For the past two years, actor Joe Locke has been guarding a closely held secret—one that finally came to light this week with the release of the latest episode of Marvel’s hit Disney+ series “Agatha All Along.”
Locke, who rose to fame with his breakout role in the Netflix series “Heartstopper,” is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief now that the world knows the truth: his character “Teen” is actually Billy, the son of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and the superhero known as Wiccan in Marvel comics.
“It’s so nice. I feel like I’m breathing. I love it,” Locke told Entertainment Weekly, admitting that he took four doses of melatonin the night before the episode premiered to help him get some sleep amidst the nerves. “The thing that I’ve kept so secret, guarding it with my life, is now just in the ether.”
Fans, who had long suspected Locke’s character had some connection to the Scarlet Witch, were truly shocked by the reveal in the final moments of “Agatha All Along’s” fifth episode, “Darkest Hour/WWake Thy Power.” Showrunner Jac Schaeffer informed the actor that the execution of the twist, not the twist itself, was the real surprise.
“You can do the most unsurprising thing in the most surprising way, and that’s how you hook an audience,” Locke said, adding that the team was aware of online fan theories from the start.
Indeed, the clues were there all along—from the image of Wanda’s crown stitched onto Billy’s sweater to the character’s clear affinity for the magical arts. But it was the final, electrifying moment, when Billy used his powers to bury Agatha, Lilia Calderu, and Jennifer Hale in a pit of sinking mud, that truly cemented his connection to the Scarlet Witch.
“The show starts with Billy being very familiar—the secondary to all the witches,” Locke said. “Now that we know he is also a witch, things change,” Locke said. Additionally, we now understand that he possesses the ability to inflict harm on others. Consequently, he has emerged as the most formidable individual on the road.
To capture the essence of Billy’s powers, Locke worked closely with Jennifer White, the movement coach who helped Elizabeth Olsen develop the iconic hand gestures for Wanda’s magical abilities. The goal was to find similarities between the two characters while also infusing Billy with his own distinct flair.
“We worked to find similarities in both Billy and Wanda, the way they use their magic,” Locke explained. “Fans of the comic corner know that Billy’s powers are pretty much the same as Wanda’s with a few differences, so we wanted to find similarities with that, but also his own finesse.”
That finesse was on full display in the pivotal moment when Billy revealed his true power, with Locke emulating one of Wanda’s signature arm gestures from “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
For Locke, the reveal of Billy’s identity as Wiccan marks a significant milestone not only for the character but for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. As the first prominent LGBTQ+ character introduced in the MCU, Billy’s emergence is a watershed moment that the actor does not take lightly.
“We know that he’s been lying to her, and we play a lot with those dynamics of how duplicitous he is,” Locke said, hinting at the complex moral gray areas the character will navigate as the season progresses. “Is the facade of the fanboy teen completely fake, or is it actually still a real part of him?” Locke asked. This is the stuff that I found so interesting in playing him.”
With the secret now out in the open, Locke is eager to explore the depths of Billy’s story, particularly his complicated relationship with the “motherly figures” in his life—Wanda, Agatha, and the other witches he’s encountered on the Witches’ Road.
“The show starts getting real,” the actor promised, teasing that the upcoming episodes will dive deeper into Billy’s motivations and backstory, setting the stage for what could be an even more epic second season.
For now, Locke is simply relishing the freedom of no longer having to guard his character’s identity with his life. And with Marvel’s plans for the Young Avengers seemingly on the horizon, the future for this young sorcerer looks brighter than ever.