Spoilers for the first episode of Agatha All Along
As we wait until tonight for another new episode of Marvel’s super fun new series, Agatha All Along, here’s a fun bit of trivia about the first episode. You know the scene where Agatha finally breaks free of Wanda’s spell and strips off all of the outfits from the different personas that she played in WandaVision, only to end up naked in her living room and aware of the real world? And then she makes all of her neighbors uncomfortable by marching outside naked to quiz one of them about how long she’d been out of it? It turns out that the idea for Agatha to do that scene in the nude was all Kathryn Hahn’s! The original direction called for Agatha to grab the robe by the door and put it on before leaving the house, but changed after Kathryn asked herself, “WWAD?” (What Would Agatha Do?)

On Wednesday’s premiere of “Agatha All Along” — Marvel Television’s sequel series to the critically acclaimed “WandaVision” — audiences got to see a lot of star Kathryn Hahn, who made a bit of cheeky Marvel history. Although Marvel hasn’t shied away from showing male butt cheeks — Hulk in “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor in “Thor: Love and Thunder” — Hahn is the first woman to show her bare butt in a Marvel Studios project.

“Well, I came up with it,” Hahn explains to Variety. “I thought it was good to see her as stripped down, literally, as we possibly could, which spoke into her powerlessness at the present moment.”

The series follows the infamous Agatha Harkness after a suspicious goth known as Teen (Joe Locke) helps free her from the spell cast by the Scarlet Witch at the end of “WandaVision” that kept Agatha trapped inside a TV universe (in her own mind) within the town of Westview. In order for Agatha to come back to reality, she has to strip away all her old personas from “WandaVision” — quite literally, emerging from the spell wearing no clothes at all, with only her hair strategically draped over her chest.

“She’s been stripped of all of her power at this point in the series,” Hahn says. “I mean, she really had nothing at that point, and so it became about illustrating that gap between that moment and her finding her power again.”

According to showrunner Jac Schaeffer, Hahn went off-script while shooting Agatha’s decision to leave her home while she’s still naked. Hahn was scripted to grab a robe before running outside, but she changed her mind upon reflecting on what Agatha herself would actually do at that moment.

“Kathryn was like, ‘Would she grab the robe? I don’t feel like she would grab the robe. I feel like she would really not care about being naked in front of the neighbors,’” Schaeffer says. “I told her, ‘That is the greatest idea I’ve ever heard.’ Kathryn has done so much work, and she’s done a lot of nudity and other things, and so it also felt very subversive to get Kathryn Hahn’s nudity into the MCU.”

The scene in question was shot with cameras that were strategically placed to hide the bits of Hahn’s body that weren’t meant to be seen, with the coverage provided by her hair doing the rest. Agatha strikes up a conversation with her neighbor, John (played by David A. Payton) and promptly freaks out upon realizing she’s been imprisoned by Wanda. The cameras cut between the two actors while he attempts to make her aware of her nude state and hilariously attempts to convince her to put some clothes on. Eventually, she goes back inside, puts on her robe and begins to brainstorm her escape.

“It is so true to her character, and it makes me laugh out loud,” Schaeffer says. “And also, I mean, she looks incredible.”

[From Variety]

This makes me love Kathryn all the more! It’s really cool to learn just how much prep she did to play Agatha. She’s totally right, that was exactly within Agatha’s character to do that. And David A. Payton did such a good job playing her flustered neighbor in that scene! The entire scene was hilariously on point. It didn’t feel gratuitous or as though they were trying to add some sexiness to the series, either. I’m so excited for the rest of this season and hate having to wait for new episodes every week. I wonder what other fun things they have in store for us. I can’t wait.

Photos via Disney+ and credit Robin Platzer / Twin Images / Avalon, Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images