Since her WandaVision casting was announced, Kathryn Hahn and her character Agnes have been the subjects of much scrutiny among comic fans, MCU fans, and even those coming into the show from outside the core fandom. The mountain of speculation has only grown taller and more flame-infused with each episode, but with the show’s end in sight, viewers still have no concrete proof whether Agnes is indeed one of Marvel’s magically dark characters, namely Agatha Harkness, or just another one of the many Westview citizens under Wanda’s Hex spell.
WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer and the rest of the show’s creative team – Hahn definitely included – have done a fantastic job making Agnes tiptoe the line between a stereotypically overzealous neighbor and a nefarious force projecting a false front to fool Westview’s resident Avengers. So let’s go through some of the bigger arguments regarding the character’s potentially villainous nature, and contemplate both sides of the Agn-issues. (1950s Vision would have laughed at that, I think. Or at least Norm would have.)
Agnes Always Shows Up At Opportune Moments
While the Hex’s origins aren’t extremely clear just yet, Agnes arrived almost immediately in WandaVision’s show-within-a-show footage, giving viewers a quick introduction to her ever-curious and questioning nature. Each moment where she’s popped up since then has been deliberate and meaningful for both viewers and the show’s central super-couple, save perhaps for her presence at the talent show. (And there are even theories about Agnes and her purse at the talent show.) From appearing soon after Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda found the helicopter drone to showing up in Episode 5 soon after Vision pointed out her predictable patterns, Agnes has made it clear her appearances are all about timing, and it’s easy enough to argue that she’s motivated to guide Wanda and her children to darkness.
On the other hand, Agnes’ intentions may very well be goodhearted and well-meaning, considering viewers have yet to see her actually appear 100% villainous or deceitful within either WandaVision’s reality or inside the Hex. (Her Halloween scene will be discussed below.) Even her most questionable moments still make Agnes appear eager to please or help Wanda, as opposed to trying to destroy her or take advantage of her. Surely she can't be all bad, right? I mean, for someone who wants to give liquor to children and then drinks it herself.
Agnes Seems To Understand She’s In A TV Show
At multiple points throughout WandaVision so far, Agnes has proven herself capable of seeing the forest from the trees whenever she acknowledged the idea that her role in Wanda’s life, and that of her children, is a performance. She specifically asks Wanda about providing another “take” in Episode 5 whenever Vision wasn’t into the idea of having Agnes take care of the crying children. That self-awareness speaks to her evolving performance from gloriously broad to something slightly more subtle over time.
Agnes knowing she’s part of a TV narrative largely explains the “Opportune Moments” entry, in that she would have access to when and where she’s meant to show up in Wanda’s life. But again, awareness doesn’t necessarily indicate maliciousness, since she again only seems to be helpful in Episode 5 when otherwise-arbitrarily bringing over the doghouse for Sparky. That said, Agnes doesn’t appear to treat Vision with the same care that she does Wanda, so maybe she’s a threat to their relationship overall.
But Not Even Agnes Understands Everything About The Hex
Though Agnes only seems to appear when needed, WandaVision gave viewers the rare sight of her conversing with another character in Episode 3 when she spoke with Herb (directly in front of the painted background) after he went off the rails in hedging his fence. Neither character was fully immersed in the Hex’s reality, and both were questioning the existence and identity of Teyonah Parris’ Geraldine / Monica. She didn’t recognize the temporary Westview resident from any awareness of S.W.O.R.D., which speaks to her presumably not having any connections to Director Hayward. (Unless that’s just what we’re meant to think, naturally.)
If Agnes is really Agatha Harkness or Mephisto or any other characters from those arcs, would she necessarily have control over what’s happening in this world, or is she still just along for the ride as much as anyone else? Does it even make sense for WandaVision to cloak a big comic entity with Agnes like that without making the character more responsible for Wanda’s fantasized Hex?
