Who Is Mephisto? Agatha All Along Calls Back to a Popular WandaVision Fan Theory

This article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along episode 3.

Agatha All Along may be forging its own path down the Witches’ Road, but as both a spiritual and literal successor to WandaVision, the series is already bringing back part of what made watching its predecessor so fun. In episode 3 “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials,” we finally get to hear a name that fans have been eager to hear since WandaVision first aired – the one and only Mephisto.

Back in the days of WandaVision, it was almost impossible to go a week without someone on the internet crying “Mephisto” and pointing to his involvement in whatever was happening in Westview. There was the theory that Westview was some sort of mystical womb that would allow for Mephisto to be birthed into our world. Some thought that Evan Peters was actually Master Pandemonium, a character that could summon Mephisto, or even Mephisto himself.

Though there was often a decent amount of evidence to back up these theories, they didn’t end up being true, as far as we know. Mephisto was never mentioned, nor did he make an appearance by the time WandaVision ended.

Mephisto is essentially Marvel’s version of the Devil. He’s an extra-dimensional demon who rules over a fiery pocket dimension he likes to call “hell” or “hades” in order to exploit earthlings belief in a singular being of absolute evil. Though he’s not a true devil or fallen angel in the biblical sense, his name is derived from Mephistopheles, further adding to the myth that he is Satan incarnate.

In the comics, Mephisto is strongly connected to the mystical side of the Marvel universe, though he has had tousles with other characters. In Avengers West Coast #51, Wanda uses part of Mephisto’s soul to give birth to her sons Billy and Tommy, which is obviously something he doesn’t take too kindly to and eventually reabsorbs them.

Even though these theories never panned out, there’s no denying that sharing these theories added to the hype of watching WandaVision each week. The thrill of adding new clues to a theory, hoping to be proven right, became an important part of the experience and made the series a must watch. Agatha All Along might not have quite as many clues or threads to pull apart thus far, but a Mephisto name drop in addition to the theories that have already started to circulate will surely only fuel the fire more.

One of the prevailing theories after the first two episodes of the series is that Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) is actually Mephisto’s daughter, a gender-swapped version of his son Blackheart from Marvel comics. Rio tells Agatha in episode 1 that her heart is black and beats for her, and in episode 2 Lilia (Patti LuPone) draws a black heart to represent one of the coven members Agatha is destined to travel with down the Witches’ Road.

While this could absolutely be a coincidence, it’s fun to see fans already starting to pull out their Mephisto theories once again, especially now that we have this name drop to back them up. With Agatha’s connection to the Darkhold and dark magic, it’s even more likely that the Devil could be connected to one or more of these Witches. Then again, Jac Schaeffer, who is very aware of all of the WandaVision fan theories could just be trolling us all magnificently. Either way, it’s exciting to see people eager to theorize and engage with a show like this again. It’s a reminder of how Television can bring people together.

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