Warning: SPOILERS for Midnight Suns #5
Marvel’s desire to combine the MCU and comics universe has resulted in a massive change for Agatha Harkness in the comics, and it shocks the Midnight Suns team and longtime Marvel fans. For ages, the character was represented as an elderly woman, but the MCU counterpart was a completely different character with a slightly different backstory and radically different appearance. Now in Marvel’s Midnight Suns #5, the MCU and comics align – but is this a bridge too far?
In the comics, Agatha Harkness is a character with a long history: she first appeared in Fantastic Four books in 1970 as a mysterious magical character who hailed from New Salem, a colony of witches. In the MCU, Agatha first appeared in 2020’s Wandavision TV show as part of a ploy to obtain the Scarlet Witch’s magical powers, capturing her children as part of the plot. While Agatha in both versions has lived quite a long life, she is often seen in the comics as an old woman with white hair – but not anymore.
In Midnight Suns #5, written by Ethan Sacks with art by Luigi Zagaria and Alberto Foche, the Midnight Suns race to rescue Zoe, a cursed human with a zombie-like appearance, and stop the villain Corina from using her for her own purposes. Seeing no other option, Agatha uses a special red dagger to stab Corina in the neck, absorbing her power before a magical blast blinds everyone in the room. Agatha and Corina’s bodies are nowhere to be found…and in an unknown location after the battle, Agatha reappears in a far younger body, ready to enact her own agenda.
It is worth noting that Agatha Harkness is not technically a villain in Marvel Comics; while her true nature is shrouded in mystery, she has no desire to do anything her MCU counterpart did in Wandavision. That being said, Marvel is known for merging aspects of the MCU and the comics – especially the likeness of certain characters (even the Infinity Stones’ colors were changed in the comics to match those of the MCU). De-aging Agatha is simply one more step toward bridging the gap between the screen and the page.
Agatha’s Coven of Chaos will premiere soon, and Marvel fans who pick up Midnight Suns #5 will see a brand-new Agatha, just in time for her show. Comic book purists cry foul at the new look of the classic witch, perhaps upset that the MCU is now informing the films, when in the past it was the other way around. Regardless, the younger Agatha Harkness has returned in comics, and seems to have a new agenda in the future.
