Director of Agatha: Chaos Coven: We Don't Need to Worry About Aesthetic Fatigue

"Superhero fatigue" has become a common phrase lately, as people have been questioning whether audiences have grown tired of comic book stories. It's a hot topic in Hollywood, and Marvel is naturally at the forefront of the discussion, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so massive in both film and television.

It's a topic that writer-director Jacques Schaeffer has been following closely, having been working at Marvel Studios since 2019, best known for her work on WandaVision.

She recently revealed in an interview that the ongoing debate doesn't bother her at all — instead, it further encourages Schaefer to think outside the box and push for original ideas in her Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.

That's exactly what she feels her new Disney+ series Agatha: Chaos Coven is all about, as it puts the spotlight on characters that aren't usually the focus of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This new Marvel series, which spun off from WandaVision, reunites us with Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, who brings together a group of misfit witches to form a coven.

As Schaefer explains, this helps it stay outside of discussions of superhero fatigue: “There’s a lot of talk and stuff about Marvel. I follow it because I’m part of that world, but everything goes up and down, like a big pendulum, so it’s not something that upsets me or alarms me. I don’t know if it exists or not.

"I think that speaks to the fact that audiences are always hungry for originality. You know, every story is the same story. We're all doing the same thing. But what fresh filter can we put on something? What perspective can we focus on that hasn't been focused on before? And I think that's what makes our show unique. I think it's a group of characters that wouldn't normally be the focus, but in this show they are."

However, while Agatha: Chaos Coven is indeed "fresh," as Schaefer puts it, it continues in the tradition set by WandaVision. The challenge, therefore, was to follow in the footsteps of WandaVision while also ensuring Agatha: Chaos Coven had its own voice. Schaefer admits that this brought pressure at the beginning of the process.

"That's what keeps me up at night, is diagnosing what is so special about WandaVision and what resonates, and then trying to capture those things but give them a fresh twist," the writer-director tells us. "I think part of that fresh twist is that we're really immersed in witch culture. Scarlet Witch is nominally a witch, but Wanda is culturally ignorant of witches and witchcraft. That's what this show is about. It was an opportunity to explore that world in depth."

Schaefer also went on to emphasize that Agatha is different from other villains that have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - which again gives the show something new. Her goal is not to rule the world or cause the deaths of millions, but is more personal, which makes Agatha: Chaos Coven feel more intimate.

For Schaefer, it also allowed for a closer connection to the fan-favorite witch, saying: "The reason I could relate to Agatha is that she's not interested in things like wiping out half the population. She's not interested in hurting people for the sake of hurting, that's not what she's interested in. She's interested in power, and she'll hurt people to get it.

"There's something intimate about it because when she doesn't have her powers, she has to move stealthily and get close to people. She's really at a disadvantage and trying to get out of a situation, and she has to be intimate with a lot of people who normally wouldn't want to get close to her. And then the show is intimate in every way, and all the relationships are very close and very emotional."