As you are no doubt already aware, the latest MCU hit series, Agatha All Along, is doing pretty great right now, with both fans and critics praising the WandaVision spin-off series. As you probably know, on September 18, 2024, the first two episodes of the series made their Disney+ debut, while the remaining episodes of the show are airing on a weekly basis and will do so until its conclusion on November 6.

Agatha All Along is a story that evolves around a coven of witches, and as you might know, it faced some backlash from the so-called “fans.” The series has nevertheless achieved success and that is definitely something that is worthy of a proper analysis, especially in comparison.

Namely, Agatha All Along premiered in the shadow of The Acolyte‘s failure. With the “fans” attacking the show on similar grounds, many feared that the MCU’s series could suffer a similar fate to The Acolyte, especially because of the numerous similarities.

But, whereas we still cannot give a final verdict on Agatha All Along, we can confirm that a formula that Agatha “copied” off The Acolyte actually worked for the show, as you will see.

And while Star Wars and Marvel don’t really have much in common, the fact is that both Agatha All Along and The Acolyte have one major narrative element they share – a coven of witches.

But, whereas The Acolyte took it more seriously and even wanted to change the canon with its coven, Agatha All Along opted for a less serious approach and put the entertainment in the forefront, which seems to be working for the series. But that is not what we are going to talk about.

Namely, there is one other major similarity between these two shows, but it has to do with the overall structure of the series and its production rather than the plot.

If you remember, The Acolyte also started with a two-episode premiere that set up the whole world; these two episodes were directed by showrunner Leslye Headland, and that was a formula that the show used to give Headland more creative control over the initial world-building phase.

This formula was repeated by Agatha All Along, as the series also started off with a two-episode premiere, and both of these episodes were directed by showrunner Jac Schaeffer, while the remaining episodes have had or will have other directors. While this formula did not work for The Acolyte, it worked great for Agatha All Along, which definitely contributed to the series’ success.

As we’ve said, The Acolyte had systemic issues that had nothing to do with the characters or the messages, and Agatha All Along is not plagued with the same issues, and that is why the same formula that did not help The Acolyte worked great for Agatha All Along.

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