Agatha all the time has been praised as one of the best series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while much of the series has been excellent, the series appears to have made the same mistake that so many past Marvel projects have made. With the last installment being perhaps the best Agatha all the time episode, audiences eagerly await the final episodes of next week’s excellent series. Unfortunately, some characters considered a major threat to the clan appear to have been eliminated entirely.
The MCU has seen a number of powerful Marvel villains for heroes to face over the years. Some of these characters were terrifying, like Dormammu, while others were brutal and intelligent, like Thanos. It’s become clear over the years that securing an excellent villain has been an important part of the success of Marvel’s best projects. However, building these characters up over the long term, as was done with Loki, can make these enemies even more effective.
Agatha All Along Just Killed the Salem Seven After Doing Nothing to Them
The Salem Seven Were Set To Be A Major Threat To The Coven Of Chaos
Unfortunately, the Salem Seven appear to be over after Lilia killed them in the last episode of Agatha. Although the Salem Seven were barely explained on the show, the terrifying enemies could have been a much bigger part of the story. Linked to Agatha and her son, Nicholas Scratch, these characters were barely used before being scrapped entirely. Their names were not even revealed to the public. Seeing her animal powers used so sparingly was disappointing, and many expected them to contribute to an explosive climax.
Fortunately, the deaths of these villains served an excellent purpose for the story. The end of Agate episode 7 saw Lilia Calderu defeating the Salem Seven before succumbing to her own death. While it may have been an underwhelming end to what seemed like an incredible ensemble of seven potentially deep and significant villains, this added to Lilia’s evocative story and gave it an incredible ending. In saving the clan, Lilia offered herself a graceful and powerful sacrifice.
Agatha always repeats an old MCU complaint
Many MCU villains are underused
One of the public’s biggest complaints about Marvel villains is that enemies are dispatched and defeated too quickly, wasting their potential. Although heroes have plenty of time in many films and television shows to develop their characters, most Marvel villains only make a single appearance before being easily defeated by the team. Incredible characters like Gorr the God Butcher, Kaecilius, and Red Skull were severely underused as villains compared to their comic book stories, leading to some disappointment for audiences.
Fortunately, it appears that Marvel recognizes this is a problem and is trying to fix it. Agatha herself could have been a full-on villain, but the franchise gave her a titular series. Ultron’s upcoming return to the MCU could be a sign of things to come, where villains will have another opportunity to realize their comic book roots in multiple projects in future phases. Even Taskmaster and Ghost are set to return Rays*. Still, the sudden death of the Salem Seven seems to throw out these villains and isn’t a great sign of things to come.
The MCU has solved its villain problem and I hope death is the answer
Rio Vidal’s identity has been revealed and it is significant
Happily, Agatha all the time has plans for another Marvel villain, as shown in the last episode. The youngest Agate reveal indicates that Rio Vidal is actually the personification of Lady Death in the MCU. This is an exciting detail that has been cleverly seeded and teased throughout the series. After that, the show could potentially introduce an incredibly powerful force to the MCU that could live on in the franchise for some time. With Aubrey Plaza’s charisma and star power, Lady Death could become an integral part of the franchise.
If the continuation of Rio Vidal’s story as Lady Death is done well, she has the potential to be one of the greatest and most powerful villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Lady Death has links to characters like Thanos and Deadpool, and using those links to create a character incorporated into the franchise could be a satisfying solution to all these throwaway villains. In fact, as a manifestation of a force as incredible and powerful as death, a lot can be done with the character in all sorts of future Marvel projects.
Marvel villains are an important part of the series’ narrative, and it’s exciting to see such an important force being introduced in the latest series. Along with character suggestions like Mephisto, it seems like Agate can leave many significant marks on the franchise as a whole. Despite killing the Salem Seven so quickly, it seems that Agatha all the time has plans for the future of the universe. Hopefully, audiences will better understand this trajectory by the end of the series.