‘Agatha All Along’: Who Is Wiccan?

Marvel

Dec 9

Once Agatha All Along started releasing production photos, Marvel fans began predicting who Teen would turn out to be. After just a few episodes, fans had their theories confirmed: the mysterious Teen was none other than Billy Kaplan.

Joe Locke plays Billy on his journey in Agatha All Along as he confronts his unknown past and becomes Wiccan. His backstory, as told in the comics, starts in a similar fashion to that of WandaVision, but they soon veer on different paths.

Spoilers for WandaVision and Agatha All Along follow.

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Young Avengers #1-6

There are quite a few differences between Billy’s MCU tale and his origin story in the comics. When introduced in the first Young Avengers comic in 2005, Billy is using only lightning powers, taking the name “Asgardian” as a tribute to Thor. As a member of the Young Avengers, Billy works alongside his boyfriend, Teddy Altman (Hulkling), as well as Nathaniel Richards (Iron Lad) and Eli Bradley (Patriot).

In the third Young Avengers comic, Iron Lad explains that he knows each of these heroes has a direct connection to the Avengers, though Billy and Teddy don’t know how. After Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) and Cassie Lang (Stature) join the team, Billy uses his magic for the first time as they fight Kang the Conqueror. Eventually, he begins to harness his magical abilities better and soon starts going by “Wiccan.”

***Avengers: Disassembled* and *House of M***

Even so, Young Avengers is still taking the events of the Avengers: Disassembled and House of M comics into account. As Elizabeth Olsen (MCU’s Scarlet Witch) puts it, “If she could have two fake babies, and everyone tells her that they don’t really exist, and then-- her just go nuts…” In Avengers: Disassembled, Scarlet Witch hones in on her supernatural casting ability, thanks to Agatha. She marries Vision and, soon, William and Thomas are born.

In later issues of Avengers: Disassembled and then continuing with House of M, the twins turn out to be two lost soul shards belonging to Mephisto - not a creation of Wanda’s magic as they are in WandaVision. She cannot stand to be without a family, yet again, just when she finally thought everything was coming together. Scarlet Witch lashes out against the Avengers and thousands of mutants. Unknown to her, the twins are reincarnated as Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd.

***Young Avengers* #10-12 and *Avengers: The Children’s Crusade***

As the Young Avengers continue to build in numbers and experience, they recruit a new member, Tommy Shepherd (Speed). Their teammate Stature immediately recognizes the similarities between Wiccan and Speed. After a battle between the Skrull and Kree, the origins of Hulkling, Wiccan, and Speed are all explained. Billy and Tommy’s parentage is then confirmed with the former Vision’s memory files.

In Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, Billy and Tommy go searching for their mother with help from Magneto and Quicksilver. They eventually find Wanda in a terrible mental state in Latveria, where she is completely manipulated by, and engaged to, Doctor Doom. They rescue her, travel through time, and Wanda regains her powers, reuniting with the sons she thought had been gone all this time.

WandaVision and Agatha All Along

In WandaVision, Wanda and Vision are living their “happily ever after” in Westview, New Jersey, complete with their twin babies, Billy and Tommy, who are aging way too fast and everything turns out…wrong. Neighborly Agnes is there, mentoring Wanda, helping around town, and even babysitting the twins.

How much of this version of Agnes/Agatha is even “bad”? She does wipe Wanda’s memories of the children, but it could be argued that it was to protect Wanda and save any remnants of sanity she has left by the end of WandaVision. This makes Agatha and the other members of Westview know Billy as Billy Maximoff, the son of Scarlet Witch and Vision.

Until the finale of WandaVision sees the Scarlet Witch’s giant red Hex barrier collapse, Eastview lies wholly unaffected, just outside of what they know as the Westview Anomaly. In the sixth episode of Agatha All Along, it’s revealed that William Kaplan and his parents, Rebecca and Jeff, rush to go home from his bar mitzvah in the craziness, ending with a car crash that ultimately kills William.

There are some key elements to consider during the bar mitzvah and crash scenes: Lilia being at his bar mitzvah and putting the sigil on him, the driver in the car that hit them, and where Tommy’s soul is being reincarnated. Lilia and Alice, at the very least, already know him on the Eastview side of events as Rebecca and Jeff’s son, William Kaplan. After the crash, of course, William is effectively dead with Billy reincarnated in his body and his life.

As soon as Billy is reincarnated, he shouts out for Tommy. While he doesn’t remember that right away with his amnesia from the crash, he is starting to react to reading Rebecca and Jeff’s minds. Billy begins to research the Westview Anomaly and the Scarlet Witch, and even starts watching Jen’s skincare videos online, which connects him to all of the witches in the coven before he even meets Agatha.

Billy ends up going with his boyfriend, Eddie, to chat with Ralph Bohner (Randall/Pietro during WandaVision) about his theory. (Note that Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer has explicitly stated that Eddie is not Teddy Altman and will not become Hulkling, despite fan speculation.) Ralph confirms Billy’s suspicions that he must somehow be Wanda’s son, but also suggests that Agatha is more to blame for his death than Wanda is. Billy then sets a course for any information that might lead him to his brother and mother, so he seeks out Agatha and the Witches’ Road, bringing us back to the beginning of Agatha All Along.

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