Take it from someone who’s been waiting on the edge of his seat for Marvel to finally bring Wiccan’s storyline to the forefront of the MCU, the recent rumors regarding Billy Maximoff’s resurrection in Agatha: Darkhold Diaries is… a choice.
Now, keep in mind that Wiccan/Billy Maximoff hasn’t been confirmed yet to appear in the Disney Plus show, but given the extensive number of hints we’ve had in the last year alone, the likelihood is astronomically high. Heartstopper actor Joe Locke has been linked to the role since his casting was announced, but he’s also been referred to as a Familiar by co-star Patti LuPone, who will appear in the show as a member of Agatha’s coven of witches, so we can’t be certain.
Wiccan, for those who need a quick refresher, is the reincarnated son of the Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff. Those who watched WandaVision will recall that Wanda’s two children, Billy Maximoff and Tommy Maximoff, were technically killed off at the end of the show.
When Wanda lifted the hex she’d placed on Westview, the townspeople regained control of their identities and Billy and Tommy faded away. So, then that leaves the question of how Marvel will handle reintroducing Billy/Wiccan to the MCU, if it plans to do so at all.
Billy’s rumored resurrection in Agatha: Darkhold Diaries is much more grim than the comics
How Marvel planned to bring Billy back and address the whole “reincarnated son of the Scarlet Witch” thing was a big question mark… until now.
According to the latest rumors from the Scarlet Witch Updates account on X (formally known as Twitter), Billy Maximoff’s soul will enter the deceased body of a young man (presumably played by Joe Locke) after he gets into a fatal car accident.
Whether the young boy who gets possessed by Billy Maximoff’s soul will also be named Billy Kaplan is unknown. Billy Kaplan, for those who get as easily confused as I do, is the civilian name for Wiccan in the comics. He is the reincarnated version of Billy Maximoff, and goes throughout the entire first half of his life not knowing he’s the twin of Tommy, or son of the Scarlet Witch. When Iron Lad (the heroic variant of Kang the Conqeror) forms the Young Avengers, Billy and Tommy finally meet and discover their true identities.
All of this is fine and dandy, and hopefully ends up panning out similarly in the MCU (give us the Young Avengers already!), but the MCU’s new method of Billy Maximoff’s reincarnation is exponentially more morbid than the comics, wouldn’t you say?
For starters, there’s the whole inhabiting a dead man’s body. That’s the biggest ick. Secondly, Billy Maximoff was but a wee lad when he was erased from existence. The young man he supposedly inhabits in Darkhold Diaries will be around 16 years old. We could be looking at a Billy Batson/Shazam from DC kind of situation, but I sure hope not.
Since we saw Billy and Tommy aging supernaturally quickly during WandaVision, it’s completely possible that Billy’s soul did the same thing in the short time between WandaVision and Darkhold Diaries. Still, it will require a bit of explanation on Marvel’s part if there’s any hope of not confusing fans who aren’t familiar with the character’s comic book origin — or the fickle nature of time in altered realities.
It’s worth mentioning again that Marvel hasn’t confirmed any of this, least of all the rumor of Billy Maximoff’s resurrection, so everything remains speculation at this point. However, Joe Locke did refer to his experience filming Darkhold Diaries as “very full on, very physical, very emotional.” At the time that didn’t make much sense, but this rumor fills in those gaps quite nicely.