Summary
As more projects across the film and television industry suffer delays due to the ongoing strikes undergone by the Writer’s Guild of America as well as the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Marvel Cinematic Universe spin-off show formerly known asAgatha: Coven of Chaoshas gotten yet another name change in addition to its revised premiere date.
Initially introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the limited Disney+ seriesWandavision,Kathryn Hahn’s scheming sorceress Agatha Harkness was the show’s standout performance as well as unexpected antagonist, taking advantage of her unassuming exterior and her more heroic Marvel comic book origins to pull off a musical villain reveal that snagged newcomers and diehard Marvel fans alike. A spinoff, initially titledAgatha: House of Harkness,was announced in the wake of an enthusiastic fan reception forWandaVision, which alsonetted a Grammy nomination for the villainous musical number “Agatha All Along”.
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Despite already being far removed from the success ofWandavision,the spin-off series, which was eventuallyrenamedAgatha: Coven of Chaosahead of filming starting in November 2022, has been cursed with premiere delays amidst a schedule-wide shake-up at Disney in the wake of the ongoing strikes and changes to the company’s streaming strategy for the Disney+ platform. In a report fromDeadline, it’s been confirmed that the series will be moving from its 2023 release date, instead looking at a premiere in the lead-up to Halloween 2024. The report also confirmed that the project had yet acquired yet another new name, now titledAgatha: Darkhold Diaries.
While the change in release date is easily attributed to the wider shake-ups happening and was easy to see coming, this is the first official mention of the new title, although there has been some foreshadowing of the change. Hollywood star Aubrey Plaza, whowas cast in a villainous role for the Hahn-led spinoff, posted a banner bearing the new name in the style ofThe Princess Diaries, as well as a Disney-style Marvel Studios logo above it, to her social media. While the image wasn’t taken too seriously, as it wasn’t the first such spoof logo that had been seen on the set, it seems the name is now official.
While the meaning behind the name change is likely inconsequential, the change coming alongside the series being pushed back more than a year seems to reinforce the idea thatthe Agatha Harkness spinoff is Marvel’s most unnecessary project. The MCU has seen a sharp fall in overall performance, especially with projects with little chance of tying into the grander narrative of the new mainline arc occurring in upcoming theatrical releases for the company. While there has been a lot of discussion surrounding how the Scarlet Witch and other characters from Wandavision might rejoin the mainline MCU, it seems very unlikely thatAgatha: Darkhold Diarieswill be the avenue for it. :
At this juncture, the MCU is too far removed fromWandavisionfor fans to be reasonably expected to still be holding on to excitement about Agatha’s spin-off show, with it also being worth noting that the series was already, by and large, struggling for relevance. In view of the It does seem likeAgatha: Darkhold Diarieswill need to be perfect to be a success for Marvelon Disney+.
Agatha: Darkhold Diariesis currently set for release in the lead-up to Halloween 2024.
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