Starting With Agatha All Along, Marvel Is Changing Its Disney+ Shows In One Major Way

"Deadpool & Wolverine" may've rescued the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the box office this year, but it's Kathryn Hahn's scheming Agatha Harkness and her ragtag coven of fellow witches who're quietly getting Marvel Television's affairs into order with "Agatha All Along." The belated "WandaVision" offshoot was something of a wild card heading into its debut, what with it being a product of Marvel TV's disastrous former production process. Thankfully, much like the titular sorceress, Jac Schaeffer's spinoff has some unexpected tricks up its sleeves and has proven to be a cheeky, spoopy, and otherwise wickedly good time. (Read /Film's review by BJ Colangelo for more on that.)

"Agatha All Along" is also one of the more visually interesting MCU installments in a minute thanks to the plethora of colorful set pieces and costumes used to realize the supernatural (and occasionally horrifying) trials that Agatha and her motley gang encounter on their not-so-merry expedition down the Witches' Road. The show's lower-cost, practical-driven approach is all the more invigorating coming on the heels of several MCU Disney+ series that wound up spending so much moola on their CGI (money that wasn't going to Marvel's stressed-out, under-paid VFX artists either) that it sometimes felt as though they tried to compensate by shooting the rest of their scenes on what looked like nondescript European parking lots. Harsh as that might sound, just know that "Secret Invasion" was, in fact, largely filmed in an abandoned Shredded Wheat factory in England.

Indeed, both "Agatha All Along" and this year's sole other live-action MCU Disney+ release, itself another surprisingly sturdy spinoff in the form of "Echo," clearly benefitted from being less expensive to make and, in turn, having more artistic freedom than other Marvel titles before them. And with studios in general trying to reign in their budgeting as the streaming wars cool down, "Agatha," in particular, will point the way forward for Marvel when it comes to its Disney+ offerings.

Who's been messing up everything? It's been over-spending all along! While the original plan of budgeting the MCU's Disney+ shows at the same level as its films might've seemed appealing on paper back when Disney was still hoping to challenge Netflix for the streaming crown, in practice it's proven to be quite the costly miscalculation. According to Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming, television and animation for Marvel Studios, it's also something the House of Ideas won't be doing anymore, starting with "Agatha All Along." During an interview with Variety, Winderbaum confirmed the spinoff is "our least expensive show, and I think that was by design."

For context, "Echo" was previously reported to be the least-expensive MCU Disney+ show thus far, with a price tag of $40 million for five episodes (whereas "Agatha" will have nine eps total). Continuing, Winderbaum highlighted the creative benefits that will come from taking that same approach on upcoming projects:

"We are looking to make these shows for a responsible cost. Frankly, it gives us a little bit more freedom creatively when we can bring them in at a reasonable budget. Like ['Agatha All Along'], for example, the show has minimal CG, way less than we've ever done before. It's mostly practical effects, and I think you can feel it in the show."

To be sure, the show's practical-heavy methods set "Agatha All Along" apart aesthetically from previous MCU releases, particularly when it comes to its more fantastical imagery. There's also a sense that the series isn't being kept on quite as tight a leash as other Marvel titles, from an amusing moment of nudity in the show's premiere to the not-so-subtly sensually-charged exchanges between Agatha and her, ahem, old acquaintance Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) in its first four episodes (though whether the series will actually make good on its promise of being the queerest Marvel thing ever remains to be seen). With a little luck, "Agatha All Along" will only prove to be the first step in a weirder, more inventive, and otherwise exciting future for Marvel Television.

New episodes of "Agatha All Along" drop Wednesdays on Disney+.