Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp, Aubrey Plaza, David A Payton, Okwui Okpokwasili, Paul Adelstein, Abel Lysenko.
For many the House of Stan, the world of Marvel, has rightly been criticised for some of its output since the magnificent and overwhelming end to the Infinity saga, the damage done from the weight of expectation perhaps has been more defining than just how intelligent and interlocked the previous decade had been.
However, to look upon the television serials produced as somehow lacking in depth shows in part a lack of understanding to how the one shots or six-part graphic novels worked when introducing a new dimension or future storyline to the overall canon of past glories. Some of the greatest set ups have come from the comic books taking a punt on a contained tale that brings a fringe player or established character a moment of deserved limelight.
From The Death Of Captain Marvel, Days Of Future Past, The strange case that came with the toy driven Secret Wars when Marvel was on its knees, or the origin story created by Frank Miller, and illustrated by John Romita Jr. in the 1993 five part story of Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, the limited series run can be praised for its innovation and dedication to keeping the comic industry relevant and on pulse.
Agatha All Along, the eleventh miniseries to come from the House of Stan, sits justly at the fore of delving deeper into the mythos of Agatha Harkness, a character who first appeared in comic form all the way back in 1969 as part of a Fantastic Four storyline, and perhaps does so with more of an eye on modern day influences than any other as its LGBTQ+ inclusion is one that doesn’t deny the authority or inspiration that goes hand in hand with the genre’s take on witchcraft and sexuality.
The tale though, whilst observing the details of the 2021 Wanda/Vision series, brings with incredible insight the brilliance that comes in the guise of Lady Death, a fairly fringe character at times, but one to whom the likes of the Mad Titan Thanos have in the course of their own back story courted in terms of impressing.
This use of Death/Rio Vidal is a fascinating device, and the way it has been filmed, focusing at the end on the appearance underneath brings Agatha Harkness to a place where the older fans would recognise, a witch of superior intellect and ability; a time where both she and Death can be utilised in storylines going forward. Alongside the weaving of Joe Locke’s Teen/Billy into the narrative, it bodes that at some point the supernatural will come into its own within the MCU.
A daring series, an enjoyable feast with terrific performances from Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza, and the entire coven of a cast, Agatha All Along is the darkness and the light that has been needed within the television arm of Marvel’s relentless drive to succeed.
Ian D. Hall