Who Is Nicholas Scratch In Agatha All Along? His Complicated Marvel Comics History, Explained
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmWarning: This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of "Agatha All Along."
It's well and truly the season of the witch for Marvel fans. "Agatha All Along" is finally here, and with it comes all the bewitchin' blasts of magic, spooky sorceresses, and, oh yeah, a steady dose of mystery-box characters in a trend first popularized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by "WandaVision." We have Aubrey Plaza's mischievous Rio Vidal running around to uncertain ends (with actor Aubrey Plaza teasing some sort of "reveal" to come) and Joe Locke's mysteriously unnamed "Teen" character, the latter of whom all but directly antagonizes viewers with his seemingly spellbound inability to state his name or any other details about himself. But there are also hints of a third mystery figure crammed into the two-episode premiere, one with established roots in the comic books that will almost assuredly play a big role in the episodes to come.
Meet Nicholas Scratch, the unseen figure who has now haunted both "WandaVision" and "Agatha All Along." Originally referenced as a pet rabbit named Señor Scratchy in the parent series, Scratch seemed fated to be left as a simple Easter egg while being trotted out by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for one of her magic shows while under the influence of her self-delusional spell in Westview. After spending much of the show in the background, it was somewhat telling that the friendly neighbor "Agnes" (Kathryn Hahn) picked up Scratchy the bunny and had him in her arms when she formally revealed herself as the super-powerful witch Agatha Harkness.
In "Agatha All Along," however, the first Scratch reference comes when Agatha has become trapped in a similar spell and lives out a fake life as a stereotypical police detective, directly inspired by a certain HBO crime drama series. When she returns home after a long day and opens the door to her child's room, all that's there is some commemorative trophies for her missing son ... named Nicholas Scratch. Here's everything you need to know about the Marvel character.
Marvel's Nicholas Scratch explained
The thing about comic books is that they are very, very silly, and the entire concept of Nicholas Scratch is definitely not an exception. First appearing in the pages of Marvel Comics in a 1977 issue of "Fantastic Four" by creators Len Wein and George Perez, Scratch is established as the son of the witch Agatha Harkness and the leader of a secret, mystical commune known as New Salem. A magic-user himself and dressed like somebody was tasked with drawing Doctor Strange while blindfolded, Scratch soon starts trouble against his mother for daring to leave their commune so she could live among the "normies" (that'd be non-magical schmucks like you and me).
As you can tell from his expressive design, he's not a particularly jolly guy and his villainous deeds almost immediately land him on the radar of the Fantastic Four themselves. After being defeated and banished to other dimensions entirely, he spends his next several appearances trying to return to Earth and cause all sorts of mayhem — including tangling with demons, the Salem's Seven (which, of course, factors into episode 2 of "Agatha All Along"), and even Dormammu himself (seen in 2016's "Doctor Strange") as he attempted to install himself as the next Sorcerer Supreme.
While his surprisingly lengthy comics history is quite a trip, there's one particular character he's affiliated with that might be of interest to "Agatha All Along" viewers specifically, however. In his most recent issue published in 2005, Nicholas Scratch manages to unite the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, and even his own children against him in an effort to put him away for good. That means banishing him to Hell itself, incredibly enough, and sets him up to forge an alliance with one of Marvel fandom's most consistent obsessions: Mephisto. Yup, so start cranking out those fan-theories all over again, people. That whole Mephisto phenomenon came as a surprise to "WandaVision" creator Jac Schaeffer the first time around, but it's possible she might be leaning into it more with "Agatha All Along."
Unraveling the Nicholas Scratch mystery in Agatha All Along
Well, well, well, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands in "Agatha All Along." Assuming that there's virtually no chance that the Nicholas Scratch tease early on in the premiere won't actually lead anywhere significant (though we've sure been down that road before with Ralph Bohner in "WandaVision"), it stands to reason that the spin-off series will soon introduce Nicholas Scratch in the flesh at some point in the upcoming episodes. Luckily, we have a few intriguing clues as to who that might be.
The obvious culprit would be the individual explicitly left unnamed (despite his attempts otherwise), especially since he's already appeared as someone that he wasn't. That would be the "Teen" played by "Heartstoppers" star Joe Locke, who certainly fits the description of Agatha's son in terms of age and who is desperate to kickstart his journey into all-out witchiness. This almost feels like such a layup that it almost has to be a red herring, but it's worth noting nonetheless.
The next suspect would be Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal, an early antagonist who is clearly hiding something important in her ongoing rivalry with Agatha. Yet this might also be little more than another hint leading to a dead end. The real kicker might be related to an awfully interesting line of dialogue by Rio, when she offhandedly accuses Agatha of conducting "another child sacrifice" — a statement that feels intentionally left dangling in the air. We know that Agatha is willing to do anything to acquire her lost powers again, so could this have something to do with her (admittedly odd) decision to bring the Teen along with her down the Witches' Road?
We'll (probably) find out for sure sometime in the weeks ahead. New episodes of "Agatha All Along" stream on Disney+ every Wednesday night.