Agatha All Along Director Refutes Popular Teen Fan Theory

Marvel's Jac Schaeffer hid a clue for fans in the season premiere.

By Aaron Perine

Agatha All Along fans have been obsessing over the identity of Joe Locke's Teen and the show's director has some advice for people trying to unravel this mystery. WandaVision writer Jac Schaefferis behind the camera for the new MCU series and she told Variety that viewers are focused on the wrong things. A lot has been made of Teen's mouth sigil being shaped like a cursive M in the first two episodes of Agatha All Along. While that choice is interesting, the director says that there are other clues that are stronger. Schaeffer chuckled when asked about Locke's true identity on the show. She said, "This is what I would say: That's not the first place I'd look," she says. "It's not entirely irrelevant: But there are other places to look."

"I don't like hiding things from the audience, just to then be, like, 'Boo!' There's no artistry to that," Schaeffer would add. "So when we talked about obscuring who he is, the first question is, why? What is the utility of that? The answer is, it's about the effect that his mystery has on Agatha. What does that do to her? How does it motivate her? How does it hit her emotionally?" From these comments, it seems clear that Kathryn Hahn's witch is in the driver's seat for this adventure. Might we get Wiccan? Sure! Is Scarlet Witch coming back? Gee, MCU fans sure hope so. But, at its core, Agatha All Along is the story of that witch getting her power back and learning to exist alongside other people. Anything else is icing on the cake.

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Joe Locke as "Teen" in Agatha All Along.

- Marvel Entertainment)

So, while the Teen and Billy Kaplan speculation continues to bubble on social media, Schaeffer is calling for some better sleuthing from the fanbase. A lot of the bait that Marvel Studios has laid out seems pretty conclusive. But, with these witches, there might be a curveball waiting for viewers that feel like Locke is playing Wanda Maximoff's long-lost son. In fact, the curious focus on Nicholas Scratch in the first two episodes of the series might only heighten this mystery. Variety ended up asking the director about fans reading Locke's lips and she could only smile and say that's not the most interesting clue they've left so far. At some point, an astute viewer is going to stumble on that hidden breadcrumb and send the fanbase spiraling into Episode 3.

Agatha All Along Hiding Surprises, But Let's Not Get Carried Away

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People are back on the Mephisto train.

- Marvel Studios)

If you remember back to the WandaVision days, there was no shortage of fan speculation that helped fuel the show. (Let's be real, the sitcom hook and fun storytelling swerves also helped a ton too!) But, Mephisto was helping move those numbers on social media and beyond. Clearly, that era of fan involvement still lingers in Schaeffer's mind. When she reflects on the WandaVision hype train, the director thinks that it was never her intention to have some fans so far out over their skis. The director recognizes that viewers are going to have their own experience with art that doesn't quite match up with what the creators intend 100 percent of the time. With that in mind, they've tried to craft Agatha All Along with the focus on Agatha Harkness and the magical side of Marvel.

"It still stops my heart," Schaeffer says. "My preoccupation is maximum viewer enjoyment, so I get nervous when people get ahead of it. I have to trust that humans are capable of deciding what kind of experience they want. But I comfort myself with the knowledge that it's a circuitous path, and I hope that that path is enjoyable."

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She sighs. "It makes me a little heartsick when I catch reactions of people who were ultimately disappointed by things," she says. "It gets to me a little bit. But in approaching 'Agatha,' it was not front of mind. I really can't control that. That's a level of fandom that is beyond my reach."

What do you think is going on with Teen? Check out all the pop culture discussion over at @ComicBook!

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