Agatha All Along has just set a new Marvel Cinematic Universe record, beating the one held by Echo. The WandaVision spinoff, which got a lot of praise, is said to be Marvel Studios’ most affordable Disney+ series so far.
The Hollywood Reporter shared that “Agatha is Marvel’s least expensive live-action series so far, by a big margin.” While they didn’t reveal the exact budget for Agatha All Along, the phrase “significantly so” hints that the cost was much lower than the $40 million spent on Echo. Even if Agatha had a similar budget of $40 million, it would still be much cheaper than Marvel’s earlier Disney+ shows, which had budgets close to their blockbuster movies (like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which cost $212 million).
Agatha All Along is set three years after the events of WandaVision. Kathryn Hahn’s character, Agatha Harkness, is weak and powerless until a mysterious goth teenager, played by Joe Locke, helps break her free from a twisted spell.
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The story continues with the teen asking Agatha to guide him through the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical path filled with challenges. If they succeed, the witch earns what they have been missing. Together, Agatha and the teen form a coven and begin their journey down the dangerous Witches’ Road.
Along with Joe Locke and Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along features Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer Kale, Ali Ahn as Alice Wu-Gulliver, Debra Jo Rupp as Sharon Davis, Patti LuPone as Lilia Calderu, Okwui Okpokwasili as Vertigo, and Aubrey Plaza as Rio Vidal, among others.
Agatha All Along Premiere Attracted 9.3 Million Views
Even without big Marvel heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, or Wolverine, Agatha All Along still drew in a large audience. Disney+ announced that the first episode of the WandaVision spinoff got 9.3 million views in its first week. Like Netflix, Disney+ measures views by dividing total stream time by the length of the episode.
While this is a strong start for Agatha All Along, it’s still lower than the 10.9 million views Loki Season 2 earned in just three days. Although Agatha, played by Kathryn Hahn, is one of the most popular MCU villains since Loki, the God of Mischief has been around longer, giving him a larger fanbase.
Marvel Studios finally mentioned the supervillain Mephisto in the third episode of Agatha All Along, “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials.” This has led many fans to believe that Mephisto might show up later in the series, especially since Marvel has been hinting at him since Phase 4.
Showrunner Jac Shaeffer added to this theory in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying,
“Often, there’s something that seems like a joke or a hint, but it has some truth behind it. Mephisto is closely tied to Agatha’s story, so people will have to keep watching, but we like to play with the audience like that.”
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The first three episodes of Agatha All Along are now available to stream on Disney+, with new episodes coming out every Wednesday until the finale on October 30.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter