If there’s one thing that’s a given with any MCU series, it’s that fans will dig deep into any casual (or noncasual) mention to figure out if it’s an Easter egg. And in the case of Agatha All Along, many secrets are being juggled, so it only makes sense that viewers are going wilder than expected. Adding fuel to the fire, actress Aubrey Plaza has teased a “reveal” about her character Rio Vidal that has Marvel fans’ Spidey Senses tingling. So given all that, are two mentions of a “black heart” in the first two episodes of the series an indication that Rio is secretly the Marvel Comics character Blackheart?
…Maybe? Let’s get into the evidence for this potential reveal, and why it could finally pay off on something big that fans have been asking for since WandaVision.
Spoilers for Agatha All Along past this point.
In the first episode, we meet Rio Vidal, a Green Witch who has some sort of a past with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). After Agatha is broken out of the spell Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) put her under in the finale of WandaVision, Rio arrives at Agatha’s house and tries to kill her for unknown reasons. Agatha talks her way out of it, saying she’s going to walk the Witches’ Road and get her powers back… And isn’t it better to wait and kill her when she’s at full power?
Rio agrees but also notes that deadly witches called The Salem’s Seven are coming to kill her at sundown… And they’ll probably be less forgiving than Rio. “After all these centuries,” Rio says, “Agatha Harkness will finally meet her end. Ugh! It really warms the heart.”
“You don’t have a heart,” Agatha shoots back.
To which Rio pulls closer to Agatha and says, “Yes, I do. It’s black. And it beats for you.” Then Rio licks Agatha’s hand, and leaves.
Then in the season’s second episode, Agatha is given a list of coven members by Lilia Calderu (Patti Lupone). All of the coven are gathered in Agatha’s house, except one — which Lilia revels wasn’t a name on the list… It was a heart. A black heart. Agatha knows this refers to Rio, we know it refers to Rio. But she grabs Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp), who was called Mrs. Hart on WandaVision, instead.
So, two references to Rio and a “black heart” in two episodes time. Sure seems suspicious to me. But does it connect to Blackheart?
Who Is Blackheart In Marvel Comics?
Blackheart was created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr. and first introduced in 1989’s Daredevil #270. The short version is that he’s the son of Mephisto, Marvel Comics’s most consistent version of The Devil (there have been several). The longer version is that Mephisto created Blackheart out of the combined evil of a town that had been the site of multiple murders over several centuries.
A constant villain in the comics, Blackheart possesses vast supernatural powers and has tangled with everyone from Wonder Man and Wolverine, to the Fantastic Four. And the baddie has actually appeared on screen before, portrayed by Wes Bentley in 2007’s Ghost Rider.
That’s pretty much it! He looks like a big, scary demon. The more you know.
So, Why Do Fans Think Rio Is Blackheart? And What Would That Mean For Agatha All Along?
At the Agatha All Along premiere on Monday night (September 16), Aubrey Plaza talked to an outlet called The Upcoming and dropped a quote that set the internet on fire.
“I’m just so happy they let me play this character,” Plaza said. “I can’t spoil it, but what happens, the reveal is pretty amazing. And I think for the fans especially, they’re going to go crazy.”
There are at least two ways to parse that particular quote. The first is that she’s saying she’s happy to play the character — meaning Rio Vidal — and there’s a reveal that happens which is “pretty amazing.” Two related but unconnected thoughts. The second way is that there’s a reveal coming specifically about Rio, meaning the character Plaza is playing is not just the Green Witch.
If it is the latter, is it possible that Rio Vidal is really a gender-bent Blackheart? Yes, of course that’s possible. Anything is possible. I could be a talking horse writing this story, you would have no idea. I’m not, but if Rio is the daughter of Mephisto that certainly would be an amazing reveal that would drive fans crazy… Particularly because they’ve been speculating about Mephisto since WandaVision aired.
I’m going to take this one step further into crazytown, though. Let’s say Rio is Blackheart. But let’s also say she’s not a gender-bent Blackheart, but a gender-switched Blackheart? Why the differentiation? Because let’s say at one point she presented as male. And also let’s say she was together with Agatha, and they had a child together, named Nicholas Scratch. That kid was also casually name-dropped in the premiere, and adding that together with a mysterious locket holding hair that could be from Scratch, what if — stay with me here — Agatha and Blackheart were together, had Nicholas Scratch, and then Agatha either killed her son or gave him away (to Mephisto?) for the power of the mystical tome the Darkhold. That would certainly be enough to break Blackheart, aka Rio, and Agatha up, but still have a strong bond there.
That’s the “too many theories” possibility here. But the other one I’d throw out there is simply that the reveal is Rio and Agatha were romantically involved. That would also make fans go crazy, to have a canonical LGBTQ+ relationship in the MCU. A different sort of crazy, but still.
So is Rio secretly Blackheart? Or is she simply extremely hot for Agatha? Time will tell.
Where To Watch Agatha All Along:
Agatha All Along Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along premiered on September 18 at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on Disney+. It will stream weekly episodes after that, leading up to the two-episode finale on October 30. There are nine episodes, in total.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Agatha All Along, with premiere dates:
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 1: “Seekest Thou The Road”
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 2: “Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock They Hidden Gate”
- Wednesday, September 25, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 3
- Wednesday, October 2, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 4
- Wednesday, October 9, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 5
- Wednesday, October 16, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 6
- Wednesday, October 23, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 7
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 8
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 9