Fans Suspect Joe Locke Is Playing Wiccan In Agatha: Coven Of Chaos
Fire up that rumor mill because a new Marvel Cinematic casting choice has hit the internet. Following this week's news that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will play the MCU's Wonder Man, Joe Locke has now landed a role in the upcoming "WandaVison" spinoff series, "Agatha: Coven of Chaos" (via Variety). While the outlet did not reveal any plot details — as usual, Marvel Studios looks to keep those in-house — Locke joins actresses Kathryn Hahn and Emma Caulfield, reprising their "WandaVision" roles of Agatha Harkness and Sarah Proctor, respectively. Marvel has not commented on the report, choosing to keep Locke's character under lock and key, but the actor took to his Twitter to show his excitement.
Locke, a young up-and-coming actor, is known for his role on Netflix's "Heartstopper," where he plays a gay teenager that falls in love with his popular classmate. The show was an immediate hit for Netflix, earning 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the streaming giant quickly renewing it for two more seasons.
"Coven of Chaos" is the first of two planned spinoffs from Marvel Studios' "WandaVision," joining the recently reported "Vision Quest." While the latter will focus on Vision's story following the events in Westview, "Agatha: Coven of Chaos" will focus on, surprise, Agatha Harkness. Marvel Studios has yet to officially reveal anything about the show besides Hahn's return, a title change from "Agatha: House of Harkness," and "WandaVision" head writer and executive producer Jac Schaefer's return.
The secrecy that comes with MCU casting announcements is common, but that only fuels the fire of fan theories, and Locke's casting is no different. Fans instantly took to social media to suggest the actor is playing Wiccan in the spinoff.
Could Joe Locke be the MCU's Wiccan?
According to Deadline, Joe Locke's role in "Agatha: Coven of Chaos" is described as "a gay teen with a dark sense of humor," which immediately led fans to believe he'll be playing Wiccan.
Marvel fans discussed the casting on Reddit and have come to the conclusion that everything points to Locke playing Wiccan. Not only does the character description resemble Wiccan's comic book personality, but Locke looks just about as similar to the teenage warlock. u/cbekel3618 said, "WICCAN. If he is playing Billy, then this is definitely a good pick! He's a pretty solid actor in 'Heartstopper,' definitely looks the part, and it'd be dope if they cast an openly queer actor for the role." u/KostisPat257 had a similarly strong response to the news, saying, "Couldn't get a more perfect Billy [Wiccan] holy s***."
Other users instead focused on a potential "Heartstopper" reunion in the MCU. Locke and his costar Kit Connor have been a popular fan cast for Wiccan and Hulkling, a fan-favorite gay couple from Marvel comics, and Locke's casting brings that one step closer to reality. u/Medium-Midnight mentioned the coincidental casting saying, "Sometimes I wonder if Marvel pays attention to fan casting because a lot of people wanted him as Wiccan and Kit Connor as Hulkling."
For those unfamiliar with the comics, Wiccan, also known as Billy Kaplan, is the reincarnated version of one of Wanda Maximoff's sons, William Maximoff. MCU fans will recognize William Maximoff from "WandaVision" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," played by Julian Hilliard. If the MCU decides to go the reincarnation route with the character, Joe Locke would be an incredible choice for an older Wiccan.