So, we’re here again. Marvel has presented us with yet another sexually charged same-sex duo that we don’t quite know how to digest in Rio Vidal and Agatha Harkness. So many times in the past we’ve been cheated out of any proper resolution to palpable queer on-screen chemistry, yet, for one reason or the other, every new time we still hope for a different conclusion. Will Agatha All Along break the spell?
The witchy miniseries has already done more than nearly every other Marvel Cinematic Universe property in the past, except maybe Deadpool & Wolverine and The Eternals, by explicitly declaring Teen as queer. Moreover, Teen — played by Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke and who we’re all convinced is actually Wanda Maximoff’s son Billy aka Wiccan — feels a lot more central to Agatha‘s narrative than its peers were to their respective films. But is Marvel ready to take the next step and give us an explicitly gay romantic storyline involving a title character? (And no, Loki doesn’t count).
At this point, we’re wondering if there is any other possible interpretation to Aubrey Plaza and Kathryn Hahn’s scenes in the first couple of episodes of the new Disney Plus show. The two exchanged suspicious looks and gibes that hint at a shared past, including two mentions of a black heart. “Yes, I do [have a heart.] It’s black. And it beats for you,” Plaza’s Rio ominously (and sensually) stated after a fist fight with Hahn’s Agatha, right before licking her bloody palm.
Then, Patti LuPone’s Lilia Calderu used a black heart to symbolize the missing piece in Agatha’s coven — a witch possessing Earth Magic, which we know to be Rio, not just because of the callback but because Agatha avoided the subject and found a non-magical person to step in instead. I mean, is there even an heterosexual explanation for all of this?
Fans were very receptive to the scenes between the two, understandably so. The enemies (to lovers, we hope) have chemistry for days. “Just watched the best sex scene of my life,” one fan jokingly expressed. “The sexiest scene in MCU history,” someone else agreed. Mind you, they were fully clothed the entire time, but it did feel like we were watching more than just fighting.
If this was any other party, we’d be carefree and excited about the possible future of these two characters. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still very much looking forward to new episodes of Agatha All Along, but where Rio/Agatha is concerned, after being let down so many times in the past, we’re going for caution over hope.
Plaza may have promised “a gay explosion” by the final episode in an interview with Variety, but we also remember when Natalia Portman called Thor: Love & Thunder “so gay” only for it to be… not that. Using the promise of gay content to attract queer viewership when the reality turns out to be a throwaway line or a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment is probably among the top 10 commandements of the Disney rulebook, so we won’t let ourselves get too worked up over Plaza’s words just yet.
With that said, Marvel has never been this gay, and, yes, your honor, we’re guilty of eating it up. Now, let’s see what episode 3 has in store for our new favorite baddies, and then we’ll reconvene.