Agatha Harkness Origins

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring the comic book history of one of Marvel’s most famous witches. Who’s scarier with the Darkhold - Agatha, or Wanda? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

In 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, a woman named Agatha Harkness is persecuted for witchcraft. The catch? She actually is a witch, and a powerful one at that. After growing up around the haunted Wundagore mountain, Agatha formed her own coven and moved to Salem in hopes of freely practicing the dark arts. At first, she even approved of the witch trials, finding them a necessary sacrifice to cull the weak. That all changed when one of her coven, Corina, fell to the plight. Finally seeing the error of her ways, Agatha and her allies fled into hiding, undisturbed from all mankind.

At least, that was the plan until the Fantastic Four arrived on her doorstep asking for a nanny. While the team didn’t realize the rehabilitated old lady was a witch, it turned out to be a perfect fit. When Franklin’s latent psychic abilities began to manifest, Agatha went from retired wiccan to full-on magical tutor. Unfortunately, that also attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Thinking Agatha had betrayed the witches’ secrets, the evil Salem Seven kidnapped both her and Franklin to dole out vengeance. But, Reed and Sue didn’t take too kindly to losing their kid, and soon put the villains back in their place.

Back home, Agatha proceeded to teach Franklin everything she knew. Turns out, she’s a pretty good teacher. So much so that Franklin finished his studies early, forcing Agatha to seek out a new student. Her name? Wanda Maximoff. The Scarlet Witch jumped at the opportunity to get a handle on her immense powers. But, just as soon as Wanda opened up to Agatha, the Salem Seven popped back up for round two. And this time, they won, leaving Agatha to burn at the stake. Soon after, Wanda avenges her teacher in a fit of blind rage. However, being exposed to all that concentrated magic has an unforeseen effect on the Hex Witch’s body. Somehow, someway, Wanda is left pregnant.

Now, comics being comics, Agatha doesn’t stay dead for very long. But, the details of her resurrection get shoved under the rug when the demon Mephisto arrives. He captures Wanda’s newborn kids and absorbs them into his soul, leaving the Scarlet Witch distraught, furious, and ready to tear reality apart. In order to ease Wanda’s suffering, Agatha decides to wipe her memories of motherhood, allowing the hero to refocus and help save the day. As they say, though, no good deed goes unpunished. When Wanda begins to remember pieces of her children, she confronts Agatha. And, well, let’s just say that the next time anyone sees her, she’s nothing more than a corpse.

Apparently, though, you can’t keep a witch down for long. When the living embodiment of Chaos starts wrecking havoc across the universe, Wanda has no choice but to recruit magical backup. That means reviving the spirit of her mother, Natalya, and a certain witch tutor she may have killed in cold blood. Agatha doesn’t hold a grudge, thankfully, and the three successfully cut Chaos’ reign short. But, in the aftermath, a magical explosion brings Agatha back to life - for good this time. Letting bygones be bygones, she and Wanda part ways, with Agatha vowing to live out the rest of her days in blissful normalcy.

And, surprisingly, she actually sticks to her word. Once news of her acclaimed alumni begins to spread, Agatha is asked to become a teacher at Strange Academy, a school to help magically-inclined youth foster their powers. But - and there’s always a ‘but’ - things don’t stay quiet for long. Driven mad with envy, Agatha’s old coven mate, Corina, breaks out of her eternal prison in hopes of destroying the world. Thankfully, Agatha’s got backup. Side by side with Strange Academy’s best and brightest, Agatha defeats Corina once and for all. The whole thing is a classic case of good-news-bad-news. The good is that all the arcane arts return Agatha to her youthful form. The bad? It brings back her mean streak, too.

The first thing on Agatha’s villainous to-do list is finding the Darkhold. And, wouldn’t you know, it’s been absorbed by none other than Agatha’s star pupil, Wanda Maximoff herself. As you can imagine, Wanda doesn’t give up the book’s contents lightly. Though, that’s not for a lack of trying on Agatha’s part. After a hard-fought, cross-dimensional fight for the ages, Agatha concedes to her student. Or, so it seems. In reality, she was after another kind of darkness contained in Wanda - the Elder God Chthon. Unbeknownst to the Avenger, Agatha snatched Chthon’s cursed heart, and with its power, began to write her own Darkhold.

What better way to test out an all-powerful grimoire than with a good, old-fashioned battle royale? Agatha’s spells force the Avengers to fight each other, allowing the witch to harness even more energy for her new Darkhold. Eventually, the team corners Agatha in the Bermuda triangle, but not before the heroes are nearly torn in half. Regardless, Wanda - with an assist from Captain Marvel - manages to destroy Agatha and the new edition Darkhold in a single, page-covering explosion. Afterwards, there’s no body to be found, and while many of the Avengers think Agatha is gone for good, it’s never that easy.

Agatha, injured and barely conscious, washes ashore nearby. There, she discovers the magical implosion didn’t actually destroy the Darkhold, it just transformed it into something else. That being a wise-cracking teenage boy. Unable to tame the being’s endless powers, Agatha enlists a new batch of Strange Academy students to reclaim the Darkhold’s powers. But, rather than helping her, Agatha ends up on the wrong end of a Grade-A butt-kicking. Outnumbered and outmatched, she has no choice but to slither away to lick her wounds. Though, something tells us Agatha hasn’t given up on the Darkhold just yet.

As one of Marvel’s most “enchanting” characters, Agatha’s made a few small but memorable roles in animated programs over the years. However, she didn’t appear in live-action until 2021’s “Wandavision.” There, she’s introduced as the lovingly kooky neighbor, Agnes. But, as is later revealed in a viral musical number, she was “Agatha All Along.” Chart-topping song aside, Agatha’s nefarious plans are foiled in the form of a sky-high, scarlet-colored beatdown. Last we saw of her, Agatha was left inside of the pseudo-televised reality where she can’t hurt anyone ever again. She’s next slated to appear in a self-titled series on Disney+, which will chronicle her building a new coven to face the legendary Witches Road. It seems like, just like in the comics, Agatha can’t help coming back one more time.