Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, examining something in her hand.
(Disney+)

‘Goes FULL Acolyte’: ‘Agatha All Along’ lumped right into the same bad-faith attacks

Oh look, a new show hit Disney+ and suddenly all the same dudebros are angry. Why? I don’t know, at this point. I think because it simply exists. We really need to talk about how these guys are so incredibly predictable and boring that it’s like clockwork.

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Agatha All Along premiered on Disney+ and gave Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness her own show, including her escape from Westview. It is a perfect continuation of WandaVision—lauded as one of Marvel’s best shows by critics and fans alike—and what better way to spend the spooky season than with a show about witches? According to the gross men of the internet, the show is a failure and has already been “destroyed.”

Geeks & Gamers, a.k.a. “My only personality trait is ‘anti-woke,'” posted a video on YouTube the minute that Agatha All Along dropped and … I’m already tired.

Maybe I have just perfected my X (Twitter) timeline, but everyone I saw was incredibly positive about the show. The few mid-level reactions to the show were tame, critically thought out, and not this clickbait trying to act like Agatha All Along ruined their childhood.

The series does feature Aubrey Plaza licking Kathryn Hahn’s palm and Plaza telling Hahn that her black heart beats for her, but it is also so silly that these men are so threatened by the idea that a show has gay characters. Teen (Joe Locke) has a boyfriend (who’s named “Boyf” in his phone), and there is something between Rio (Plaza) and Agatha, but … it is almost more than that. It is also really good!

Oh no, women and gay people exist in a superhero thing! Whatever will we do!

What this constantly boils down to is that these kinds of guys think that the MCU is for them. They think that every show should be only about their favorite white male characters and the franchise should not sway from that. I’d argue that the franchise has barely been that and the only reason it took a long while to get things like Black Panther and Captain Marvel was because of Ike Perlmutter.

Marvel comics has never been about just white guys. I think that is something that people like Geeks & Gamers and their ilk don’t understand. They only see the characters like Tony Stark or Bruce Banner (two men who would hate them) and think that those are the only heroes worth following. They refuse to acknowledge that Thor isn’t even the strongest among them. Wanda is.

But alas, men like this are so determined to just dog on anything that is “different” or anything that isn’t just filled with straight men, and they miss how good these properties are.

Going into something to just hate on it is so silly

Their real issue is that they cannot enjoy something because of the brand they’ve built. Each of these “YouTubers” are people who cannot say that something from the MCU or Lucasfilm is good. If they do, they risk angering their masses. If they liked an episode of Rings of Power? Keep it to yourself! They can’t break the hatred that they’ve fostered on their channels.

So when they do post their reaction to a new thing, you have to know that they’re going to hate it because that’s just who they are. I’d be more shocked if they all said “actually, I’m kind of interested to see where Agatha All Along goes.”

If you look at their actual review, it tells you all you need to know. “It’s not quite She-Hulk bad, but it’s not good,” they write, and that’s all I need to know. If someone keeps talking about She-Hulk, I know that they’re the kind of guy who just has no original thought. It is just parroting other people and their hate-filled response to fun things.

I love Agatha All Along. I think it is bringing elements of WandaVision to life to keep us on our toes, but also finds a rhythm that is completely its own. If your knee-jerk reaction to this show is to whine about gay characters, you’re the one who’s focused more on ideology than the show itself.


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Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.