisto, as WandaVision viewers have long-demanded.

Suffice to say, there are plenty of possibilities, but it's only worth speculating about if Olsen herself is willing to consider them. Here's the latest she's had to say on the matter.

Is Elizabeth Olsen ready to come back as Wanda?

Potentially, yes! After expressing some dissatisfaction with how Wanda was handled in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans were concerned that Olsen might be permanently moving on from Marvel Studios.

However, comments made during the promotional tour for her new Netflix film His Three Daughters have reignited hopes that she will return to the MCU at some point in the future.

On Wanda's future, she told FM104 (via Collider): "It’s a character that I love going back to when there’s a way to use her well, and I think I have been lucky that when I started I was used well.

"I think people didn’t know what to do with me for a second there... [but] if there’s a good way to use her I’m always happy to come back."

So, here's hoping that Kevin Feige and co can come up with a compelling enough pitch to get the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated talent back on board. Watch this space!

Agatha All Along is available to stream on Disney Plus from Thursday 19th September. New episodes weekly. Get three months of Disney Plus for just £1.99 a month in this new limited-time offer.

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