Last week's episode of Agatha All Along pulled back the curtain on Teen and revealed that he's really Billy Maximoff. The Wrap caught up with showrunner Jac Schaeffer to learn more about the big reveal, including who came up with the idea.
While the character is clearly being set up as a major player in the MCU, it doesn't sound like Schaeffer always planned to put the spotlight on the Scarlet Witch's son (even with this show following the events of WandaVision).
"I had this notion of like, a goth teenager, or a group of goth teenagers," she told the trade. "And I knew that Agatha would be trapped in the spell. And just like, the sort of craft of it, I kept imagining this goth teenager, with candles, doing some kind of, like, a rudimentary spell, and I think the original idea was like, 'And then he accidentally gets Agatha out from under this spell.'"
"This teenager or group of teenagers has potential, or whatever. Early on, we’re like, you know, Agatha is a mentor, and we want a younger character, and we want that sort of feeling," Schaeffer continued. "And I’m not sure, but my memory is that I think it was [executive producer] Mary Livanos who was like 'Billy.'"
The writer and director also confirmed that Billy didn't kill his fellow coven members but revealed, "Alice is dead. So I will say that I love Alice so much, and I love Ali Ahn so much, and Ali was so instrumental in crafting the characterization of Alice, especially in her triumphant Episode 4. The writer’s room felt very passionately about her."
Schaeffer did, however, tease: "What I will say is that, it’s not the end of the conversation, is what I would say."
Finally, the showrunner confirmed this latest trial was Agatha's and explained how exactly the coven managed to pass that after Alice's death and the clash with Evanora Harkness's spirit.
"Our intention was that, in every trial there is a stated goal, a stated thing that they are supposed to accomplish. And in this case, the stated goal is punish Agatha," Schaeffer noted. "And what happens is she’s put in a situation where she kills one of her own coven members and then has to look in the faces of the rest of her coven. And that’s when the door opens, because she is punished."
Earlier today, Marvel Studios released a midseason trailer for Agatha All Along which you can watch here. Billy Maximoff actor Joe Locke has also broken his silence on playing the MCU's Wiccan so check out that here.
The first five episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+.