Agatha Harkness

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Agatha Harkness
250x450px
Agatha Harkness.
Textless variant cover of Midnight Suns #3 (November 2022).
Art by InHyuk Lee.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four #94
(January 1970)
Created by Stan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Species Human
Team affiliations Daughters of Liberty
Witches of New Salem
Strange Academy
Partnerships Fantastic Four
Scarlet Witch
Notable aliases Prof. Emeritus Harkness
Abilities
  • Extensive knowledge of magic and magical objects
  • Magic mastery

Agatha Harkness is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #94 (October 1969).[1] Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch and one of the original witches from the Salem witch trials.[2] The character debuted as the governess of Franklin Richards and as an ally of the Fantastic Four.[3] She trained the Scarlet Witch / Wanda Maximoff in the art of magic.[4] She is the mother of the warlock Nicholas Scratch and the grandmother of the Salem's Seven. Agatha Harkness has also been a member of the Daughters of Liberty.[5] Initially an elderly woman, she managed to become young again and increased her strength.[6]

Kathryn Hahn portrayed Agatha Harkness in the Disney+ / Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) live-action miniseries WandaVision (2021) and reprised her role as the star of the spin-off series Agatha All Along (2024).

Publication history

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Agatha Harkness debuted in Fantastic Four #94 (October 1969), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.[7] She appeared in the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline,[8] the 2022 Midnight Suns series,[9] and the 2023 Scarlet Witch Annual series.[10]

Fictional character biography

Agatha Harkness and her familiar, Ebony

1970s

Agatha Harkness was introduced as the governess of Franklin Richards.[11] She easily fended off the Frightful Four when they came to abduct Richards, and admitted to the Fantastic Four that she is a witch.[12][13] She then aided the Fantastic Four in battle against Annihilus.[14]

Through the actions of her son Nicholas Scratch, she was revealed as a member of the previously unknown New Salem, Colorado, a colony of witches of whom she had been the leader. Scratch had taken control of the town and persuaded its inhabitants that Agatha betrayed the community's secrets by working for the Fantastic Four. She was abducted and taken back to the community with Franklin to stand trial.[15] The Fantastic Four followed and came into conflict with Salem's Seven, Agatha's grandchildren fathered by Scratch. The Fantastic Four defeated them and freed Agatha. In the process, Scratch's evil was revealed to the community of New Salem and he was banished to another dimension.[16] Agatha became the magical tutor for the Scarlet Witch in the use of witchcraft.[17]

Scratch and Salem's Seven returned, and Agatha foiled their attempt to conquer the world.[18]

1980s

Eventually, Salem's Seven took over the New Salem community again. They captured Agatha and killed her by burning her at the stake, although Agatha soon made her presence known to Wanda in what appeared to be a post-death astral form. In an ensuing battle between the Scarlet Witch and Salem's Seven, the entire community's energies were drawn into Vertigo of the Seven, who lost control of them. Wanda managed to capture some of the energy and funnel it away, but the entire town was destroyed. Following hints from Agatha's astral form, Wanda channeled the remaining energy to become pregnant with twin children of Vision, her android husband.[19]

Later, Agatha resurfaced, again alive and well, when Wanda's infant children began exhibiting odd behavior (disappearing for brief periods of time) and Wanda became unstable after her husband's dismantling; Agatha provided no explanation for her return.[20] After Mephisto claimed that Scarlet Witch's children were actually fragments of his own soul and reabsorbs them, Agatha briefly mind-wiped Wanda's memory of her children in an attempt to help her deal with the trauma. Agatha later restored those memories soon after when Wanda became a pawn in a complex plot by Immortus. Agatha aided the Avengers in their battle against Immortus.[21]

2000s

"Avengers Disassembled"

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Further information: Avengers Disassembled

