Warning: This article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along episode 7.
Thought the reveal that Joe Locke’s Teen was actually Wiccan was the only big twist Agatha All Along was going to drop? Then episode 7 proved you wrong, as it confirmed that a major character who’s been lurking just out of sight in the MCU all along has finally entered the chat. And, honestly, this might be one of Marvel Studios’ greatest casting choices in this franchise’s history.
Episode 7 was mostly a showcase for the immeasurable talents of Patti LuPone, as Lilia Calderu stepped into the spotlight for the latest trial, but in doing so it casually slipped in a major bombshell that quietly rewrites the entire cosmology of the MCU. As the psychic Lilia jumps around her own timeline, she encounters a familiar and yet unfamiliar figure in the tunnels underneath the Witches’ Road. Finally, she understands why one of the coven’s witches has been so distant and enigmatic this whole time.
Rio Vidal, she realizes, is Death. It’s true, Aubrey Plaza is officially Marvel’s personification of the Grim Reaper. Somehow, this just feels so spot-on.
Plaza, known for the dead-eyed stare and unhinged energy she brings to all her roles, honestly doesn’t need much to make her scary, but Agatha really outdid itself with that creepy visual of Rio in all her skeletal glory.
OK, (tarot) cards on the table. Those who’ve kept up to date with the unfortunate Funko POP leaks may have already been aware that Rio was Death. And yet this moment was too well-orchestrated not to somehow get caught in the drama of it all.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man? Chris Evans as Captain America? Meghan Thee Stallion as Herself? Nah, some think Plaza as Death is the best Marvel casting of all time.
For those who may have forgotten, though, this isn’t actually the first time that we’ve seen Death in the show. A De-Aubrey-fied Lady Death popped up way back in Lilia’s hallucination in episode 3.
Comics readers will know that Lady Death is mostly tied in with Thanos in the source material, as Thanos is in love with her and commits so much cosmic carnage in a warped attempt to woo her. Obviously we know Rio is Agatha’s bad boy, but could Thanos and Death ever share the screen in the MCU?
When showrunner Jac Schaeffer and her team first discussed who should play Death on Agatha, you have to imagine nobody paused for even a breath before Aubrey Plaza’s name came up. The closest thing we have to a real-life member of the Addams family, someone who’s said she has designs on becoming the next Tim Burton, Plaza has basically been preparing for this role her whole life. While Rio has sadly been sidelined in the series so far, hopefully now that her secret’s out of the bag she’ll be able to take center stage for the last two episodes — both landing Oct. 30 — and Plaza can really show us what dark magic she can work as this character. You know she will kill it.
Published: Oct 24, 2024 12:25 pm