By revealing more about the history of the Darkhold in the MCU, Marvel Television's Agatha All Along also teased the debut of a formidable demonic villain who has connections to the Scarlet Witch. WandaVision's first spinoff, Agatha All Along, finally released with a double-premiere on September 18, reintroducing Kathryn Hahn's original Salem witch, Agatha Harkness, to the MCU. Agatha All Along's continuation of WandaVision's themes is evident, especially since the series' premiere took inspiration from a TV show, Mare of Easttown, with Agatha Harkness still trapped in the Scarlet Witch's spell.
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Agatha All Along taking inspiration from a TV show, just as WandaVision did through the ages, is not the only way the series has been developing WandaVision's game-changing narrative. Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch has been a huge presence in Agatha All Along, despite not being seen, and as the world of witches and magic has been explored, so has that of the MCU's Book of the Damned. The development of the Darkhold, specifically in Agatha All Along's premiere, brings the MCU one step closer to debuting one of Marvel Comics' most powerful villains.
Marvel Studios Is One Step Closer To Introducing Chthon After Agatha All Along’s Premiere
Chthon's Spells & Knowledge Were Transcribed From Mount Wundagore Into The Darkhold
In Marvel Comics, the demonic Elder God Chthon is one of the most significant characters in the history of the Darkhold and the Scarlet Witch. Chthon wrote the original Darkhold, and later cursed Wanda Maximoff with Chaos Magic when she was an infant, which would lead to her transformation into the Scarlet Witch. While Chthon hasn't made a physical appearance in the MCU just yet, Agatha All Along creates the perfect opportunity for this to happen, as the MCU's Chthon is also directly connected to the Darkhold.
After traveling to Mount Wundagore with the Scarlet Witch in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wong explains that Chthon engraved his knowledge of dark magic and spells into the walls of the Eastern European temple, including his prophecy of the Scarlet Witch. This was later transcribed into the Darkhold. The Darkhold's development in Agatha All Along means it's very possible that Chthon could make an appearance, especially given the fact that audiences have already been given some insight into the Darkhold's previous owners.
Agatha All Along Confirmed 9 Previous Owners Of The Darkhold (Except Doctor Strange)
Agatha Harkness & Wanda Maximoff Are The Most Recent Owners Of The Darkhold
Throughout the first part of Agatha All Along's premiere, the Darkhold is alluded to in the form of a book, Dialogue and Rhetoric: Known History of Learning & Debate by Andrew Ugo, which was stolen from the Westview library. The book's library card was found on the body that Agatha Harkness, in her Agnes O'Connor guise, and John Collins investigate in the woods, with nine dates listed on the card. Agnes soon realizes that the first letter of each word in the book's title combined spell Darkhold, and audiences will have surmised that Andrew Ugo is an anagram of Wundagore.
What is even more interesting, however, is the nine dates listed on the Darkhold's library card, hinting at nine previous owners of the Book of the Damned. A. Harkness and W. Maximoff appear as the two most recent owners of the Darkhold, but the seven previous names remain hidden. While some may think that Doctor Strange is one of these names, he used a version of the Darkhold from an alternate universe, not the version from the MCU's Earth-616. It's unclear exactly who owned the Darkhold before Agatha Harkness, but Chthon is possibly at the top of the list.
The Darkhold Has Had More Than 9 Owners In Marvel Comics
The Current Owner Of Marvel Comics' Darkhold Is Wanda Maximoff's Scarlet Witch
While there have only been nine owners of the Darkhold in the MCU, many more characters, heroes and villains alike, have wielded the powerful book in Marvel Comics. Chthon wrote all of his evil works and dark knowledge into the Darkhold eons ago, thereby becoming the book's first owner. Originally, the Darkhold was written on flesh, but it was transcribed onto stone and, later, parchment. Humans found the Darkhold, left on Earth by Chthon, in the Pre-Cataclysmic Era, with the book being used by the Darkholders, followers of Thulsa Doom, to transform Varnae into the first vampire.
Since then, the sorcerer Zula used the Darkhold before it was passed down a long line of Babylonians, Egyptian priests and Hebrew scholars. In the Middle Ages, the demon Mephisto imprisoned an enemy in the pages of the Darkhold, until, in the 6th Century, the powerful Morgan le Fay would acquire the parchments and bind them into a book for the first time. This is the Darkhold audiences know. The mystic Modred sought the Darkhold's power, while Saint Brendan fought its darkness and scattered its pages.
1149 saw the monk Aelfric gather the pages of the Darkhold and rebuild the book, and while he was burned at the stake with the Darkhold, the book reformed itself. Paolo Montesi bound a new version of the Darkhold, and leant his name to a powerful spell that could rid the world of vampires, the Montesi Formula. The sorcerer Cagliostro stole the Darkhold from the Vatican in the 1600s, before another sorcerer, Taboo, also owned the book. Some say that Gregor Russoff, Jack Russell's father, stole the book from Taboo, which led to him being cursed with lycanthropy.
The book was then in the possession of scientist Miles Blackgar, Jack Russell himself, Father Joquez and the witch Topaz before falling into the hands of Doctor Doom. After the Darkhold Dwarf spread the book's cursed pages across the world, Victoria Montesi, a descendant of Paolo Montesi, formed the Darkhold Redeemers to spare humanity the Darkhold's evil. The Darkhold's power was later used by Cletus Kasady and Carnage, Baron Zemo and Elsa Bloodstone, with the book eventually making its way to the Scarlet Witch, which totals many more than 20 owners in Marvel Comics.
What Chthon’s MCU Debut Would Mean For Agatha Harkness & The Scarlet Witch
Developing The Darkhold In Agatha All Along Makes Chthon's Debut Much More Likely
While Chthon's story in the MCU has been altered slightly, as per Wong's description in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his connection to Wanda Maximoff's Scarlet Witch and the Darkhold is very similar to that in Marvel Comics. This means that the origin of the Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic could finally be revealed if Chthon makes his live-action debut. In the comics, Chthon cursed Wanda Maximoff with Chaos Magic, creating a clear and ever-lasting connection between himself and the Scarlet Witch, which could be translated into the MCU.
Prior to the events of WandaVision, Agatha Harkness was in possession of the Darkhold for many years. Agatha All Along is expected to reveal more about Agatha Harkness' history with the Book of the Damned, with a popular theory suggesting that she sacrificed her son, Nicholas Scratch, in exchange for the Darkhold. This could mean that Agatha sacrificed Nicholas to Chthon, opening the door for the formidable demon, and Agatha's vengeful son, to return to wreak havoc in Agatha All Along.
