Agatha All Along Just Brought Back Marvel’s Most Controversial Twist

This article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along episode 6.

The latest episode of Agatha All Along is the big one everyone has been waiting for. While episode 6 didn’t quite go as far as giving Joe Locke’s “Teen” his official superhero mantle of Wiccan, it didn’t take someone with Bruce Banner’s smarts to figure out he’s playing the potential Young Avengers recruit. “Familiar by Thy Side” explains how William Kaplan became Billy Maximoff with its own ‘previously on…’ episode.

Casting your minds back to WandaVision, you’ll remember fans were obsessed with the identity of the mysterious beekeeper, only to be disappointed that it was just some random S.W.O.R.D. employee. Agatha‘s latest previews showing an unknown man in a hat and a trench coat had theorists guessing Sacha Baron Cohen’s (rumored) Mephisto was going to show up in episode 6, but instead, showrunner Jac Schaeffer Punk’d us again all by resurrecting one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worst twists.

In a move that no one expected, Agatha All Along brought back Evan Peters’ Ralph Bohner. Despite WandaVision being held as a near-perfect MCU series, many fans loathed the divisive reveal that Evan Peters wasn’t reprising his role as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver from Fox’s X-Men movies. Instead, “Uncle Pietro” was a Westview resident who’d been put under a spell by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) to do her bidding. Bohner was confirmed as the mystery person who Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) was looking for in the FBI’s Witness Protection Program, and the last time we saw him, he was using wire cutters to cut off his ankle monitor. 

Agatha All Along caught up with William Kaplan, trying to figure out what the Westview Anomaly had to do with his new life as Billy Maximoff and meeting with Reddit user Bohneriffic69 in a dimly lit parking garage. It was here that we got Peters’ surprise return, but it’s clear Ralph is shaken by his time under Agatha’s magic. The reveals don’t end here, and with Ralph confirming he was little more than Agatha’s puppet during his time in the Hex, he confesses to being the one who poisoned Billy’s dog, Sparky. For those who didn’t hate the Bohner reveal enough, learning that he was also responsible for Sparky’s death adds another layer of loathing. 

For now, Ralph is a tragic character who’s had his life stolen by Agatha. He told Billy that he remembers what happened in Westview because he escaped, although everyone else thinks he’s mad. Meanwhile, Agatha has set up shop in his house, and he’s left lurking in the depths of Reddit while looking like a conspiracy theorist. Peters’ brief cameo lets him stretch his comedy chops as he did so brilliantly as the Foxverse’s Quicksilver, but more importantly, he also reveals some key information. It’s Bohner’s mention of Wanda having “a little speedster and his mind-reading brother” that sends Billy back to Westview in search of his brother, Tommy. 

It’s unclear whether this is really it for Peters’ time in the MCU or whether the ever-expanding Multiverse will find a way to bring back his version of Quicksilver. Despite Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing Earth-616’s Quicksilver, the character was unceremoniously killed off in Avengers: Age of Ultron and gave us one of the franchise’s most unexpected deaths. Despite the idea of Peters reprising his fan-favorite role for WandaVision generating plenty of hype, it was quickly undone by the Bohner reveal.

The MCU has had plenty of great and not-so-great twists over the years, with the likes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Power Broker reveal and Iron Man 3’s Mandarin fakeout being held alongside Ralph Bohner as some of the worst. At a time when Deadpool & Wolverine is making the most of unexpected cameos for everyone from Chris Evans to Channing Tatum, Peters’ return feels wasted here.

There are just three episodes of Agatha All Along left, with no real reason to bring Ralph back into the fold. It’s also hard to see how he could fit into the upcoming Vision Quest or rumored Speed series for Tommy. Given the continued character backlash and fleeting appearances in the MCU, it might be best to leave Ralph’s fate up in the air. As for Peters, there’s still hope that he could play everyone’s favorite speedster once again for Avengers: Secret Wars. Ralph Bohner might have been an unwelcome presence in two MCU shows now, but still, we’ve got to admit Agatha wearing a “Bohner Family Reunion: Pitch a Tent” tee is a stroke of genius. 

New episodes of Agatha All Along premiere Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on Disney+, culminating with the finale on October 30.