The release window of Marvel's Agatha TV series has seemingly been leaked by one of its stars.
Patti LuPone, who's set to play a supporting role in the show, told the November 21 episode of the 'You and Me Both With Hillary Clinton' podcast (as spotted by the Scarlet Witch Updates X fan account) that it was being lined up for a Halloween 2024 launch. TechRadar has contacted Disney and Marvel Studios for comment.
The WandaVision spin-off, which was originally titled Agatha: Coven of Chaos and is now believed to be called Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, was rumored to arrive on Disney Plus before the end of the year. However, despite filming wrapping in late May, the series was delayed amid numerous Marvel release schedule rejigs throughout 2023.
Now, though, it seems Darkhold Diaries is preparing to debut in time for 2024's spooky season. Speaking about her experience working on the show, LuPone said: "We [the show's supporting vast] are a coven of witches. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my career because of [director] Jac Schaeffer and [lead star] Kathryn Hahn. It was a set filled with respect, support, love, and trust. We as women, and Joe, bonded. It's coming out next Halloween."
A magical misfire
This isn't the first time LuPone has leaked information about Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. Speaking on an April 2023 edition of Entertainment Weekly's 'The View', she revealed she was playing a character called Lilia Calderu, a "450-year-old Sicilian witch whose power is divination and whose [witch] trial is tarot". LuPone also confirmed longstanding rumors that Heartstopper's Joe Locke would appear in the Marvel Phase 5 project.
It's unusual to see one of Marvel's many stars talk so openly about the production they're involved in. Given the secrecy that surrounds the studio's in-development projects, actors appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) so they don't spoil any story or character-based surprises pre-release. Any who does is reportedly given a stern telling off by Marvel's legal team, with the likes of Spider-Man star Tom Holland, Hulk actor Mark Rufallo, and Loki's Own Wilson all previously reprimanded for accidentally ruining plot points.
It's likely LuPone signed a similar document, but the 74-year-old clearly has no regard for Marvel's usually ironclad security measures. It should be noted, however, that LuPone's intel might not be up-to-date, with Marvel potentially changing the series' launch date amid wider release schedule issues (more on these shortly).
Regardless, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries' apparent Halloween 2024 launch is a release window tailor-made for a series. There's little we know about it, but one thing's for sure: it'll continue to examine the MCU's spooky and mystical side, which is ripe for exploration.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries isn't the only MCU project we'll get next year, although there won't be as much content as normal. In January, Marvel's Echo – a spin-off of fellow street-level series Hawkeye – will debut on Disney Plus and Hulu (in the US, anyway). Its brutal first trailer confirmed Echo will be the first R-rated MCU project, too.
However, other MCU TV shows expected to arrive in 2024, including Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again, have reportedly been pushed into 2025. The latter's delay is of particular importance to Marvel, with Daredevil: Born Again undergoing a near-total overhaul amid serious creative troubles.
On the film side of things, Deadpool 3 will be the only Marvel movie you'll see in theaters in 2024, too. Owing to the writers' and actors' strikes that plagued Hollywood this year, Captain America 4 and Thunderbolts, which were due out in 2024, were pushed back to 2025.
This recent Marvel schedule rejig comes five months after the Disney subsidiary delayed multiple MCU movies (with one exception) as it grapples with numerous internal and external problems. Those include the aforementioned strikes, growing criticism over the quality of its films and TV series, allegations of its "systemic" overworking of visual effects workers, and the ongoing lawsuit concerning Kang the Conqueror star Jonathan Majors, who was met with domestic assault charges in early 2023.
