From harmless neighbor to black witch in WandaVisionAgatha Harkness has largely won the hearts of Marvel fans. A single appearance was enough for the antagonist to convince the house of ideas to offer her her own spin-off series, which came to fruition in September 2024 with Agatha All Along. Yet, and if the character had never yet made an appearance in the multiverse, Agatha Harkness is well known to comic book fans.. Deprived of its own series, it represents an important part of the lore of Scarlet Witch and some Fantastic 4but offers a very different evolution on glossy paper.
A hell of a nanny
In the comics, Agatha Harkness is not the young and dashing Agnes played by Kathryn Hahn. The origins of the character are unclear, and the witch, who first appeared in 1970 in Fantastic Four #94 is a witch over 10,000 years old. She is first hired as a nanny to take care of young Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. The toddler is not the type to gently drool on his layette, since at only two years old, he has already become a super-powerful mutant, capable of altering reality with the sole power of his thoughts. So a strong babysitter was needed, and Agatha seems perfectly suited to the job. Between two diaper changes, she does not hesitate to defeat the Frightful Four, sworn enemies of the Fantastic Four, when they try to kidnap baby Franklin.
While Agatha is gifted with other people’s children, she is much less so when it comes to her own offspring. The witch from New Salem is also the mother of the powerful Nicolas Scratch. Abandoned by his mother, the sorcerer has sworn to take revenge. Hunted by his former community, who accuse him of breaking one of the sacred rules of witchcraft, Agatha is kidnapped with Franklin Richardsand tortured by the New Salem, a band of mutants transformed into monsters, and endowed with superpowers. Family is definitely not Agatha’s strong point, since the seven New Salem are also the offspring of Nicolas Scratch. Executed by her own grandchildren, the witch is finally resurrected a first time, and adopts a younger appearance, similar to that of Kathryn Hahn’s character in the series.
Complex relationships with Scarlet Witch
In the comics, Agatha will make alliances with Wanda several times.in particular to free the witch goddess from her mystical prison, and increase the power of her magic. Subsequently, she decides to take Scarlet Witch under her wing to help her master her powers. After a first meeting in 1973 in Avengers #127she becomes Scarlet Witch’s mentor, and a sincere friendship develops between the two women.
It is also Agatha who helps Wanda realize her dream of motherhood. After her death, the witch returns in ectoplasmic form, and uses her own life energy to give life to Scarlet Witch’s twins. The story is then revised a few years later by John Byrne in West Coast Avengers #42. Wanda’s children become entities created from the demon Mephisto, whose soul fragments were scattered after his fight with the Scarlet Witch. When the supervillain retrieves Speed and Wiccan, Wanda is devastated. Agatha then decides to erase his memory, thus preventing him from descending into madness. Upon discovering the truth, Wanda, mad with rage, executes Agatha. The witch’s body is eventually discovered by Nick Fury in Avengers Disassembled #503. It is 2004, and the witch is resurrected once again, ever younger and more powerful.
Not so bad (but a little bit)
Wanda’s sworn enemy in WandaVision, Agatha offers a more nuanced character in the comics. After playing nannies for the Fantastic Four and having a complicated mentoring relationship with Wanda, it wasn’t until 2023, two years after WandaVision aired, that she became the antagonist of her own story. In Scarlet Witch Annual #1the witch finally shows her true face. She manipulates and weakens Wanda to stop her rise to supreme power; but soon finds herself caught up by her own demons. She gains in power, and establishes herself as a cruel and power-hungry anti-heroine. She is finally defeated by Clea Strange, not without a final twist.
Still, she’s not the only one flirting with the dark side: Magneto’s daughter also offers a more nuanced character in the comics, regularly oscillating between good and evilwhile the MCU is content to present her as a broken woman, prey to madness after the death of Vision.
Source: www.journaldugeek.com
