Agatha All Along Trailer Just Introduced a Key Part of Marvel’s Future
The first trailer for Agatha All Along introduces a future member of the Young Avengers: Billy Kaplan, as played by Joe Locke.
“Did you think you were the only kid superhero?” Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan asks Kate Bishop at the end of The Marvels. “You just became part of a much larger universe.” The Nick Fury impression stops there, however, as Kamala returns to her usual, awkward self, admitting “… which, at the moment, is just me mostly, but I do have feelers out there.”
With the first trailer for the Disney+ show Agatha All Along, one of those feelers is about to pay off.
The trailer for the WandaVision spinoff shows the new status quo of Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), depowered after losing to the Scarlet Witch at the end of the previous show. Agatha gathers a group of covenless witches to help her recover her magical connections, including some big names playing some deep cut Marvel characters. Amid the scary monsters and Exorcist references in the trailer, viewers also get a glimpse of a more prominent character in the Marvel Universe, one of the kid heroes that Kamala will eventually want to assemble for her own, younger superhero team.
Alongside Agatha is future Younger Avenger Billy Kaplan, a teenager played by Joe Locke of Heartstoppers fame. To be frank, the trailer doesn’t give him much to do, other than be confused or shocked by Agatha’s declarations. One compelling shot finds him lowering his hood with a look of realization and determination crossing his face, but that’s about as impactful as it gets.
Of course, comic readers know that Billy has a much bigger role in the Marvel Universe. The teen Billy debuted as the Asgardian, an adolescent variation on Thor, alongside Hulkling, the Captain America-esque Patriot, and Iron Lad, all members of the Young Avengers. Over time, Billy Kaplan learns that he is a reincarnation of Billy Maximoff, one of the two twin children conjured by the Scarlet Witch (yes, that is weird, but it’s comics everyone!).
As in the comics, WandaVision revealed that the twins Billy and Tommy were manifestations brought to life by Wanda while still grieving the death of Vision in Avengers: Infinity War. However, an alternate reality in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness revealed that Billy and Tommy do exist in some form. One imagines, then, that Locke’s Billy Kaplan will somehow inherit the identity of Billy Maximoff, giving him Wanda’s powers, leading to his eventual membership in the Young Avengers.
The original Young Avengers came together at the behest of Iron Lad, later revealing himself to be a teenage Nathaniel Richards, who needed a team of heroes to replace the then-dead Avengers (they got better) and stand against his adult self, better known as Kang the Conqueror. After the threat of Kang was thwarted, the Young Avengers added to their number Speed (Billy’s twin brother Tommy), Kate Bishop, Ant-Man’s daughter Stature, and others.
The MCU has teased the coming of the Young Avengers for some time, as the young heroes of the world pop up across projects. In addition to Kate Bishop and Stature, we’ve already seen members Patriot (Eli Bradley, grandson of Elijah Bradley, played by Elijah Richardson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Kid Loki (Jack Veal) in Loki. And while Kang is off the board for now, a teen version not played by Jonathan Majors wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
In fact, the only key member of the Young Avengers still missing is Hulkling, the shapeshifting Kree/Skrull scion who eventually becomes emperor of the two empires and, more importantly, Billy’s husband. But he can’t be too far behind. Because, as the Agatha All Along trailer shows, these teens might be part of a larger universe, but it’s getting smaller every day.
Agatha All Along debuts on Disney+ on Sept. 18.