“Agatha All Along” creator infused the show with 'joyous, dark, resplendent queer energy'

Showrunner Jac Schaeffer is more than fine with her series being for the gays and the girly pops.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Agatha All Along episode 4, "If I Can't Reach You, Let My Song Teach You."

When WandaVision began rolling out on Disney+ in 2021, series creator Jac Schaeffer saw footage of a Minneapolis drag brunch. One of the performers was dressed as Agatha Harkness, Kathryn Hahn's witchy character who originally disguised herself as the nosy neighbor of Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff in the town of Westview. "I was so moved and overwhelmed and flattered," Schaeffer tells Entertainment Weekly of seeing that video.

In making the sequel series Agatha All Along, which now headlines Hahn's Agatha, the creator notes, "That footage was so front of mind."

It's no secret that Agatha All Along is hands-down the most queer-friendly Marvel show to date. If Deadpool & Wolverine is for the bros, this show is for the gays and girly pops. Look at the many TikTok dance videos that are set to the sounds of the drama's catchy new song, "The Ballad of the Witches' Road," written by EGOT composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez, the same duo who brought us the chart-topping bop "Agatha All Along" from WandaVision. But that overt subtext becomes overt text in episode 4, titled "If I Can't Reach You, Let My Song Teach You."

Related: Agatha All Along creator and star on that Hart-felt character fate: 'This show has teeth'

Agatha and the "green witch" known as Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) clearly have history at the start of the series, but after facing a few trials along the Witches' Road, the characters embrace each other and nearly share a kiss as their lips get closer and closer. Rio interrupts the moment by reminding her ex lover that, despite what she may want to believe, the mysterious Teen (Joe Locke) is not secretly her long-lost son.

In an interview with EW that took place prior to the premiere of Agatha All Along, Schaeffer says she's a shipper at heart. "I am a huge consumer of content," she continues. "I'm obsessed with Mariko [Emmy-winner Anna Sawai] and Anjin-san [Cosmo Jarvis] from Shōgun. I just want to live inside of that sexy relationship. So, yeah, it's my hope that people watch this and get super invested and want to see people make out. It's so fun. I don't feel like I am intentionally like 'this is for the fandoms or shippers.' It's for my friends, and it's for that particular feeling of really delighting in the shows and the movies that you love."

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It's in the very DNA of the show, which embraces so much of what many LGBTQ audiences came to love: camp, musicals, queer icon Patti LuPone, and horror. It's partly why Locke's Teen, though we still don't know his true identity, is a gay goth horror fan. "In our research into the history of witches, contemporary witches, witches in pop culture, there is a very strong intersection between the LGBTQ community and witchcraft," Schaeffer comments. "That was undeniable and needed a place in the show."

Related: Agatha All Along creator on that Mephisto name-drop: 'We're always playing with the audience'

As far as Agatha herself, "she is a drag queen," the showrunner continues. "She is a performer more than anything else. She is constantly wearing masks. She's constantly putting on identities. So I would say that, in terms of our intention, the people that I was lucky enough to assemble on the show, both behind the camera and in front of the camera, [there were] so many members of the community, so many people motivated to tell these stories and to infuse the show with joyous, dark, resplendent queer energy. I am thrilled. I feel honored. It is my deepest hope that it is embraced as the love letter that it is."

"I'm so proud," Hahn agrees in a separate conversation with EW. "This is what a large portion of the fans want to see and have looked to be represented in these huge movies. They're a huge part of these movies in this genre's audience, so it just makes sense. And also, it makes it that more rich."

Agatha All Along rolls out on Disney+ every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.