In all but name, Agatha All Along Episode 5 revealed the identity of Joe Locke’s Teen: Wiccan, the superhero son of the Scarlet Witch. That means we could see Hulkling, and there’s one actor perfect for the role.
Since the beginning of Agatha All Along, the truth behind Joe Locke’s character has been a not-so-secret mystery (unfortunately, an early trailer spoiled it via its closed captions).
Marvel hasn’t revealed much about him: we know someone put a sigil spell on him, preventing him from telling anyone his name; he has a boyfriend called Eddie, but don’t expect that to last long; and he’s apparently spent his life studying witchcraft and following Agatha Harkness.
Well, if you hadn’t already figured it out, Episode 5 makes it clear. “You’re so much like your mother,” Agatha tells him, revealing that Teen is Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan.
Who is Wiccan?
Some quick details: Wiccan, real name Billy Kaplan, is the reincarnated son of Wanda Maximoff.
In WandaVision, Wanda’s children – William and Tommy – are conceived via magic, conjured to support her idealized life with Vision in Westview. When she undoes the hex, they’re wiped from existence, though Wanda then tries to reunite with her kids through the multiverse in Doctor Strange 2.
This is similar to the comics, though there’s one notable difference: Wanda created her twins from lost souls, who were later recaptured by Mephisto (let’s not get into him right now – he’s a demon, that’s all that matters). They had been imbued with such powerful magic that it led to Mephisto’s demise, but seemingly at the cost of their souls altogether.
However, William was reborn as Billy Kaplan in New York City. His backstory in Agatha All Along is clearly a bit different, but in the comics, he joins the Young Avengers, taking on the mantle of Asgardian (he dresses like Thor), before naming himself Wiccan.
Meanwhile, his brother Thomas returns as Tommy Shepherd, also known as Speed. (Do I really need to tell you his superpowers, or is the name obvious enough?)
Vision later reveals their true heritage, and after the events of Civil War, the two brothers set off on a journey to find the Scarlet Witch.
Wiccan and Hulkling relationship
It’s unclear if we’ll see Hulkling in the MCU, but he’s a major character in Wiccan’s story. In short, he’s a Skrull/Kree hybrid who’s also part of the Young Avengers – and more importantly, he’s Wiccan’s boyfriend.
Extremely brief backstory: in the comics, Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell, not Carol Danvers) had a brief affair with a Skrull princess. They had a child, who was taken to Earth for his safety and raised as Theodore Altman. Just like the Skrulls in the MCU, he’s capable of shapeshifting, allowing him to fit in at high school.
Little did he know, he’d been listed in the Avengers Fail-Safe Program, a backup initiative to form an emergency team if the Avengers were hurt or disbanded. Iron Lad (again, we don’t have time to explain him fully – he’s a young Kang the Conqueror) found Teddy and asked him to join the Young Avengers, where he assumed the superhero identity of Hulkling.
No, Hulkling isn’t connected to the Hulk. There’s two simple reasons he’s called that: one, he’s a big fan of the Hulk, and two, he looks a lot like the Hulk. That’s it.
So, where does Wiccan come in? In the wake of Secret Wars (2015), Wiccan and Hulkling joined Avengers Idea Mechanics alongside Hawkeye, Songbird, and other powers. An evil sorcerer briefly possessed Wiccan, but Hulkling helped him overcome the dark spirit.
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They joined the Young Avengers together, where their flirtationship blossomed, becoming one of the strongest and most prominent gay couples in the Marvel universe.
“On his many adventures with multiple Avengers teams, Wiccan gradually fell in love with his teammate Hulkling, a romance that still echoes throughout the far reaches of the cosmos today,” Marvel wrote.
This Hulkling casting just makes sense
Kit Connor, Joe Locke’s Heartstopper co-star, should play Hulkling. He may not be keen on the idea, but it’s perfect casting.
Heartstopper Season 3 dropped last week, showcasing the pair’s chemistry and proving that they should star in other projects together; if Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling can do it, why can’t Connor and Locke?
Plus, it may actually be in the works. Earlier this year, MyTimeToShineHello claimed Marvel was eyeing Connor for the role. They’re a notoriously iffy scooper, so that rumor was best taken with a pint of salt.
However, The Cosmic Circus’ Alex P backed it up, tweeting: “So, yes. I thought it was slightly stereotypical because of Heartstopper, but you gotta admit it would be a plausible option.”
Miles Gutierrez-Riley, who plays Eddie in Agatha All Along, was initially suspected to be playing Hulkling, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.
Before the Wiccan reveal, Locke told the Radio Times: “I’d love to work with Kit again. He’s such a wonderful actor and we work so well together. If the right thing was to come up in the future for us to work together, I would love to.”
Connor addressed the rumor in an interview with MTV’s Josh Horowitz. He’s either deliberately playing it down, or he may not be interested.
“My friend did send me this rumour, no I’m not… not that I know of. My friend Joe is very heavily involved in Marvel, and he has a very exciting project coming up, and I wouldn’t want to cramp his style,” he said.
“I think he’s going to kill and I can’t wait to see that. I’m going to leave that to him for a good long while, I reckon.”
In another interview with Omelette, he explained why he’d be a bit apprehensive about joining the MCU. “I don’t think I would be a good choice for Hulkling, to be honest,” he said.
“I think people would get tired of seeing me and Joe together eventually, if we kept doing this over the next few years.”
If you’ve caught up with Agatha All Along, check out our ranking of the Marvel movies, our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order, and our rundown of every upcoming MCU movie.