It’s been a long time coming. Marvel has officially made Mephisto a part of its live-action cinematic universe after years, nay, decades, of fans asking for the demon lord to make an appearance. We came close with WandaVision, but it was the spin-off to the 2021 show, Agatha All Along, that finally made it happen.
It came out of nowhere like a (hellish) bolt from the blue but Mephisto was, in effect, namedropped in the third episode of Agatha All Along. Sasheer Zamata’s Jennifer Kale thought it wise to warn Joe Locke’s Teen about the protagonist’s reputation, telling him Agatha may have sold her baby son, who we know to be named Nicholas Scratch from an Easter Egg-ery scene in the season’s first episode, in exchange for possession of the Darkhold. No one’s heard of him since, though some believe he became an agent of Mephisto.
There it was. A casual mention of one of Marvel Comics’ most feared characters, and one of the MCU’s most anticipated debuts. Will it go anywhere? Probably not. But it still means that Mephisto exists in the canon of Agatha‘s universe, and, therefore, Earth-616. And it was still enough to make viewers a little crazy.
Because of the character’s long history with the Scarlet Witch, many expected Mephisto to show up in WandaVision, but Agatha Harkness ultimately took his place as the show’s big bad. Now, she’s center stage, and the demon lord is back in the conversation. Speculation has tied Aubrey Plaza’s mysterious character Rio Vidal, who holds no ties to anyone in Marvel Comics, to both Mephisto and Agatha’s son. Some believe Nicholas is the two women’s child from a past relationship.
It’s also possible that Jen’s reference to the extra-dimensional demon is just a red herring, a way to throw eager fans off the scent of what really is expecting us at the end of the Witches’ Road. With WandaVision and Agatha All Along sharing a creator in Jac Schaeffer, it wouldn’t surprise us if this Mephisto mention turned out to be nothing more than a bit of fourth-wall breaking to mess with fans’ expectations and poke fun at their incessant speculation during the earlier Disney Plus series. And if that is the case then, well, it worked.
“I know the writers were tired of heating the Mephisto theories so they said ‘here you go, damn’,” one fan joked.
For the lesser versed in comics history, Mephisto is a powerful evil being who’s been around for over five decades, literally playing devil’s advocate in a lot of famous storylines. His end goal is always to corrupt and steal human souls, bringing them to a pocket dimension he calls “Hell” or “Hades,” though he uses the name loosely to trick people into thinking he’s Satan or the Olympian god of the dead. In truth, despite his demonic qualities and his supernatural and magical abilities to manipulate human life, his greatest power is being a master manipulator.
Mephisto is a feared figure in Marvel Comics and an ace Marvel has held out from playing all this time. He was rumored to feature in the upcoming Ironheart series after a cast listing tied Sacha Baron Cohen to the character. While we doubt he will show his face around Agatha All Along, the show could very well be setting up his eventual, and much-awaited, introduction to the MCU. If that’s not the case, then, I’m sorry Mrs. Schaeffer, but you’re quite literally playing with fire.
Published: Sep 26, 2024 07:45 am