‘Agatha All Along’ EP Mary Livanos on the Ever-Changing Title Gag and Following Up a Chart-Topping Single
2013 indie darling Short Term 12 managed to collect a number of notable talents before their careers reached another level, and Agatha All Along executive producer Mary Livanos happens to have her own Marvel-related connection to it all.
Besides names like Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield and Kaitlyn Dever, Short Term 12 marked the beginning of filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton’s four-time collaboration with Brie Larson, which includes her cameo as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel in the former’s MCU debut, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Well, it turns out that Livanos was a PA on Cretton’s Los Angeles-based Short Term 12 set in 2012, and she would eventually climb the ranks to become Larson’s EP on The Marvels (2023).
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Prior to The Marvels, Livanos made a name for herself as co-executive producer on Marvel Studios’ most successful streaming series, WandaVision. And together with creator Jac Schaeffer, the duo were tasked with spinning off their Emmy-nominated series into an Agatha Harkness-led show starring Kathryn Hahn.
In November 2021, the series was announced with the title Agatha: House of Harkness, but this designation ended up being the first of many different title changes, culminating in May 2024’s reveal that it was all an elaborate gag, as the title was always Agatha All Along.
“Hats off to Jac Shaeffer on that one, and our incredible writers’ room, with the best day of brainstorming I think we’ve ever had, figuring out all those titles,” Livanos tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a real blast to release crazier and crazier ones as the production went on, and our cast was so game, too. The nature of the stunt felt very Agatha.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Livanos also explains how Agatha All Along’s original song, “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road,” serves a very different purpose than the chart-topping “Agatha All Along” from WandaVision.
The fan theories surrounding WandaVision were pretty overwhelming, and while you want that kind of engagement, some of your collaborators have admitted that they worried about disappointing people. Agatha All Along still has plenty of material for people to chew on in that way, but did the team take any steps to prevent fans from turning an unnamed “aerospace engineer” into Reed Richards again?
(Laughs.) I would say we just brought the same joy and enthusiasm to the writing and the creation of [Agatha All Along], just like we did WandaVision. It’s delightful that fans enjoy theorizing so much, and as a Marvel fan myself, I can totally relate. But what’s great about this show is that it has tons of reveals, and so I think fans will really enjoy the journey if they like theorizing, as well.
You and your team pulled off this elaborate and ingenious gag involving the ever-changing title of the series. Whose brainchild was it?
Hats off to Jac Shaeffer on that one, and our incredible writers’ room, with the best day of brainstorming I think we’ve ever had, figuring out all those titles. It was a real blast to release crazier and crazier ones as the production went on, and our cast was so game, too. The nature of the stunt felt very Agatha, very liar. So it felt very on theme, and it was fun to do.
“Agatha All Along” is also the name of the chart-topping single from WandaVision, and you likely knew from the start that you’d have to somehow try and match it. Of course, the Lopezes can write hit songs in their sleep, but was it still a daunting task since the last song set the highest bar possible?
Well, after “Agatha All Along” beat Justin Bieber on the music charts, we knew that we had to find a way to work with the Lopezes again, especially because they’re so lovely to work with. Their songwriting just enhanced the texture of WandaVision so much, and we were really looking to find a way to do that again, so we strived to do so. But the role that “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” narratively takes over the course of the show just grows and grows, and I’m very excited for fans to uncover exactly how it compounds.
As the trailers have shown, Agatha examines a dead body, and Wanda’s name then appears on a library card next to it. Will this series definitely answer the question surrounding Wanda’s fate?
Well, I can tell you that Agatha has been trapped in Wanda’s distorted spell, and of course, after the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda was taken off the table. So I think fans will have to tune in to find out more. That’s all I can say.
Were you able to shoot exteriors at Warner Ranch before it was torn down?
We were! We loved shooting on Blondie Street at the incredible and historic Warner Bros. Ranch. Agatha’s house is the house that was featured in Bewitched. So we were very, very lucky to shoot there, and we’ll miss it.
Lastly, I noticed you had a PA job on Short Term 12. Did you bring this up to Brie Larson at a certain point on Captain Marvel or The Marvels?
(Laughs.) It has come up, but we did not cross paths on Short Term 12. I actually was able to have that opportunity while I was interning with Marvel. I got to work San Diego Comic-Con and I met a producer there who brought me on to that film. But I did the PA thing. I took out the garbage and did lockups and manned a walkie-talkie. So life is serendipitous, and the world is small.
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Agatha All Along premieres Sept. 18 on Disney+.
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