Agatha All Along: A Surprisingly Queer Affair

This article contains spoilers for the entire season of Agatha All Along.

ID: still from Agatha All Along.

Agatha All Along is not your average Marvel show. Sure, there’s superpowered people and colourful displays of magic, but this Wandavision spinoff takes the MCU in a completely different direction – one which it desperately needs. Its fantastic representations of grief and sisterhood and female rage aside: This show is as queer as it gets.

In a burst of fresh air, the programme’s queerness isn’t focused on coming-of-age or coming out stories; in fact, not a singular character even addresses their own or others’ queerness. Agatha and Rio, established as ex-girlfriends in the fourth episode, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You” (or even earlier if you have common queer sense), flirt with abandon, lean in for kisses that are not reciprocated, and cryptically discuss their pasts, not once declaring their sexualities with poorly-written exposition or questions from heterosexual characters. Similarly, William’s boyfriend calls him in the first episode, but that's all there is to introducing his queerness. Nothing more is necessary; this is how it should always be.

ID: still from Agatha All Along.

The MCU has historically been stingy with its queer characters, affording very few the immense privilege of homosexuality – Loki and Valkyrie are the only big names that have been allowed to call themselves queer, and not in their first appearances. The rest are almost forgettable: Sylvie (so, Loki again), Phastos (who?), Korg (literal rocks), America Chavez’s mothers, and the grieving gay guy played by Joe Russo (way to make the MCU’S first queer moment about yourself!). Agatha All Along is therefore a big deal, and not just because of the nonchalant way it handles queerness. Its inclusion of at least four queer characters of different identities and backgrounds proves to queer audiences that it’s not just for everyone; it's for us. Explicitly establishing itself as a queer show – something which even the most liberal and open-minded of producers and television networks are not willing or able to do – sets a precedent for the future of Marvel: One in which each queer character from the comics will hopefully and finally be allowed to be queer in the MCU.

I can't end this article without talking about Agatha and Rio’s kiss and the subsequent disappointment from fans who believe that it plays into the ‘bury your gays’ trope. Whilst Agatha does end up in the ground, Rio herself is Death – not really sure what you were expecting! Sometimes you kiss your girlfriend so hard that you take her powers and it kills you. Classic. Although, as we’ve seen, death doesn’t necessarily mean the end for characters in the MCU. Agatha is already back in semi-transparent form, and I’m sure that her and William’s adventure is not quite over yet. Thank you to showrunner Jac Schaeffer for a fabulously queer show – we hope you’re in charge of the next one!

By Holly (she/her)