Is Joe Locke confirmed to be playing Billy Kaplan in ‘Agatha All Along?’

Marvel Studios made a smart move in snapping up the Heartstopper breakout star for its next Disney Plus series, especially if he’s playing who we think he’s playing. Due to his looks being an eerie match to the comic book character, not to mention being the perfect age and absolutely having the acting range, everyone and their familiar has been convinced that Locke is portraying Wiccan, the aged-up son of Wanda and Vision, ever since he was first added to the cast. But has this actually been confirmed? Let’s unpack.

Joe Locke’s “mysterious” Agatha All Along character, explained

In the wake of the release of Agatha‘s first teaser trailer, the Marvel fandom got very excited when Variety‘s write-up of the promo outright named Joe Locke’s character. Sure enough, he was noted as portraying Billy Kaplan, which many took as our long-awaited formal confirmation that he really is the MCU’s Wiccan after all. However, before long, Variety then removed all mention of Billy’s name from the article (see the archived version for proof).

Even if Variety magicking away the evidence like this muddies the waters a little, the chances of Locke swapping Charlie Spring for Billy Kaplan just got a lot higher. What is still alive is Variety‘s official synopsis for the show, which offers a lot of illuminating new information on how Locke’s character fits into events. As we’ve heard before, it sounds like he’ll serve as Agatha’s sidekick — or familiar — throughout the series’ six episodes.

“The infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth teen helps break her free from a distorted spell,” the synopsis goes. “Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road.”

The “suspicious goth teen” and “mystery teen” in question refer to Locke’s Not Billy Kaplan. Clearly, then, his identity will remain a secret at the start of the show, leaving room for a Wiccan-sized twist later on. What we don’t know is whether Billy knows who he is himself, or if he will learn of his true origins along with Agatha — similar to Billy’s mystical rebirth in the comics.

Wiccan or no Wiccan*, at least Heartstopper fans can rest assured that Joe Locke is all over Agatha All Along.

*He’s totally Wiccan, though.

**The Marvel sniper pointing a red dot at my head would like me to clarify that “he’s totally Wiccan” is just personal conjecture and not indicative of fact.