Ahead of the eventual premiere of Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, Marvel officially confirms the character Aubrey Plaza will play in her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut on the upcoming series.

Marvel Studios has filed an official U.S. Copyright listing which slates Plaza to be playing the role of Rio Vidal. The Parks & Recreation star will feature as the original character for the first time in Darkhold Diaries, confirming recent reports about what her character in the anticipated WandaVision spinoff will be.

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Plaza’s character is unusual in that Rio isn’t from Marvel Comics. Hailing as a witch in Agatha Harkness’ coven, Rio reportedly mirrors the Emerald Warlock Dian from the Green Witch stories in the comics, a character that’s deeply rooted in Irish mythology. Rio has been touted as a formidable adversary who will further expand the magical spectrum introduced through Agatha and Wanda Maximoff. Plaza will star alongside Kathryn Hahn, who plays the titular witch in Darkhold Diaries, while Joe Locke plays the supernatural entity Billy Kaplan.

The confirmation of Plaza’s MCU role came as a new synopsis for Darkhold Diaries was revealed. For the series premiere, the WandaVision spinoff will “see Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) finally break out of a spell she has been trapped in. She can’t wait to go back to her old murderous ways only to find that she is powerless. The only way forward for her is to embark on a perilous quest to get her powers back with the help of an unlikely friend or two.” Darkhold Diaries was previously known as Coven of Chaos and Agatha: House of Harkness before settling on the new name, with no reason given for the change.

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While Darkhold Diaries will mark the debut of Plaza in the MCU, she has tried to secure a place in superhero-related projects before, having auditioned for Deadpool 2 but missing out. Plaza also struck out on a pair of Marvel X-Men projects she was initially attached to. Her most recent show appearance was her voicing of Julie Powers in the upcoming animated series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, alongside Michael Cera.

Audiences will have to wait a while before seeing Plaza and co. in Darkhold Diaries after the series was pushed back among several other Marvel titles in recent months. However, the same copyright listing revealed an “approximate” premiere date for Darkhold Diaries, which was initially set to debut in late 2023. Created by Jac Schaeffer, Darkhold Diaries wrapped filming in May after beginning principal photography in January.

Darkhold Diaries‘ listed release date is Sept. 19, 2024, but this date hasn’t been officially announced by Disney+.

Source: U.S. Copyright Office

 A new Marvel Studios listing confirms what character Aubrey Plaza will play in the upcoming Disney+ MCU series, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries.  Read More  

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