'Superhero fatigue' has been an inescapable phrase recently, as people have been questioning whether audiences have grown tired of comic book stories. A hot topic in Hollywood, naturally Marvel is at the forefront of the conversation given that the MCU is such a powerhouse in both film and television.
It’s a conversation writer/director Jac Schaeffer, who has been working with Marvel Studios since 2019 and is best known for her work on WandaVision, has been paying close attention to.
However, as she reveals in conversation with 12DOVE and the Inside Total Film podcast, the ongoing debate doesn’t trouble her – instead it further encourages Schaeffer to think outside of the box, pushing for original ideas with her MCU projects.
Which is exactly what she feels her new Disney Plus show Agatha All Along is, as it puts the spotlight on characters who normally wouldn't be a focus for the MCU. Spinning off from WandaVision, this new Marvel series reunites us with Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness as she assembles a coven of misfit witches.
As Schaeffer explains, this helps it sit outside of the superhero fatigue conversation: "There's so much conversation and rhetoric about Marvel. I follow it because I'm part of that world but everything ebbs and flows, like it’s one big pendulum, so it doesn't rattle me or freak me out. I don't know if it's there or not.
"I think it speaks to that audiences are always craving originality. You know, every story is the same story. We're all kind of doing the same thing. But what is the fresh filter we can put on something? What is the POV that we can center that hasn't been centered before? And that's what I think is different about our show. I think it's a group of characters that normally don't get the spotlight, but they do in this show."
However, whilst Agatha All Along is indeed "fresh" as Schaeffer puts it, it continues the traditions laid out in WandaVision. The challenge, therefore, was how do you balance following in the footsteps of WandaVision, whilst also ensuring Agatha All Along has its own voice too. Schaeffer admits that at the very beginning of the process, this was causing pressure.
The writer/director tells us: "That was the thing keeping me up at night, it was about diagnosing what was special about WandaVision, what resonated, and then trying to capture those things but give them a fresh spin. I think part of that fresh spin is that we are really immersing in witch culture. The Scarlet Witch is a witch by name but Wanda knows nothing about witches and witchcraft in a cultural way. That's what this show is. The opportunity to dive into that."
Continuing, Schaeffer also emphasizes that Agatha is a different villain to others the MCU has featured - again, making this show something new. Her goals aren't world domination or the deaths of millions, they are much more personal than that, which helps make Agatha All Along feel more intimate.
For Schaeffer, this also allows us to form a closer connection with the fan-favorite witch stating: "The reason I'm able to attach to Agatha is because she's not interested in like snapping half of the population away. Her intention isn't to hurt people for hurts sake, that doesn't interest her. What does interest her is power and she will hurt people in her efforts to get that power.
"And there is something intimate about that because she has to like slither around, get close to people, when she has no power. She's really on the backfoot, clawing her way out, she's got to cozy up with a lot of people who wouldn't normally want to be next to. The show is then intimate across the board, all the relationships are close quarters and very emotional."
Agatha All Along debuts with a double episode premiere via Disney Plus on September 18 in the US and September 19 in the UK. You can listen to our full interview with Schaeffer in next week's episode of the Inside Total Film podcast which is available on various platforms.
For more from the world of the MCU, check out our guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows. as well as how to watch the Marvel movies in order and what to watch to before Agatha All Along.
