Summary
Agatha All Alongis now streaming on Disney+, but it took Marvel quite some time to settle on the show’s final title, which made fans wonder: was this the plan all along? While working titles are common in film and TV production, theWandaVisionspin-off miniseries perhaps had one too many, which the showrunners later presented as a clever and fully intentional marketing stunt.
Based on Agatha Harkness from Marvel Comics,the Kathryn Hahn-starrerhas quickly found its niche.
Show creator Jac Schaeffer and her writing team have been instrumental in making the beloved witch a household MCU name. The team was also responsible for orchestrating the show’s name changes in a way that mirrors Agatha’s mysterious and quirky character sketch. However, some fans were skeptical that the title shifts reflected indecisiveness to circle down on one name, but Disney’s marketing team managed to turn it into a strategic advantage forAgatha All Along.
Timeline ofAgatha’sTitle Changes
Before Agatha was Agatha and had her own show, she was the “happy-go-creepy” neighborAgnes inWandaVisionwho became an instant icon despite her limited screen time. In episode 7, “Breaking the Fourth Wall”, Agnes revealed her true identity to Wanda as the mighty witchAgatha Harknessin a catchy TV intro-style sequence with the song “Agatha All Along.” From that moment, her place in the MCU was cemented, and her presence in a future project became inevitable. Soon, Marvel confirmed this at the Disney+ Day event in November 2021, announcing her spin-off series with the first of many working titles –Agatha: House of Harkness.
However, this title lasted only for a few months until the San Diego Comic Con in July 2022. Back then, it was announced as Marvel’s final Disney+ series in 2023, along with a fresh title –Agatha: Coven of Chaos. But the show’s release date went through a shuffle following thewriters’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood. And it wasn’t just a scheduling change, Marvel renamed the show again toAgatha: Darkhold Diaries. Over time, fans and insiders casually began referring to it simply asAgatha.
TheAgathateam did their fair share of fun-filled misleading, as cast members likeAubrey Plazaand Joe Locke teased fans with behind-the-scenes photos. Plaza shared a picture of a director’s chair with the then-official titleDarkhold Diariesin aPrincess Diaries-style logo, complete with Disney’s iconic font. Meanwhile,Joe Locke’spost featured an alternate title,Agatha of Westview, styled after HBO’sMare of Easttown. The show’s final fake title appeared in May 2024 when Marvel tweeted a logo referencingThe Chronicles of Narnia, calling itAgatha: The Lying Witch with Great Wardrobe, and then deleted it shortly after.
HowAgathaAll AlongGot Its Final Name
After the briefNarnia-inspired fake title and its deletion, Marvel Studios took to Twitter and posted a short follow-up video compilation of all the titles the show had gone through. The video was set to the song “Agatha All Along” and ended with the song’s name itself as its official title, along with a confirmed 2-episode premiere date of 06 June 2025. Interestingly,aGizmodoarticle, published right after the Narnia-name drop, had first suggestedAgatha All Alongwas the best choice for the show.
So, the running joke came full circle, ending on a meta note: the title really wasAgatha All Along, all along. As many had suspected, the title reveals were a deliberate marketing strategy to let Agatha mess with Marvel fans’ heads, staying true to her character. In aninterview withThe Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Mary Livanos confirmed this and that the title changes were planned by Jac Schaeffer and the writing team.
It was a real blast to release crazier and crazier ones as the production went on, and our cast was so game, too. The nature of the stunt felt very Agatha.
Did Changing Titles Work For Marvel’sAgatha?
Almost every major movie or TV project starts with a working title that typically sticks around until promotional activities begin. However,Agatha All Alongwasn’t one ofMarvel’s marquee releases in Phase Five, so the multiple title changes seemed too unusual at first. It wouldn’t normally make sense to give so much attention to a series with so many working titles just to conceal the final one. But this was precisely the point of the gimmick – to generate some much-needed publicity and build hype, which was missing around the lesser-known spin-off.
What started as one of Marvel’s least expected projects ended up with over 9.3 million views forAgatha All Along’sfirst episodein the opening week. The creators may have pulled off a wildly creative marketing stunt that played into Agatha’s deceptive nature. Or they may have had second thoughts about each title and used the changes as a bizarre, public test group experiment to find the best fit. Either way, the official narrative holds that it was an intentional tactic and one that worked. Much likeWandaVision’sgenre-shifts in each episode,Agatha All Alongdid well to use the changing titles to sell itself even before it aired.
