To celebrate our 3rd anniversary, all members-only content debuting this week is free for one week! New members can also join for just $0.99/month for their first 3 months (save $15!) with code THREEYEARSOFPV.

Popverse's top stories of the day

• Warner Bros. misses the days when we bought DVDs and Blu-Rays, and says streaming is just not the same
• MEMBERS ONLY: If It Bleeds, We Read: How the Hunger Games' Sunrise on the Reaping makes revolutionary ideas legible for YA readers
• WATCH NOW: Remember the fantastical & the failures of SEGA's Dreamcast

---

The characters you see pop up in your favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe project aren't always there from the beginning of production. Sometimes, the creators realize that there's a need for a certain role to be filled in the story, and so go to Marvel Comics to see which character fits best. One example, as you'll recall Popverse reporting on recently, was the inclusion of Taskmaster in Black Widow. As co-writer of the Black Widow story, we imagine that Jac Schaeffer had at least some say in that decision - but even if she didn't then, she did in one of her other projects for the MCU, that is, 2024's Agatha All Along.

And the decision she made? Well, it was to include fan favorite character and breakout star Wiccan, AKA Billy Maximoff.

Schaeffer was recently at a PaleyFest LA 2025 panel with the rest of the Agatha All Along crew, and at one point in the discussion, the question of Wiccan's involvement became a talking point. Apparently, the character's inclusion came out of a desire to expand on a piece of Agatha's character established in WandaVision, another creation of Schaeffer's.

"Off of WandaVision," Schaeffer began, "One of the things that Kathryn hooked into was connection. She was like, 'I'll be whatever you want, girl. I'll braid your hair; I'll be your mentor; we can hang; we can fight, whatever. Just let's do a thing.' Wanda was uninterested. Wanda was on her own journey. So [that is] what we wanted to do for Agatha in her own show."

"I feel deeply," Schaeffer continued, "That Agatha is at her best as a mentor. She mentors all the other witches; she guides them and teaches them. [...] She can't help but teach, she's a natural teacher, even though she hates it. So we wanted to have the central relationship be an opportunity for her to be a mentor."

From here, Schaeffer says, a discussion began over exactly who would be the mentee in the relationship the creators were building for Agatha.

"I had an idea of some goth teens," Schaeffer epxlained, "Or a goth teen. It was [co-producer] Mary Livanos who was like, ‘It’s Billy.’ Then that all was born from there."

Did you hear that, Wiccan fans? Next time we see the character in an MCU project (Young Avengers, maybe?), remember to thank Mary Livanos.

The rest is, as they say, history, and most fans would agree that the show pulled off the Agatha/Billy relationship in heart-wrenching, spectacular fashion. From the creator's side of the board, though, there was more satisfaction than just seeing fans react well.

"We got a perverse thrill out of the idea," Schaeffer concludes, "that Agatha ended up being more of a guide to Billy than than Wanda has been."

"It’s true," interjected Kathryn Hahn, who of course played Agatha Harkness herself, "But don't tell Wanda that."

Laughing, Hahn continued, "Where's that girl at anyway?"

She's dead, Kathryn, last we heard. Unless you know something we don't know...

Agatha All Along is streaming now on Disney+.

---

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters