The Comedian Guide Historical past Behind Agatha All Alongside’s Huge Rio Reveal

By now you’ve probably heard the news: Aubrey Plaza’s character in Agatha All Alongside, the sequel sequence to WandaVision, isn’t the acerbic “Rio Vidal” in any respect, however as an alternative the acerbic personification of demise, itself. That’s proper: Loss of life, with a capital “D.” 

She’s described within the sequence as “The Authentic Inexperienced Witch”—as a result of the method of decay and decomposition results in the creation of carbon dioxide, water, and mineral salts, that are then absorbed by crops by their roots, and so on.—and Marvel’s lengthy historical past with its model of Loss of life as an entity and character has granted her a number of titles of her personal, together with Mistress of Loss of life, Spectre of Loss of life, the Grim Reaper, the Ultimate Goddess, Darkish Magnificence, and hottest of all, Woman Loss of life (nonetheless, the character is now not actually referred to as that because the title’s been usurped by a really completely different, independently published character.)

So, what separates Marvel’s incarnation of the cessation of life aside from the others? Effectively, she’s formally a cosmic entity, for one—the conceptual reverse of her colleague, Eternity (who made his live-action debut in Thor: Love & Thunder, in case you forgot), and sometimes presents as a lady. Marvel’s personification of Loss of life was established by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin, and made her debut in Captain Marvel #26 approach again in the summertime of 1973.

Although Marvel hasn’t precisely given Loss of life her personal title, she got here shut within the ’70s with Battle Is Hell, a comic book set in the course of the Second World Battle with a premise so ripe for a weekly TV sequence, we wouldn’t be stunned if Agatha left Rio round to doubtlessly get her personal Werewolf By Evening-model “Marvel Presents” particular. In that ebook, Loss of life decides to punish a soldier named John Kowalski for failing to intervene in the course of the invasion of Poland. As type of a macabre tackle Quantum Leap, every situation of the sequence noticed Loss of life tasking Kowalski with inhabiting the physique of somebody doomed to die, with the aim of adjusting one thing for the higher earlier than the host succumbs to their final destiny.

Nonetheless, within the comics, she’s in all probability finest identified for her one-sided reference to Thanos, the previous archvillain of the MCU. Thanos had (typically unrequited) romantic designs on Loss of life all through a number of of his appearances within the ’70s and ’80s, and frequently tried to win her affections by murdering as many individuals as doable. As seen within the 1991 event series Infinity Gauntlet, his scheme of annihilating half of all life with the ability of the titular artifact was initially one other bid for Loss of life’s good will—a cosmic sacrifice to her that the MCU, when adapting the plotline in Infinity Battle and Endgame, eliminated Loss of life from the image totally.

Although Loss of life is intrigued by the gesture in Infinity Gauntlet, she’s not into-into Thanos like he’s, and has not often been enmeshed with the character past this. As a substitute, since then her motivations have lied with a better curiosity within the universe’s purposeful immortals who persistently evade her icy grasp. Sure, Loss of life is a type of individuals who needs what she will be able to’t have, and has proven better curiosity in characters just like the regenerative Deadpool, or extra not too long ago Spider-Man’s clone, Ben Reilly, who has come back from the dead so many times, she couldn’t assist however discover him. 

But when Loss of life is essentially a relic from a ’70s warfare comedian and occasional romantic curiosity of a cosmic tyrant, why is she on Agatha All Alongside? We don’t know but. As a former seemingly spurned lover of Agatha, it appears the sequence is borrowing a web page from the comics in making Loss of life a possible romantic lead. Besides this time, as an alternative of leaning on the cosmic scale, she’s working within the confines of the sequence’ exploration of the MCU’s magical aspect. However then why the subterfuge of posing as a lady named Rio Vidal? 

We’re additionally undecided—however within the comics, Loss of life would sometimes possess a lady named Marlo Chandler to expertise life in bodily type. Whereas that character was named after writer Raymond Chandler and his fictional detective, Philip Marlowe, “Rio” is a Spanish title that means river, and “Marlo” means “stays of a lake.” There’s some symmetry there. “Vidal” can also be a Spanish title that means “little life” or “full of life one,” which is ironic, I suppose (Chandler means somebody who makes candles, should you had been hoping for a possible second naming connection). A earlier episode additionally had her dressed as a rockstar by-way-of Spanish matador, and as Mexico is among the comparatively few cultures with a feminine personification of Loss of life (on this case, Santa Muerte), maybe there’s a logical by line there within the title in any case?

If Loss of life’s motives for meddling within the affairs of Agatha’s coven are going to be revealed, it’ll probably occur subsequent week, when Agatha All Alongside‘s season finale hits Disney+ the day earlier than Halloween. And possibly we’ll see if Loss of life has a future within the MCU past the present’s confines… as a bodily embodied idea, in fact. We’re positive there’ll be loads of demise itself, both subsequent week in Agatha All Alongside or within the MCU’s future, no matter whether or not or not Rio’s round to see it.

Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to anticipate the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and every part that you must learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.