Franklin Richards in Agatha All Along?

There's been more than a little speculation about the identity of Joe Locke's "Teen" character in Agatha All Along. I mean, of course, there is -- they are not being subtle about that being an intentional mystery within the show. The most commonly noted candidates are Nicholas Scratch (Agatha's son) and Billy Kaplan (one of Wanda Maximoff's kids). The most recent episode was pretty forthright in putting out a strong hint that it is Nicholas.

Here's another idea I haven't seen anywhere, though... what if he's Franklin Richards?

One. Agatha Harkness was introduced in the comics as Franklin's nanny. Obviously, he's too old to need a nanny in the show, but she has been looking out for him. (She is almost aggressive in pulling that wine out of his hands in this most recent episode.)

Two. While Franklin in the comics has historically been a young child with blonde hair, he's been portrayed as a black-haired, pseudo-emo teeager for the past five years or so. Very much line with the appearance of Locke's character.

Three. Franklin has been sought by more than a few evil enemies for his soul. Two of the most notable are Mephisto and Nicholas Scratch, both enigmatic characters already referenced in Agatha All Along.

Four. While a counter-arguement for this being Franklin could be that the MCU hasn't really even introduced the Fantastic Four to the broader MCU franchise, A) that is not entirely true and B) this could be the modern equivalent to a back-door pilot. You'll recall that we did see Mr. Fantastic as portrayed by John Krasinkski in Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness and he specifically notes that he and his wife have a child. Franklin's name also appeared on a computer screen in X2: X-Men United. So he is already an established character in the MCU, albeit in their alternate universes. And while the Fantastic Four: First Steps movie won't be out until next July, actively highlighting Franklin in the MCU now could act as part of a marketing tactic to intrgue Agatha viewers to come back for the FF film. Marvel Studios has been doing this type of thing for years; for example, introducing Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War a year before he was in a dedicated Spidey movie.

Now I'm not fully convinced Locke's character is indeed Franklin Richards. It strikes me as a bit of a heavy marketing gamble and, while Marvel Studios has had some such gambles in the past, I suspect they're a little more gun-shy on that type of thing just now given the not-great reception some of their recent projects have had. But on the other hand, they brought a life-size, flying Fantasticar to Comic-Con this year, so maybe they are going to go big and are playing a longer game here with First Steps and are trying to play into the fan-favorite-ness of the Agatha character.

Regardless, audiences will certainly find out before the show wraps up at the end of October, but I wanted to put the idea out into the internet now, mostly just so I can claim that I figured it out before you did! 😁

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