What’s a witch without her dark magical secrets? Marvel’s Agatha All Along miniseries has one front and center. The starring turn for Kathryn Hahn’s diabolical Agatha Harkness, last seen in 2021’s WandaVision, features a plucky young witchy wannabe initially only as “Teen,” and played by Heartstopper’s Joe Locke.
The character’s real name has not yet been stated: As of the premiere episodes, there’s a clear magic effect keeping him from revealing it. He’s listed in the credits as “Teen” and referred to in the show as “Teen.” And the cast and crew has kept his identity under lock. But episode 5 has certainly changed some things — like, for instance, what exactly Teen’s power level might be.
And if you know anything about Marvel Comics’ Scarlet Witch, Marvel magic, or the setting’s teen superheroes, you’ve got a solid hunch where this is going. If Locke isn’t playing Billy Kaplan, AKA Wiccan, it would be extraordinarily strange.
[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for episode 5 of Agatha All Along.]
Who is Billy Kaplan?
Billy is the teenage Marvel Comics superhero known as Wiccan, or the Demiurge. He’s a frequent member of the Young Avengers, on the occasions that that team is together and adventuring. He’s got innate magical powers that allow him to warp reality simply by stating what he wishes to occur and focusing on that intention. And he has a magical destiny to grow into: It’s been prophesied that someday he will grow so powerful that he will be able to rewrite the laws of magic itself.
That might not seem like he’s a shoo-in for Teen’s real identity. Right now, all we know is that he’s a teenage boy who has a boyfriend, and wants to be a witch, and that even though he’s kind of dopey, he’s powerful enough to crack the Scarlet Witch’s imprisoning illusion around Agatha. Oh, and whenever he tries to say his name or explain who he is, Agatha just hears nonsense or muted noise. Nothing that’s happened in Agatha so far contradicts the possibility that Teen is an original character, new to any Marvel timeline.
But there’s a ton of circumstantial evidence suggesting that he’s Wiccan. For one: Locke is a dead ringer for the character design. Skinny teen boy, floppy dark hair. Check.
For another, Billy is a Scarlet Witch-adjacent character, and this is a Scarlet Witch-adjacent show. In the comics, Billy is — it’s more complicated than this, but don’t worry about it — one of the Scarlet Witch’s long-lost twin sons. Her kids, Billy and Tommy (or illusions of them, at least), have already featured in WandaVision and in the alternate universes visited in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Teen could be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s way of integrating Billy into the main timeline in a lasting way.
We also know that Teen has a boyfriend: Wiccan is one of Marvel’s most prominent queer characters. He and his boyfriend Teddy (the superhero known as Hulkling; no relation to the Hulk) have been together in comics for almost two decades.
To sum up: Billy and Teen are both witchy magic users of certain power, they share a certain look, they’re both linked to the Scarlet Witch, and they’re both queer. Agatha All Along hasn’t revealed anything that would keep Teen from being an original character, but it also hasn’t revealed anything that would keep him from being the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Billy, either.
We’ll be watching Agatha All Along closely over the rest of its episodes, to see if it’s really pulling a “Wiccan All Along,” and we’ll keep you updated. Because if this isn’t Billy Kaplan, it’s the misdirect of the century.
Which brings us to episode 5…
Oh, yeah he’s definitely Billy Kaplan
Agatha All Along’s most recent episode basically confirmed what we all knew already (or rather, all along): Teen is Billy Kaplan.
Or rather, well, Teen is Wanda Maximoff’s kid, and therefore most likely Billy Kaplan.
After the last Witches’ Road trial goes horribly wrong, Teen confronts Agatha about it. Agatha insists that she had no control over the mistake that cost Alice her life, whereas Teen says she definitely did. When the others affirm that they’re all here to grow their own power, Teen says that he won’t kill people to serve his own agenda. Something clearly clicks for Agatha and she shakes her head and laughs, telling Teen: “You’re so much like your mother.”
Instead of taking that reasonably, Teen unleashes magical powers that we haven’t even seen him use yet, taking control of Jennifer and Lilia to attack Agatha and shove her into the mud, which swallows her. Then, he blasts the two of them into the mud too. The camera pans back to Teen, revealing that he’s wearing a version of Wanda’s Scarlet Witch crown. Cue a needledrop of “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Billie Eilish. (Word’s out on if the Billie-Billy thing was intentional, though.) Notably, Teen’s magic seems to be blue, the same as Billy Kaplan’s.
Now, we’re still not sure if Teen knew about his powers and has been playing coy, or if this was just an unexpected burst of power. But one thing’s for sure: he’s rocking that Scarlet Witch headpiece.
