Agatha All Along Sets Up The Debut Of A Major Marvel Comics Hero
by Debopriyaa Dutta · /FilmThis post contains spoilers for "Agatha All Along."
The journey down the Witches' Road has finally come to an end in "Agatha All Along," with episodes 8 and 9 mapping the aftermath of Billy Kaplan/Maximoff (Joe Locke) fulfilling his most deep-seated wish during the final trial. While "Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End" delivers an inevitable confrontation between Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) and her ex-lover Rio/Death (Aubrey Plaza), the final episode, "Maiden Mother Crone" offers some integral context and backstory while delivering an unexpected twist. It's best to just come out and say it: Agatha is dead and is currently in spirit form, lingering around Billy to reveal that the very concept of the Witches' Road was a scam started by her centuries ago. The reason that the Road became a reality this time around is because Billy unwittingly manifested it, conjuring this otherworldly realm with the aid of personal, psychological, and pop culture notions about witchcraft and magic.
The emotional crux of episode 8 takes place during the final trial, where Jen (Sasheer Zamata) is finally able to unbind herself, and Agatha urges Billy to find what he's missing: his brother, Tommy Maximoff. Even Lady Death herself is aware that Billy is powerful enough to help Tommy jump bodies just like he did (albeit unwittingly), and he ends up doing that after witnessing a young boy drown in a pool. Although Billy is wracked with guilt over potentially causing someone's death, Agatha gravely muses that sometimes "boys die," and this arbitrary and tragic death is now an opportunity for Tommy to exist. By the look of things at the end of the series, where spirit-Agatha tells Billy that they should go find Tommy, it is clear that the other Maximoff sibling has now officially made it back to the mortal realm.
Tommy's confirmed existence in "Agatha All Along" neatly sets up the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of a major Marvel Comics hero — Thomas Shepherd AKA Speed — who later goes on to become a part of the Young Avengers and plays an integral role in pivotal superhero arcs, including Secret Invasion and the Superhero Civil War.
Thomas Shepherd/Speed has an intriguing superhero arc in the Marvel Comics
Thomas/Speed is a bit of a troublemaker in the comics, as he was in and out of juvie for most of his adolescent years and, at one point, vaporized his school (!), for which he was imprisoned in a high-security cell. When a young individual with uncontrollable powers is confined by those who intend to control them, unsavory experiments unfold, which is exactly what Tommy had to undergo for several months. However, he is freed by the Young Avengers soon after, and the character made his official debut in 2006's "Young Avengers #10," which is also where he reunited with his long-lost sibling, Billy/Wiccan. From that point onwards, Tommy adopted the moniker of "Speed" and helped the Young Avengers battle Kree and Skrull soldiers while also rescuing Hulking/Teddy Altman.
While Wiccan has mastery over chaos magic and a deep affinity toward spellwork, Speed's abilities stem from his mutant physiology, which grants him supersonic speed, strength, and agility (with an emphasis on superspeed). Although Speed's powers appear a bit run-of-the-mill, his true potential is yet to be discovered, as Master Pandemonium compares him to the Demiurge Primordial at one point, which should not be disregarded or taken lightly.
For context, Demiurge is often referred to as the Godcreator, a being whose existence is unknowable and incomprehensible, and the fact that Speed is believed to be on par with such an entity is terrifying. Apart from this, Speed has accelerated perception and can walk through solid objects, generate vibrations capable of accelerating matter, and run at the fastest-ever recorded speed of 761 miles per hour. However, Speed isn't immune to injury like regular humans, as bullets and energy blasts can still hurt him if he is not fast enough to evade them.
It remains to be seen how Tommy/Speed is introduced in the MCU down the line, where a reunion with Billy and a longtime collaboration with the Young Avengers seems inevitable. Until then, you can now stream "Agatha All Along" in its entirety on Disney+.