In an interview with Backstory Magazine, Jac Schaeffer, the showrunner for Agatha All Along, discussed potential story arcs for Season 2 and other future projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She talked about the relationship between Agatha and Aubrey Plaza’s character, Rio, revealing that their backstory was extensively discussed in the writers’ room but ultimately not included in the script. Schaeffer explained, “There was more of Agatha and Rio’s backstory in the writers’ room. There was never any more on the page.” She noted that exploring their past too deeply would have created “too much of a counterweight to the Nicky material:”
“There was more [of Agatha and Rio’s backstory] in the writer’s room. There was never any more on the page. It was our story instinct, I would say, that getting too far into their backstory would sort of be too much of a counterweight to the Nicky material. And so, we really included what we felt was vital to this chapter.”
She expressed her surprise at the strong reaction from fans, stating, “I didn’t anticipate that the shippers would be so fervent.” She also hopes that the MCU will further explore the backstory of Agatha and Rio, saying, “My hope is that there will be more unpacking of their backstory in the MCU:”
“But we certainly talked about it at great length of how they met, and what their relationship was, and what it looked like in happier times, and all of that. And I didn’t anticipate that the shippers would be so fervent, that there would be… And I feel foolish for not… you never know how anything is going to land and you never know if people are going to care and the amount that people care is staggering to me. It’s my hope that in the MCU, there’s more unpacking of the Agatha and Rio backstory.”
Schaeffer also addressed speculation about the identity of Nicholas Scratch’s father, particularly the idea that Rio could be his father. He explained, “We discussed many different versions of who Nicky’s father could be,” but ultimately concluded that it was not essential to the story they were telling. She added, “For Agatha’s story, it wasn’t relevant:”
“Yes, I mean, we talked about a lot of different versions of who is the father of Nicky and we ultimately decided that for Agatha’s story, it wasn’t relevant to the story we were trying to tell. And we didn’t really want to get into the weeds of if it was magical… We certainly considered the idea that Rio is the father.”
She acknowledged that she had considered the possibility that Rio might be the father. She said, “I wonder… I should ask the writers if they still hold that idea in their hearts.” She emphasized that intentionally leaving it open to fan interpretation was part of the plan:
“I wonder…I should ask the writers if they sort of still hold that in their hearts. It’s something that I certainly thought about a lot and like to sort of contemplate. I enjoy that it is left to fan interpretation. I also feel that I know how the MCU works and I don’t think it serves anybody to sort of… for me as the Creator to emphatically tell you something that isn’t on screen, because like I said, it’s my hope that these stories continue:
Schaeffer suggested that future MCU stories might explore this further, stating, “Perhaps there will be a later chapter that addresses this:”
“So, perhaps there is a later chapter that will address this. But I will say that when we were casting, sometimes we were like, ‘Does that kid look like Rio? Does that kid look like Aubrey Plaza?‘ So, it’s a path that is possible.”
