Summary
Aubrey Plaza’s character, Rio, inAgatha All Along, caught the viewers' attention due to some scenes that seemingly linked her to a powerful villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans are convinced that she had something to do with a demon entity in the MCU.
Plaza made her Marvel debut inAgatha All Alongas Green Witch Rio Vidal. There are various speculations about her connection to Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), but not much is known about her mysterious role. Plaza previously confirmed that more about her character would be revealed later in the series. However, after watching thefirst two episodes of theWandaVisionspinoff, fans were convinced that they already knew who she was.
In the premiere episode ofAgatha All Along, Rio attacks Agatha, but the latter persuades her to wait until she’s strong enough so she’ll have the best of her. “After all these centuries, Agatha Harkness will finally meet her end. Oh, it really warms the heart,” Rio says perGames Radar. “You don’t have a heart,” Agatha tells Rio. “Yes, I do. It’s black, and it beats for you,” Rio quips. The second episode shows Agatha andTeen (Joe Locke)visiting Lilia Calderu, who predicts that she, Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Alice Wu (Ali Ahn) will be part of Agatha’s coven. Another person is on the list, but she can’t see her name. Instead, she draws a black heart. Agatha’s reaction suggests that she has an idea about the identity of the other member of the coven.
The exchange between Agatha and Rio and the black heart drawing, convince many that Plaza’s character is Blackheart, the son of the powerful demon entity, Mephisto. MCU could have gender-swapped the character by making Blackheart female in the TV show. This isn’t a new approach at all. Showrunner Bruce Timm also used the same strategy by making The Penguin female in the animated seriesBatman: Caped Crusader. Rio’s character has always been tied to Mephisto. Boss Logic even shared epic fan art featuring Plaza asMCU’s Mephistoin the series onInstagramin November 2022. Many approved of it, with one saying Plaza could do funny and crazy stuff well, especially after portraying Lenore “Lenny” Busker inLegion.
Although there’s still no concrete confirmation about Plaza being Blackheart, there are chances she is portraying the character as several clues point to that. Also, her ties to Mephisto are significant because the latter is portrayed as the Devil in the MCU due to his mystical, shape-shifting, reality-bending, and soul-manipulation abilities. There are even rumors that Mephisto was involved in the events inWandaVision, with some fans theorizing that he manipulated a grieving Wanda to create the Hex orWestview Anomalythat housed Wanda’s reality. Although Mephisto was widely speculated as the one behind Wanda’s The Hex, he didn’t appear in the series. However, he could potentially make his MCU debut inAgatha: Coven of Chaos,which features magical and supernatural elements that embrace his character. Mephisto could also tie into storylines involvingGhost RiderandDoctor Strange. Blackheart shares Mephisto’s capacities, including his superhuman strength, shape-shifting abilities, energy projection and more. Considering Blackheart’s skills, Plaza’s role is definitely something for viewers to watch out for.
