Agatha Harkness: Who is the Mystic Matron?

It Was Agatha All Along

A woman enters a candlelit room. A black cat follows as she chooses items she will need. A book bound in human skin, a crystal ball, and a golden skull lay before her. She sweeps them aside. Pretentious relics. The woman takes sprigs of sage, mugwort, and rue, channeling her will while grinding them with a mortar and pestle. She reaches for the most important tool and-

“That’s enough, dearie. Permit a lady to keep some secrets, won’t you? ᚠᛖᚱᛞᚨ ᛞᚢᛗᛒᚨ ᛞᛖᛟᚱ”

Hi-gge-urk! Well, that hurt. Judging from my reflection, she made me a chinchilla. Guess that shows why you don’t reveal the secrets of a witch like Agatha Harkness. 

Agatha Harkness is a supporting character finally stepping into the limelight. She has been a hero and villain, but remains a witch at heart. So who is she? How did the heroes discover her? What is her connection to the Scarlet Witch? Let’s find out.

Maiden: Agatha Harkness’ Backstory

Agatha Harkness debuted in Fantastic Four #93 in 1961. She was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Agatha was a sorceress and survivor of the Salem Witch Trials. The Fantastic Four hired her as a governess for their new child, Franklin Richards. She excelled in the role, fighting off villains who tried to kidnap Franklin without his parents ever knowing that the tyke was in danger.

Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s evil son, kidnapped her and claimed that Agatha had betrayed her coven by working with non-magicals. The Fantastic Four learned that their trusted governess was a witch and rescued her, banishing Scratch to another dimension.

Agatha learned that The Scarlet Witch was delving into incredibly dangerous chaos magic and became her mentor. She was burned at the stake by her grandchildren, but returned as a ghost to mentor Wanda before inexplicably returning to life.

Mother: Agatha Harkness’ History

Wanda gave birth to twins, despite her husband Vision being a robot. Agatha Harkness sussed out that Wanda had tapped into the demon Mephisto’s power to do so. Mephisto also realized the thief’s identity and unmade the children when he reclaimed his magic. Agatha cast a spell to erase Wanda’s memory, hoping to prevent Wanda’s pain.

Agatha’s spell was undone when The Wasp accidentally mentioned the children. Wanda went mad and attacked the Avengers, killing several members and Agatha before getting mental health assistance. Agatha once more became a ghost to keep an eye on her protégé.

The Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, and Wanda’s mother teamed-up to fight a god of magic. Agatha was brought back to life again during the fight, now rejuvenated from aged aunt to Kathryn Hahn.

Agatha Harkness learned that Wanda had claimed The Darkhold, a grimoire containing the instructions for all black magic. She fought the Scarlet Witch, thinking her student wasn’t strong enough to contain its power. Agatha lost, but stole a small sliver of The Darkhold’s power, which incarnated into a humanoid child of that name who Agatha adopted.

Crone: Agatha Harkness’ Powers and Personality

Name a spell and it’s safe to say that Agatha Harkness can cast it. Flight, elemental manipulation, sealing, barriers, healing, and the creation of julienne fries are in her repertoire. Her familiar, Ebony, often joins fights by becoming a panther. Agatha later sacrificed Ebony to become a seer.

Following her rejuvenation, Agatha is more willing to get her hands dirty. She excels at sleight of hand, trickery, and can sword fight when magic isn’t helpful. Her new child, Darkhold, can channel his namesake’s power into godlike spells, but remains a disobedient, dangerous child.

Agatha Harkness was a wise, matronly mentor when first introduced. She was stern and playful, often teasing her younger associates. The rejuvenated Harkness is more emotional and hands on, but became a villain protagonist. Agatha Harkness has transitioned from Professor McGonagall to Bellatrix Lestrange.

The Actors Who Play Agatha Harkness

Elizabeth Shepard – The Avengers: United They Stand 
Pauline Newstone – X-Men: Evolution
Kathryn Hahn – WandaVision, Agatha All Along

Didya Get All That?

A kindly witch turned sinister sorceress.

Image: Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.