The First Reactions To Marvel’s Agatha All Along Are Saying The Same Thing

Call it the witching hour for Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige’s first foray into Disney+ streaming went extremely well with “WandaVision,” the 2021 spin-off series set in the aftermath of “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” that follows the powerful Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her beloved Vision (Paul Bettany). One of the main scene-stealing highlights, of course, was none other than Kathryn Hahn’s mischievous neighbor-turned-antagonist Agatha Harkness, a rival witch with a serious talent for gaslighting, girlbossing, and, well, you know the rest. After that ridiculously catchy song went viral (and even earned Marvel an Emmy), it was pretty much a guarantee that the studio would rush to take advantage and bring Agatha back to the small screen for more magical hijinks. It took three years, but we’re finally mere days away from the premiere of “Agatha All Along.”

These last few weeks of summer and the onset of fall (aka Spooky Season) has brought the final trailer for the upcoming series and, more relevant to our purposes here, the first reactions to several episodes of “Agatha All Along,” courtesy of a buzzy Hollywood premiere with many of the stars in attendance last night. Though making up only a handful of social media posts, the critical consensus already seems to be rounding into form. Marvel is hardly the bulletproof monolith it once was, however, making it no sure thing that audiences will automatically embrace the next big thing. In this case, the early word is generally positive … with a couple of caveats. Read on to check them out!

Quit your day job and join a coven, folks, because “Agatha All Along” is shaping up to be a total blast, by all accounts. (Disclaimer: Do not do that … or, at least, don’t hold /Film responsible for any complications and/or magic-related mishaps those actions may cause.) Marvel only screened the first few episodes of the new Disney+ series to critics ahead of time, mind you, so the early reactions are inevitably made up of incomplete thoughts and educated guesses about where things might go next.

We’ll start with our very own BJ Colangelo, who posted on Twitter (not even a single witch out there is calling it “X”) and reported that, “I’ve only seen a few episodes, but [‘Agatha All Along’] does what every good Marvel show should do — make me want more. I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the season to see where this SENSATIONAL cast goes next.” That cast in question includes Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Alice Wu-Gulliver, Debra Jo Rupp, and the great Patti LuPone … and probably a few surprises, too.

Eric Goldman of IGN and Fandom echoes those thoughts, though he notes a few early growing pains along the way — along with some bad news for the worst members of online fandom these days: “First 4 episodes of [‘Agatha All Along’] are decent. Really dig premiere (and it’s very ‘WandaVision’ vibes) but second [episode] is shaky tonally. Begins to find itself more in 3 & 4. Will predictably make guys who demand ‘badass’ as the only setting to scream ‘Woke!’ and cry like babies.”

Indiewire, Digital Spy, and Yahoo critic David Opie provides some very welcome context for which demographic will come away enjoying this series the most, saying that “Agatha All Along” might be “a bit slow to start with, but you won’t care because you’re having so much fun with the cast and vibes that are just as camp and spooky as you’d hope for. This show really is for the gays. If anything, Marvel actually downplayed how gay it is in tone and feel.”

That’s the problem with studios neglecting to send out full seasons to reviewers ahead of time — inevitably, reactions will end up slightly muted if the early episodes aren’t clicking on all cylinders. That appears to be the case here with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest project, as evidenced by many of the more cautious reactions making the rounds on social media today. Take Mama’s Geeky/Movie & TV Geeks’ Tessa Smith, for instance, who said the following: “Perhaps I love ‘WandaVision’ too much, making ‘Agatha All Along’ start off extremely slow & a tad boring for me. It isn’t until Episode 4 that I start to really care about the answers to the questions we’ve been given. Kathryn Hahn & Aubrey Plaza are great together!”

Of course, that’s not to say the entirety of the first four episodes are a total wash. Jenna Anderson of ComicBook.com makes a strong counterpoint to reactions like the one above, saying that “Agatha All Along ” is “a delight. The first four episodes are kooky, legitimately funny, and surprising on a comics/MCU level. Dynamite performances across the board. I can’t wait to see more.” The Mary Sue’s Rachel Leishman offers more of the same high praise: “Must be the season of the witch, baby! [‘Agatha All Along’] is the perfect continuation of Westview and everything my witchy soul needed. A perfect blend of Marvel lore for the witchy season and I cannot wait to see the rest of the series!”

Not excited yet? Then allow Alex Zalben of Comic Book Club to throw some chum in the water for the shippers out there, saying, “Loved the first four episodes […] Perfect witchy vibes, a fantastic cast, some real spooky moments and slowly creeping emotion as well. Kathryn Hahn is superb as Agatha. Aubrey Plaza is incredible as Rio. You are going to ship the two of them so hard.”

Yeah, say no more. We’re in. The first two episodes of “Agatha All Along” hits Disney+ on September 18, 2024.