Director Jac Schaeffer on ‘Agatha All Along’: “It’s bigger and better”
Magic and mayhem
Marvel Studios may have had a shaky Phase Five with some hits and misses but one project that promises to bring excitement and new dimension to the MCU is Agatha All Along. Leaning into the horror genre, the series is a welcome change from Marvel’s typically lighter PG-13 content that delves into the darker side of magic usage.
Audiences were first introduced to Agatha Harkness in WandaVision, Disney Plus’ first-ever Marvel TV series. Played by Kathryn Hahn, the bubbly and oblivious neighbour turned into a formidable antagonist to Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, by the end of the season.
With the character now living under an illusion set by Maximoff, Agatha All Along follows her perilous journey to regaining her powers with a ragtag coven down the legendary Witches’ Road.
Ahead, we speak to Jac Schaeffer, director and executive producer of Agatha All Along to find out how the show diverges from other Marvel projects and what to expect. Read the exclusive below.
We first see Agatha Harkness in WandaVision which was a real hit with the fans! How does Agatha All Along build on the character and success of that show?
“We’re trying to give the fans a lot of the same hits that they felt in WandaVision in that it’s a very theatrical show. It has a lot of pop culture allusions, a lot of production designs in hair, makeup and wardrobe as well as wonderful music. So, in that sense, it has a very similar spectacle sensibility to WandaVision that we aim to recreate.
“However, Agatha All Along is all about witches. It’s expansive, much darker, and has a bigger focus on horror. In WandaVision, Wanda is a very angsty character who is a lot about containing herself. On the other hand, Agatha is not interested in containing herself at all. So this show is, in a lot of ways, bigger and better.”
Yes, we noticed how horror-centric the show is! It’s not something we often see in Marvel—was this approach intentional?
“One of the things I love about Marvel is that each property gets to stand on its own two feet. Yes, there are always going to be intersections and threads running through but I wouldn’t say that any property signals a new kind of direction. We love that each property can have its own voice.
“For our show, we’re doing this horror and campy thing but it is also legitimately scary at times [laughs]. We’re trying to swing the pendulum and it is thrilling to be in a space that is unfamiliar for Marvel audiences. The show is very distinct and we relish in that.”
How was the process of fleshing Kathryn Hahn’s character out for Agatha All Along compared to WandaVision?
“The discovery on WandaVision was what the character could be once Kathryn Hahn was embodying her. Before she joined the production, my conception of Agatha was a little bit flat. Kathryn brought so much dimension to it. She and Elizabeth worked together in such a way that it became so much more than how we first conceived of it.
“We worked a lot with Kathryn on things such as Agatha’s motivations and why she does the things she does. I think we’re carrying a lot of that work over to this show. In Agatha All Along, we’re going to see so much more about who she really is and what is at the core of her character.”
Another person we’re excited to see in the MCU is Joe Locke! Can you share a little more about his character in the show?
“Oh, Joe and Kathryn have tremendous chemistry together as people and on-screen which is just a gift to any director! [laughs] That’s the thing that you can’t force. They really love each other and get real silly together.
“In the show, Joe’s character is a mystery but we do know that he is a fan of Agatha’s so he has that kind of fanboy energy to him. He has a fascination with witchcraft and he studies it.
This dynamic of him finding Agatha amazing and her finding him annoying is so fun to watch. They’re constantly going back and forth with each other. As we get further on in the series, there is an evolution to that dynamic which I think fans will enjoy seeing develop.”
Agatha All Along is available to watch on Disney Plus Hotstar here.
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