The MCU's final release in 2024, And if...? season three proved that one character made the year their own despite not appearing in a single feature film. As Marvel projects from 2025 appear, audiences see 2024 in retrospect. Admittedly, the year has been a strange one when it comes to Marvel Studios' 2024 film slate, with only Deadpool and Wolverine being released in theaters. That said, Marvel still has four TV shows coming out in 2024.
The first was Echowith the story setting up upcoming Marvel TV shows like Daredevil: Born Again. Then there was X-Men '97, a continuation of the 90s animated series. Later, Agatha all the timea spin-off of WandaVision, subverted expectations by being an overly enjoyable entry into the franchise's supernatural sect. And if...? The Season 3 story concluded the multiversal animated series in December 2024, providing plenty of stories and characters with fun MCU twists. Through And if...? season 3, one character has solidified as the focus of 2024.
Marvel's year was all about big-name returns
The 2024 movies and shows focused on the return of the MCU franchise
While Marvel Studios' 2024 slate was a change of pace for the MCU, the slate was all about big names returning to the franchise. Echo gave the MCU's first proper story for Wilson Fisk/Kingpin after Hawkeyewith X-Men '97 bringing back the iconic animated versions of the titular team members. The return of the mutants continued with Deadpool and Wolverineas the former character appeared in the MCU for the first time and the latter saw the return of Hugh Jackman at the end of the film.
Deadpool and WolverineMarvel's cameos also focused on returning characters, from Dafne Keen's X23 and Wesley Snipes' Blade to Jennifer Garner's Elektra and Channing Tatum's Gambit. Agatha all the time provided a comeback for Billy Maximoff after his apparent death in WandaVisionand And if...? season 3 consisted of several multiversal cameos. Evidently, 2024 was not only a year of reset for Marvel Studios ahead of 2025's massive slate, but also a year that marked the beginning of massive returns for major characters.
Agatha Harkness was a surprisingly big part of the 2024 MCU
Despite these many big-name returns, Agatha Harkness has proven to be a big part of the MCU's 2024 roster. The character appeared in her own solo series, which was critically acclaimed and proved to be one of the highest-rated Marvel TV shows among fans. Then Agatha got another big spotlight on And if...? season 3, episode 2 in which she clashed with Eternals'Celestials. In this episode, Agatha briefly became a Celestial, proving how important she was to the show.
Regardless of the shortened release schedule, Agatha showed up in a big way in 2024. The MCU has put a huge focus on the character and even set the character up to appear again in either of the two. Agatha all the time Season 2 or a Young Avengers project. In light of the massive returns, Agatha has stood out as one of the MCU's biggest characters in 2024, as proven by her own show and And if...? season 3.