Agatha, Agatha, Agatha, Agathaaaa. It just doesn't have the same ring to it, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agatha Harkness is the ginger jezebel threatening to disrupt Dolly Parton's romantic bliss.
That's according to Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer, in reference to the latest episode, episode 6, "Familiar by Thy Side," which gives some background info on Teen (Joe Locke), as well as Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) and some of the misdeeds she's done over the years.
Dolly Parton, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn).
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Chuck Zlotnick/Disney+
In one scene, Teen (a.k.a. Billy Maximoff) does a reverse image search of Agatha and finds her popping up in the most unusual places, including the 1937 Hindenburg disaster and on the front page of a news site, with what appears to be Dolly Parton slapping the taste out of Agatha's mouth, under the headline, "Does This 1972 Surveillance Photo of Dolly Parton Show the Real Jolene?"
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When asked by The Wrap, point blank, if Agatha was indeed the possessor of those flaming locks of auburn hair and ivory skin with eyes of emerald green, she confirmed, with a laugh, "In the MCU, hell yeah."
'Agatha All Along'.
Disney +
Dolly Parton compares Beyoncé's Becky to Jolene on Cowboy Carter: 'That hussy with the good hair'
The Jolene tie-in came from an assignment Schaeffer gave to her writer's room to “Give me five low-level, nefarious things that Agatha has done in her deep past." Trying to steal Dolly's man fit the bill.
"That was a Laura Donney idea," Schaeffer said. "And it was one of, I remember being one of the most fun days in the room, was everybody coming in with their sort of low-level Agatha nasties. And that was Laura Donney. She was like, 'She’s Jolene.' And we were just like, everybody fell out. It was so funny."
Dolly's Jolene was, as the lady herself has confirmed in the past, based on a redheaded bank teller who flirted with her newly minted husband, Carl Dean, while the name and her appearance were based on a young, autograph-seeking fan.
Considered one of the greatest songs of all time, and written in the same day as "I Will Always Love You," "Jolene" has been a pop cultural touchstone for the past 50 years and has been covered by everyone from Olivia Newton-John to Beyoncé.
Of course, Beyoncé's Jolene was not Agatha Harkness, and we'll probably never know who she was because after messing with Jay-Z, she promptly fell off the face of the earth. Because when it comes to her man, Bey don't play.
