Who Is “Teen” on Agatha All Along? Joe Locke’s Character is a Central Marvel Mystery.
The following story contains spoilers for Agatha All Along through episode 3. PART OF WHAT made WandaVision so much fun back in the early parts of 2021 as Marvel Studios’s first Disney+ show was the way the show seamlessly weaved three distinct things together: strong character building, committed and eccentric use of homage and pastiche
The following story contains spoilers for Agatha All Along through episode 3.
PART OF WHAT made WandaVision so much fun back in the early parts of 2021 as Marvel Studios’s first Disney+ show was the way the show seamlessly weaved three distinct things together: strong character building, committed and eccentric use of homage and pastiche to TV, and lots and lots of very intriguing mystery seeded throughout. Most of the Marvel series since WandaVision have ditched that, essentially opting for the ‘six-hour movie’ format, and ending up with mixed results.
But now with Agatha All Along, which comes from WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer, Marvel is returning to its TV roots of three-and-a-half years ago, and already seeing some major dividends. While the show has reverted to a more straightforward format after its Episode 1 homage to Mare of Easttown, there’s some great character building going on already, and perhaps most interestingly, lots of mystery to spectate about—the biggest of which centers on a character as of now known only as “Teen.”
“Teen,” played by Joe Locke, isn’t actually anyone’s name. But from the moment the character was introduced in the show’s first episode—he broke Agatha out of the Wanda-induced spell that had her thinking she was a detective in an HBO crime drama—it was clear that there was something beneath the surface going on, as a sigil placed on him prevented him from revealing his name or any personal information to Agatha (and, as we learn in later episodes, any other witches). Whenever he tries, his mouth is either threaded over with a large, stitched, ‘M,’ or the words he’s saying are simply muted and muffled. Intriguing, to say the least.
What we know for sure is that “Teen” has been following Agatha’s career as a witch closely, and he came to her for help finding (and, hopefully, reaching the end of) The Witches Road. The Witches Road, it’s said, should anyone reach the end of it and make it through all of the trials and tribulations offered, will received whatever it is they most want in the world. For Agatha, we know that’s to get her magic back; it’s been zapped since being placed under Wanda’s spell. And we have an idea of what the rest of the witches in Agatha’s Coven want as well, after their introductions in the show’s second and third episodes. Rio Vidal, as played by Aubrey Plaza, probably wants something entirely more sinister.
But we don’t know what “Teen”—who got the wheels rolling on this whole thing—really wants, which could be a major clue as to who he really may turn out to be. There are two main possibilities, but we can’t forget that Marvel has never been afraid of throwing a real curveball. Agatha All Along will surely give us the answer before its run concludes, so, for now, let’s dive in.
Who is Teen (Joe Locke) on Agatha All Along?
OPTION 1:
Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s Son
One option being teased early on in Agatha All Along is that “Teen” could be Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s son. We’ve already seen the name “Nicholas Scratch” on a trophy in the bedroom Agatha walked into, and, in Episode 3, we heard a rumor from Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) that Agatha traded her son away for the Darkhold, which is the book of the damned and gives access to all sorts of black magic.
“They say that nobody really knows what happened to him. They say he might be dead. Others say he might be a demon or an agent of Mephisto,” Jen tells “Teen.” “But hey, that’s what happens when you have Agatha Harkness as your mom. I doubt she’d even recognize her own son if he showed up on your doorstep.”
Obviously, that last part wants viewers to think that perhaps that could be the core connection. And if “Teen,” is Nicholas Scratch, seeking out his mother who gave him away—could he be looking for some kind of revenge?
Nicholas Scratch is a powerful Warlock in the Marvel Comics, the son of Agatha, and the occasional leader of the “Salem Seven,” who have already been referred to and seen in the show, back in the second episode. His has most often appeared as a villain of the Fantastic Four, and first appeared in 1977’s Fantastic Four #185.
OPTION 2:
Billy Maximoff aka Billy Kaplan aka Wiccan, Wanda’s son
The most common initial theory for who “Teen,” is, though, is Wanda’s son, Billy Maximoff. You’ll remember in WandaVision that Wanda’s hex conjured up a pair of twins for herself and Vision: Billy and Tommy Maximoff. By the end of the series, though, of course the twins didn’t exist anymore, and they ceased from (that) existence.
This turned out to be a major motivating factor, though, as Wanda eventually used the Darkhold (and was corrupted by its power) to find another universe where she could find a Billy and Tommy who did exist, and take them for herself. This is the major driving force of the events in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where Wanda (spoiler!) “dies,” at the end, destroying all copies of the Darkhold, though we have to assume she’ll return somehow, someway, sooner or later.
In the comics, Billy and Tommy Maximoff were initially spirits conjured up into human twins for Wanda and Vision after they made a deal with Mephisto (who is the Marvel Universe’s version of the devil, and a common source of theorizing for the MCU). Mephisto eventually wanted to take them back, but Wanda’s magic was so strong that the two souls eventually overpowered and defeated Mephisto, and found new bodies. This eventually led Billy to being reborn with different parents as “Billy Kaplan,” and he eventually became known as a Young Avenger superhero named Wiccan, who had similar powers to his mother. Billy is also one of the Marvel Universe’s most prominent gay characters, and is frequently depicted as being in a relationship with Hulkling, a skrull who also goes by the name Teddy Altman.
Billy Maximoff’s first appearance, in the Mephisto saga, came in 1986’s The Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12, while the Billy Kaplan version of the character came later, in 2005’s Young Avengers #3, and he became Wiccan a few issues later, in Young Avengers #6.
It’s possible that “Teen” could be Billy Maximoff/Billy Kaplan in Agatha All Along, and that the sigil revealing him from revealing who he is or anything, really, about himself is a protection set in place from Wanda’s spell. Could what he wants most, at the end of the Witches Road, be to get his mother back?
OPTION 3:
Someone else
Look folks, not to dive into this too deep, but we know Marvel Studios loves a good trick and gag. We just spent all this time wondering who “Teen” could be, but we need to face the possibility that it could simply be someone else, or even someone of little importance. And that would be OK!
Maybe not a popular opinion, but I thought Ralph Bohner was a good bit—and still not ruling out that Evan Peters’s Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver could have a future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.