Agatha All Along Appears Poised to Introduce Lady Death to the MCU

This article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along episode 3.

We’re taking our first steps on the Witches’ Road in Agatha All Along, and with some major reveals, episode 3 only further proves this is more than a simple WandaVision spinoff. While most of the speculation so far has been on the identity of Joe Locke’s “Teen”, others have been trying to figure out how Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal ties into things.

With a previous mention of Vidal’s “black heart”, fans thought they’d nailed the idea that Plaza is playing a gender-flipped version of Mephisto’s son, Blackheart. After “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials” finally acknowledged Mephisto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Rio = Blackheart theories are stacking up. However, it’s possible she’s playing an altogether more important character from the pages of Marvel Comics.  

Thanks to some subtle foreshadowing, there are growing theories that Plaza is playing the character of Death, sometimes known as Lady Death or Mistress Death, and often depicted as a cloaked skeleton or masquerading as a caucasian woman. Many picked up on the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when a skeletal figure appeared in a vision to Patti LuPone’s Lilia Calderu. A poster on Reddit spotted how Lilia mentioned “they all died” before the figure appeared, theorizing this is our live-action debut of Lady Death. 

Taking this one step further, it’s plausible Plaza is playing her. There’s no Rio Vidal in the comics, and given the MCU’s reputation for reinventing classic characters, the name might be a cover for her true identity. After all, Death has previously merged with the mortal Marlo Chandler and used her alias in the past. We know Rio’s backstory makes her an old enemy of Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), but the latter can’t kill her. Even though this could have something to do with a blood pact or how Agatha got her hands on the Darkhold, what if Harkness can’t kill “Rio” because she’s the literal embodiment of Death?

First introduced in 1973’s Captain Marvel #26, Death is the embodiment of life ending as the opposite of the cosmic entity known as Eternity and is typically confined to the Realm of the Dead. She originally featured as part of Thanos’ convoluted scheme to conquer the universe and court her after destroying all life. Although Death is impressed that Thanos takes control of the universe with the Cosmic Cube, she later abandons him when Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer, and the Avengers defeat him. Death most famously appears during “The Infinity Gauntlet” arc, where the Mad Titan tried to collect the Infinity Gems and perform his (now-infamous) snap.

This wouldn’t be Death’s first wink in the MCU. As far back as 2012’s The Avengers, there was a throwaway mention about how challenging it is for humans to ‘court’ Death. The temple walls on Morag featured a mural of the Infinity Stones and Death alongside the entities of Entropy, Infinity, Death, and Eternity in Guardians of the Galaxy, while Thor: Love and Thunder again featured a statue of Death. Joss Whedon admitted to IGN in 2018 that his Death tease at the end of The Avengers was there as a placeholder, and although he wasn’t sure the character would translate, he went on to praise the Russo Brothers for omitting her from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. 

Still, the Russos thought about sticking closer to the comics by having Death as the reason Thanos sought the Infinity Stones in the MCU. Speaking to Business Insider, Anthony Russo explained how we only had two-and-a-half hours with these characters without introducing a new one and their convoluted backstory. Joe Russo added, “The big-screen Thanos still aspires to kill off half the universe, but this time around, he merely wants to solve an overpopulation crisis instead of using mass murder as foreplay.” She’s still acknowledged in some form, as Red Skull actor Ross Marquand later confirmed to a panel at the Edmonton Expo (via @AgentsFandom) how his cloaked appearance was a nod to Death in “The Infinity Gauntlet.”

Note: The rest of this article contains information about merchandise leaks that will almost certainly spoil the identity of several Agatha All Along characters. Avoid reading if you don’t wish to know.

Rumors are swirling that Agatha All Along is setting Rio up for her own twist akin to WandaVision’s “It was Agatha all along”, and if you still aren’t sold, a leaked Funko! Pop vinyl (via ComicBoomMovie.com) apparently confirms she’s indeed playing Death. The reveal has seemingly been under our nose all along, and looking back at some tarot-inspired promo art, you’ll spot that the “Death” card has a hooded skeleton clearly holding the knife that Rio attacked Agatha with in episode 1. Going three for three, a September 20 promo featured the coven using an Ouija board that spells out “Death”. 

The potential of Death is massive for the MCU, so if Plaza is playing her, let’s hope she’s not confined to Agatha All Along. Fans have been asking for Lady Death to appear for years, and back when Cate Blanchett played Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, some hoped she’d be a revamped version of her instead of just the Norse Goddess of Death. Given Death’s ties to Thanos, she could even bring the fan-favorite villain back without relying on the increasingly convoluted Multiverse. If not, Death’s on-again-off-again relationship with Deadpool could see a comedic team-up between Plaza and Ryan Reynolds. Move over, Mephisto, the MCU has a new demonic entity we’re all obsessed with. 

New episodes of Agatha All Along premiere Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+, culminating with the finale on October 30.