Wanda, again having no memory of her children, angrily confronted Agatha about their existence. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. found what appeared to be Agatha's corpse in her home and concluded that Agatha had been dead for a long time.[22] Some time later, a partially amnesiac Wanda tells Clint Barton she is under the care of her "Aunt Agatha" in a small apartment.[23] However, this version of Wanda was later revealed to be a Doombot that replaced the real Wanda at some point.[24]

Ghost life

Agatha has since made her presence known in the New Multiverse as a ghost. She appears to Wanda and confirms her death at the hands of her protégé.[25] She also concurrently serves as the omniscient narrator of Vision's ongoing solo title, having induced precognitive visions through an arcane ritual involving the murder of Ebony at some undetermined point before her death.[26] Agatha fights alongside Wanda and the spirit of her biological mother Natalya Maximoff against a physical manifestation of Chaos which is attempting to destroy witchcraft. The two spirits channel their magic through Wanda and, after Quicksilver is summoned, they manage to defeat the being once and for all although this has gravely wounded Order, the Goddess of Witchcraft. Natalya sacrifices herself to restore Order and, in doing so, also returns Agatha to life. Despite noting that her and Wanda's paths are intertwined, Agatha chooses to have some time to herself to enjoy being alive again.[27]

2020s

The Daughters of Liberty

Agatha Harkness later appears as a member of the Daughters of Liberty where she taught magic to its members. At the time when Captain America figured out that Dryad is a revived Peggy Carter, Agatha teleported herself to inform him that the threats that the Daughters of Liberty have been facing are connected with Aleksander Lukin's sister Alexa.[28] Agatha later briefed the Daughters of Liberty's latest recruit Shuri about the situation involving Selene having Sharon Carter's soul. She then proceeded to transport herself, Sharon's Iron Patriot appearance, and Shuri to where Selene is located.[29]

Midnight Suns

During the battle with Corina (now calling herself Korrosion), a gigantic explosion of energy was unleashed due to the Black Mirror's destruction and neither Korrosion or Agatha Harkness were anywhere to be found. It later turns out that the explosion had sent them back to their homeworlds where they belong. Agatha, having been restored to her physical and mental prime, goes into hiding for some time as she adjusts to being young again.[30]

Restoring the Darkhold

After stopping Necrodamus from launching an attack on Scarlet Witch, Agatha goes to meet her at her new Emporium witchcraft shop. The two exchange some small talk before Agatha brings up the topic of Chthon (which was sealed inside her soul) and the Darkhold (which Wanda had absorbed). Scarlet Witch thinks she's strong enough to take on this burden, while Agatha believes otherwise as she has become aware of several threats looming in the shadows looking to take advantage of Wanda. The two then have an interesting witch-fight that ends with Agatha conceding defeat. However, part of Agatha Harkness' fight against the Scarlet Witch was secretly about gaining access to the Darkhold trapped in Wanda Maximoff's soul. While Scarlet Witch is busy fending off attacks, Agatha slithered her way inside and ripped out Chthon's heart.[31]

During the "Contest of Chaos" storyline, Agatha uses Chthon's remains to create a new Darkhold and starts by having Spider-Man and Wolverine fight each other in the Amazon rainforest. Wolverine wins because Spider-Man held back and he gives Agatha the orb as they both disappear.[32] Then Iron Man and Storm find themselves fighting each other in Giant Crystal Cave due to Agatha's spell which ends with Storm defeating Iron Man.[33] Human Torch is transported to a moving train made to look like Hell where Agatha's spell makes Human Torch and Ghost Rider fight each other. Human Torch defeats Ghost Rider as Agatha locks Human Torch up.[34] While hunting the Jersey Devil, Moon Knight encounters Taegukgi where Agatha's spell makes them fight each other which ends with Moon Knight surrendering. While somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, Agatha is attacked by demons who found out that she is trying to recreate the Darkhold. Agatha summons Wolverine, Storm, Human Torch, and Taegukgi to fight them.[35] Ghost-Spider fights White Fox in a Haikyu which ends with White Fox winning. Clea hears about what happened from Spider-Man and heads to the Amazon rainforest and finds that someone is using chaos magic. Clea ends up knocked out enough to end up in the Astral Plane where she encounters Agatha.[36] Agatha's magic makes Deadpool and Dylan Brock possessed by the Venom symbiote fight each other at Hopper Land amusement park in the United Kingdom which ends with Venom winning. After a brief battle with Clea on the Astral Plane, Agatha returns to her body in the Bermuda Triangle while in the presence of her champions.[37] Agatha's magic makes Cyclops and Captain Marvel fight each other in an abandoned Iceland town which ends with Captain Marvel surrendering. Clea figures out that Agatha is recreating the Darkhold using the energy of her champions causing Spider-Man to contact the Avengers.[38] When the Avengers arrive in the Bermuda Triangle, Agatha unleashes her possessed champions on them. Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch run into Agatha as they try to reason with her. When Agatha drops the newly created Darkhold and Captain Marvel drops it, an explosion happens. Agatha's body is nowhere to be found. On another beach, Agatha witnesses the Darkhold take on a sentient form which is slowly getting powerful.[39]