Agnes Was The Only Person Moving On The Outskirts Of Westview
After first appearing in the opening titles of the Halloween-infused Episode 6 with “Naughty” written across her backside, Agnes didn’t appear again in full until Vision spotted her car at the intersection of Ellis Ave. and Rolling Hill Dr. Unlike most of the catatonic people that Paul Bettany’s hero came across as he got further away from the Town Square Scare, Agnes was still lucid to a certain extent even before Vision touched her forehead. But was she faking anything during that exchange, as some fans have theorized, or were her reactions, strange as they were, completely natural?
It’s possible that Agnes had more far-flung sentience in this particular episode because she was in the opening titles. But why was she driving way out there, and why was her car just stopped where it was? Does this hearken back to Agnes not understanding the Hex in full, and did she have something nefarious in mind by approaching the outer perimeter like that? Was Agnes possibly studying the outer wall being the source of Wanda’s idea to expand the Hex in the episode’s final minutes? And was that witch's hat just trolling fans, or was it a genuine nod to the character's origins?
Agnes And Dottie Are The Only Major Characters Who Haven’t Been Identified By S.W.O.R.D.
As fun as it’s been to watch Kat Dennings’ Darcy and Randall Park’s Jimmy play surrogates for the audience, it’s also been pretty informative to see all of the details they’ve uncovered. One of the biggest question marks surrounding Agnes, as well as Emma Caulfield’s Dottie Jones, has been the absence of real-world identification on the white board for both characters. (Not that the white board likely exists anymore after Wanda’s giant Hex expansion.)
It’s obviously suspicious for Agnes to be unidentified by S.W.O.R.D., since it likely means she wasn’t one of the New Jersey citizens who was displaced by Wanda’s Hex, and is rather a character likely familiar to comic book readers. The fact that Dottie also hasn’t been identified speaks to the idea that Agnes’ subtle pushes for Wanda to have children specifically tie into Dottie’s “For the Children” mantra. If any of that does match up with the MCU show’s reality, you can bet that Agnes and Dottie don’t have Wanda’s best interests in mind.
WandaVision Still Hasn’t Introduced Ralph
Another major sticking point for Agnes’ storyline is the absence of her husband Ralph outside of a few jokey references, and theories surrounding the character’s alleged existence are plentiful indeed. There are those who believe Ralph will be revealed as the aforementioned Mephisto or the dark entity Nightmare, and those that think Ralph is the original Missing Person that Jimmy was sent to look for. (Not that one theory disproves the other.)
But regarding Agnes specifically, what if Ralph isn’t just a missing husband, but one of her victims? What if WandaVision reveals Agnes to have killed her significant other at some point during the season, possibly because he asked too many questions about her interest in Wanda? That line of thinking may seem a bit out there, considering the show hasn’t heavily teased Agnes’ murderous urges. At least, not when it comes to other humans…
Agnes May Have Killed Sparky
It’s probably fine to go on believing that Sparky’s death was completely accidental, and was not the product of Agnes’ evil ways. After all, she seemed to truly care for the dog’s well-being earlier in the episode, and her love for rabbit Señor Scratchy indicates that she doesn’t abhor pets in general. But is that really the story here?
Agnes’ house seems to be the only one boasting the dangerous-to-dogs azalea bushes, while so many of her neighbors are rocking rosebushes. (Her presence during Sparky’s non-fatal electrocution earlier in the episode may have been foreshadowing.) What’s more, Agnes seemed to be a little too interested in Wanda’s conversation with the equally mysterious Billy and Tommy about potentially bringing something back from the dead. Granted, any normal person would be interested in that conversation, but Agnes is one of few who might have purposefully attempted to incite that conversation by killing a dog first.
While I only went through seven points of interest above, nearly every second of WandaVision is worthy of fans’ speculation-hungry attention, so you can bet that there are lots of other Agnes-related moments and details that fans are debating as you read this. (As if anyone would limit speculation to just Agnes and not the plethora of other hints and clues.) So let us know in the poll below where you fall in the big “Is Agnes really evil?” discussion, and tune into new episodes of WandaVision every Friday on Disney+.
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