Popverse's top stories of the day

• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• Marvel's Agatha All Along almost introduced another Young Avengers character
• Ultimate Marvel and Absolute DC will never replace their mainstream counterparts, says top comics editor

To the surprise of few, Agatha All Along did, in fact, reveal that Joe Locke was playing Billy Maximoff, AKA Wiccan of the Young Avengers… but, it turns out, there were originally discussions about bringing Billy’s long-term partner Teddy Altman into the MCU, as well.

It didn’t happen, but Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer has revealed that, at one point in the show’s development, Altman — also known as the shapeshifting Hulkling — was in the mix for the spin-off from 2021’s WandaVision.

"There were early conversations [about Hulkling]," Schaeffer told Entertainment Weekly. In fact, Eddie — Billy’s almost love interest in the show, played by Miles Gutierrez-Riley — “was originally called Teddy because we were looking at the artwork and thinking about that,” Schaeffer revealed.

Ultimately, the writer said, it “was a Marvel decision to not have [Eddie] be Hulkling for the purposes of our show. Within our show, he is not Hulkling… but we pivoted to Eddie because he is named after a person that is important to the writers' room. It wasn't sort of teasing the fans, it was one of those lovely tributes to somebody who matters to us."

Putting aside the potential implications of “within our show, he is not Hulkling” — so he might be, elsewhere? — fans of the Young Avengers in general (and Billy and Teddy in particular) can take some solace in the fact that not only is the team coming together in the MCU pretty quickly, but there are definitely discussions about making sure that all of the core relationships are considered in one way or another.

Agatha All Along is available in its entirety on Disney+.

Turns out, it was New York Comic Con all along – as the place to meet Wanda and Vision themselves, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany! Limited Thursday NYCC 2024 tickets are still on sale, and then make sure to scoop your Photo Op with them for bragging rights on the ‘gram.