No, I don’t want Wanda Maximoff to be in ‘Agatha All Along’

Spooky season is upon us! I’m entirely too excited to meet Agatha All Along’s new witches and witness the return of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness. There’s little I love more than the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s paranormal corner, after all. Bring on the magic!

I’m sure, like any MCU show, Agatha All Along will be chock-full of cameos, references, and Marvel Easter eggs, and we’ll all have a grand old time dissecting each and every one, hoping for a glimpse of what’s to come. There is, however, one spell caster I don’t want to see turn up on the Witches’ Road. I’m talking, of course, about the MCU’s original witch—the Scarlet Witch.

RIP, Wanda Maximoff

We all know what happened in WandaVision. Overcome with grief, Wanda Maximoff took an unsuspecting town hostage to play out her sitcom-inspired fantasy life with Vision and her imaginary twin children by her side. WandaVision was a story of loss, mourning, love, hope, and making amends, one that ended with an overwhelming MCU fight against the one and only Agatha Harkness. Wanda blocked Agatha’s memories to punish her, but neither Wanda’s nor Agatha’s story was over just yet.

Then, of course, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came along, and everything changed. Rather than making amends and meditating on her mistakes, Wanda instead became terrifyingly enamored with the Darkhold, a magical book containing the universe’s darkest secrets and spells. She used the Darkhold to traverse the multiverse in search of her children, leaving death and destruction in her wake. Many, myself included, were surprised by the turn Wanda’s story took, and though the execution definitely wasn’t flawless, we could at least console ourselves with the fact that she remembered who she was before the end, sacrificing herself to get rid of the Darkhold in every universe and dying a hero’s death.

Or did she?

The thing is, we don’t know. Multiverse of Madness’ ending was ambiguous. Wanda is the Scarlet Witch! We never even saw her body! Neither Elizabeth Olsen nor Marvel Studios’ overlords have ever truly confirmed whether or not she was dead, and let’s be honest, this is still a comic book-inspired universe. Anything can happen. The multiverse’s most powerful witch being resurrected isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Agatha All Along knows this, of course, and has toyed with our emotions relentlessly throughout its promotional campaign. The trailers seem to suggest that Wanda truly is dead, but then again, at the same time, Elizabeth Olsen has been teasing a possible return, too, stating during a radio interview in Dublin that “if there’s a good way to use [Wanda], I’m always happy to come back, however they can make that make sense.” By now, though, we know that (most) Marvel actors are pros at keeping their roles a secret—I’m looking at you, Andrew Garfield. Who knows? Maybe Wanda, or a version of her, at least, really will turn up in Agatha All Along.

The thing is, I don’t want her to.

Wanda’s resurrection is worthy of a movie

Wanda died in a movie, and she should be brought back in a movie. Hell, she debuted in a movie! This isn’t a knock on WandaVision, which is still, to this day, my favorite MCU show, or a dig at Agatha All Along, which looks to be a fun, inventive, and horror-filled project. At this point, though, when the Marvel fatigue is affecting the general audience, this character’s resurrection deserves to be seen on the big screen, not in a show that some people might not watch simply because they don’t have the time to.

It’s not just that, though. A character as major as Wanda coming back in a show about witches will overshadow every other witch that we’re introduced to. I want to know more about Agatha and I want to know more about Aubrey Plaza’s character. I want to understand the inner workings of the Witches’ Road, and the scope of the coven’s magical power, and see how far the MCU is willing to push the envelope in the horror genre. As soon as Wanda or some alternate reality version of Wanda shows up, that all goes out the window. She’ll become the sole focus, and as much as I love her and want to see her again, she already has her own show. If anything, she should now be getting her own movie.

Cameos and resurrections are fun. Yay! Who doesn’t love to watch their favorite character rise from the dead? In this case, though, I think Wanda Maximoff deserves a bit more rest, and Agatha Harkness deserves her time in the spotlight.

Agatha All Along premieres with two episodes on September 18. New episodes will drop weekly on Wednesdays, only on Disney+.