Full spoilers follow for Agatha All Along‘s two-episode premiere.
Agatha All Along has made its enchanting debut on Disney Plus – and, apart from the big mystery surrounding Joe Locke’s Teen, there’s another pressing question on fans’ minds: who are the Salem Seven?
Well, you’ve come to the right place, dear reader, as I’m here to answer that very question about Marvel‘s latest team of villains. In this guide, I’ll delve into the group’s comic book history, including their ties to Agatha Harkness and Wanda Maximoff, and then propose my own theory about why they’re hunting Agatha in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) latest TV show.
Full spoilers follow for the dark comedy musical’s first two episodes, so don’t walk down, down, down the Witches’ Road with me unless you’ve watched them. Before you do, however, be sure to read our review of Agatha All Along!
The Salem Seven’s Marvel comic book history, explained
The first thing to note about the Salem Seven is that, in Marvel’s source material, the group’s official title is slightly different to the one used in Agatha All Along. Indeed, in the comics, they’re known as Salem’s Seven.
Created by Len Wein and George Perez, and making their literary debut in September 1977’s The Fantastic Four #186, Salem’s Seven are a team of dark magic wielders who initially fought Marvel’s First Family and Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch. Later on, though, they become firm allies of Wanda and the iconic quartet.
Anyway, as the team’s name rightly points out, seven individuals – Vertigo, Brutacus, Gazelle, Hydron, Reptilia, Thornn, and Vakume – are part of the villainous outfit. They’re not only the grandchildren of Agatha, but also the children of Nicholas Scratch, a powerful sorcerer who isn’t to be confused with the Devil himself. Indeed, ‘Old Nick’ and ‘Mister Scratch’ are just two of many aliases used by various cultures to call the Devil.
Anyway, in the comics, each member can shape-shift into a different animal and, subsequently, their powers are based around each creature’s unique characteristics. Hydron, for instance, can turn into a fish-like being who controls water, while Brutacus can transform into a lion and is imbued with super-strength. The only one of the seven who can’t take on a different form is Vertigo, Scratch’s eldest daughter whose sole ability is to disrupt an individual’s sense of balance.
How does the MCU’s Salem Seven differ from its comic book counterpart?
Like many characters and superteams before them, Salem’s Seven have undergone something of a narrative and creative revision for the purposes of the MCU.
Aside from the slight tweak to the group’s name, the most obvious difference relates to the animal forms that the Salem Seven can take in Agatha All Along. We only see three of them in the Marvel Phase 5 series’ first two episodes – or, more specifically, its second chapter, title ‘Circle Sewn With Fate, Unlock Thy Hidden Gate’. And, even then, the two creatures we see – a crow, coyote, and rat – aren’t part of Salem’s Seven’s animal-based lineup.
Okay, so who are the Salem Seven in the MCU? And which actors are playing them? I can certainly answer the latter, as their character identities, plus the actors portraying them, are mentioned in the show’s end credits sequence. Read the list below for more details:
- Okwui Okpokwasili as Vertigo
- Chau Naumoya as Coyote
- Bethany Curry as Snake
- Athena Perample as Fox
- Alicia Vera-Bailey as Owl
- Britta Grant as Rat
- Marina Mzepa as Snake
As for the first question, I have a theory on why they’re gunning for Agatha and what role they’ll play in this spin-off of WandaVision, aka one of the best Disney Plus shows.
Why are the Salem Seven hunting Agatha Harkness?
To answer that, we need to cast our minds back to WandaVision episode 8, which was titled ‘Previously On’. That episode opened on an Agatha Harkness flashback, with the witch accused of practising dark magic by her own mother Evanora and the latter’s coven of magic users. As a result, the group prepare to execute Agatha as part of the MCU’s take on the Salem Witch Trials. However, long story short: Agatha ends up killing them all.
So, what does this have to do with the Salem Seven? Well, Evanora’s coven comprised eight witches: herself and seven other female magic wielders, all of whom were slain by Agatha. I don’t think I need to spell it out but, for anyone who’s struggling to follow: the Salem Seven must be the children of the other seven witches that Agatha murdered. The fact that they were killed in Salem, Massachusetts, the most iconic of all witchcraft-centric locations in the real world, further underlines the group’s decision to name themselves after the infamous US town.
I can’t say when we’ll see the Salem Seven again but, with a de-powered Agatha – with Teen and her hastily assembled coven of magic misfits – traversing the Witches’ Road in a bit to regain her abilities, it seems nailed on that the group will follow the show’s devious protagonist to the life-threatening realm. After all, they’ll want to enact revenge on Agatha before she reacquires her dark magic abilities and poses a grave threat to their existence. Bring on a full-blown witch showdown, I say.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