During the "Blood Hunt" storyline, Agatha and the Darkhold's human form are traveling on a train incognito as they are being pursued by Scarlet Witch. Agatha poses as the Darkhold's mother during the trip. The Darkhold flees from Agatha and escapes into a river.[40]

Powers and abilities

Agatha Harkness is a powerful magic user.[41] She is also an expert in arcane knowledge.[42] Harkness can manipulate magical forces for numerous effects by invoking beings or objects existing in vast dimensions tangential to Earth through spell recitations, such as psychokinesis, levitation, and the tapping of extra-dimensional energy.[43] She erased the memories of Wanda Maximoff dealing with her children with a spell.[44] She displayed powerful telepathic abilities.[45]

Agatha Harkness was initially presented as an elderly woman who had kept herself alive for centuries through magic.[46] However, a mystical rebirth results in her being aged back to her mid-30s.[47]

Ebony

Agatha owns a familiar black cat named Ebony.[48] She possesses the capability to transform into a large ferocious wildcat of great strength, speed, and claws.[49] Ebony was sacrificed so her owner could gain precognitive powers.[50] She is later resurrected through unknown methods.[28]

Reception

Critical response

Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Agatha Harkness a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.[51] The A.V. Club ranked Agatha Harkness 38th in their "100 Best Marvel Characters" list.[52]

Impact

The character of Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood was named after Agatha Harkness.[53]

Other versions

Old Man Logan

In the "Old Man Logan" reality of Earth-21923, Agatha Harkness was shown to be in a village somewhere in the Presidential Quarter having her powers siphoned by Baron Mordo. Sometime after Old Man Logan had killed Red Skull and Hulk that led to a power vacuum in Amerika, Doctor Doom took over the Presidential Quarter and came across Baron Mordo's village where he cuts off Mordo's access to Agatha and kills him. Agatha is told by Doctor Doom that she now owes him.[54]

Ultimate Marvel

An Ultimate Marvel of Agatha Harkness appears in Ultimate Fantastic Four. This version is a young woman and claims to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychologist sent to evaluate the Baxter Building think tank.[55] It is later revealed that her S.H.I.E.L.D status was faked and she is really an ancient empathic being that destroyed Atlantis.[56] Known as the Dragon-of-Seven or the Hydra, it can exist as a single creature or as seven seemingly separate ones. In her form as a group of seven individuals, she posed as the superhero group Salem Seven.[57]

In other media

Television

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Kathryn Hahn portrays Agatha Harkness in the Disney+ / Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), in the miniseries WandaVision and its spin-off Agatha All Along.[59][60][61]

This version has a pet rabbit named Señor Scratchy. In 1693, she massacred her coven and her mother Evanora after being condemned to burn at the stake for practicing forbidden dark magic. In 2021, she senses Wanda Maximoff creating the fictional sitcom WandaVision within the town of Westview, New Jersey, and arrives to investigate. Unlike the locals, Harkness does not fall under Maximoff's control. For most of the series, she poses as Maximoff's nosy neighbor "Agnes" and manipulates the "show" in various ways, such as brainwashing and recruiting a Westview resident to impersonate Maximoff's brother, Pietro, to confuse her. Eventually, Harkness reveals her true identity to Maximoff through the song "Agatha All Along" and discovers the source of the latter's powers, concluding that she possesses chaos magic and is the mythical being known as the "Scarlet Witch". Harkness attempts to take Maximoff's magic for herself, but the latter creates runes around Westview to negate her magic before trapping her mind within her Agnes identity.

Trapped for three years in the town of Westview, New Jersey, as a police detective, Harkness escapes with the help of a goth teenager who attempts to recruit a new coven of witches, consisting of Lilia Calderu, Jennifer Kale, Alice Wu-Gulliver and her resident neighbor Sharon Davis, to face trials on the legendary Witches' Road and regain her powers. However, after Sharon's death during the first trial, Harkness and her coven summoned a replacement, Rio Vidal, a fellow witch with whom Harkness had history. Through Calderu's divination, she was revealed to be one of the four members of Harkness' coven. After passing the second trial and escaping from the Salem's Seven, a group of witches who were out to get Harkness, she and her coven continued along the Road, until in the third trial, Harkness was possessed by her mother's soul and caused her to murder Alice by draining her of her powers. Turning her back on her coven, Harkness is thrown into a mud trap by Lilia and Jen, being controlled by the Teen before being thrown with her too. Harkness finally manages to get out of the mud, after discovering that the Teen revealed his name as William Kaplan / Billy Maximoff, son of Wanda Maximoff, who wishes to find his brother Tommy and they decide together to continue on the Road, before coming across a castle, garbed as the Wicked Witch of the West (Harkness) and Maleficent (Billy), respectively, and are presented with tarot cards, knowing that if they do not place the right cards in the correct sequence, the swords above them fall, even though they come down on their own. After meeting again Lilia dressed as Glinda and Jen dressed as the Evil Queen as a hag, Harkness knew as much as Lilia that Rio is actually Death, and after passing the fourth trial, she, Billy, and Jen escape through the exit, leaving Lilia behind to face the Salem's Seven, and Harkness listen to some words by Lilia: "when she calls you a coward, hit the deck".

MCU reception

Brady Langmann of Esquire ranked Agatha Harkness 4th in their "Best Characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe" list.[62] Richard Fink of MovieWeb said Harkness became "incredibly popular" and gained a "loyal fanbase" after her signature song "Agatha All Along" went viral.[63] Cat Hampton of Collider called Harkness a fan favorite because of the song.[64] Ben Saffle of Comic Book Resources stated Agatha Harkness gained a "fandom following her antics" in WandaVision which resulted in her starring in her own spin-off, also titled Agatha All Along.[65]

Video games

References

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  15. ↑ Fantastic Four #185. Marvel Comics.
  16. ↑ Fantastic Four #186. Marvel Comics.
  17. ↑ The Avengers #128. Marvel Comics.
  18. ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #14. Marvel Comics.
  19. ↑ Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #3. Marvel Comics.
  20. ↑ Avengers West Coast #51. Marvel Comics.
  21. ↑ Avengers West Coast #60–62. Marvel Comics.
  22. ↑ The Avengers #503. Marvel Comics.
  23. ↑ The New Avengers #26. Marvel Comics.
  24. ↑ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2. Marvel Comics.
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  26. ↑ The Vision vol. 2 #6. Marvel Comics.
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  30. ↑ Midnight Suns vol. 1 #4-5. Marvel Comics.
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  32. ↑ Spider-Man Annual Vol. 4 #1. Marvel Comics.
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  35. ↑ Moon Knight Annual Vol. 4 #1. Marvel Comics.
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  37. ↑ Venom Annual Vol. 3 #1. Marvel Comics.
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External links

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