Agatha All Along

Billy Maximoff- Goth Teen

The art of imbuing a costume with hidden easter eggs.

Signs, symbols, and runes… oh my!

Overview-

Upon receiving and reading the scripts for the series Agatha All Along, the design team decided to leave a breadcrumb trail as to the true identity of “Teen” by hiding signs and symbols in his costume.

My role was to conduct research to inspire ideas that we could incorporate in our design that would add to the viewers experience of the character, and provide and present rationalization to the director and studio for our design choices.

MISSION
Research images and source material for design team to assemble designs based on.

CLIENT
Marvel Studios Television

ROLE
Research Costumer responsible for collecting research, and editing, and assembling presentations for studio executives.

TIMELINE

August 2022- Jan 2023

Step One: Define

Our first step was to establish our objectives and align them with the studio, director, and our departments design goals.

Initial meeting with Costume Designer

After an initial read through of the scripts, we decided that we wanted to hide “easter-eggs” in Billy’s costumes that would point to his true identity as Wanda and Visions son.

Since both of his parents characters are iconic in Marvel movies and comics, we knew we had to be subtle so as not to give it away, but not so subtle as to miss opportunities to indicate his origins.

Step Two: Research & Analyze

I conducted a broad scope of research to help our team understand the character of Teen/Billy and the context in which he exists in this story as well as the MCU at large.

Billy’s magic being chaos magic as well as his description in the script as being a “goth teen” were two key character traits that we identified as the building blocks to center our research on. We targeted our research at images and ideas that would help us create presentations that relayed these two concepts as being intertwined in our characters identity and aesthetic.

Aesthetic Board

Billy’s overall style board was meant to convey the overall “vibe” that we wanted our character to exude. This included the idea of layering and stripes to show his multi-faceted identity, ripped/knit sweaters to play on the idea that he’s vulnerable, and that his true self is lurking under the surface, classic Doc Martens as a nod to modern and historical goth style, as well as self-drawn tattoos to indicate his budding magical abilities and practice.
Sweater Board

We pitched that we manufacture a custom-made sweater for Billy in which we could hide symbols and figures.
The ripped/full-of-holes look was presented as a Gen Z form of goth attire as well as a way to symbolize the characters vulnerability.
Details & Jewelry Board

We saw Billy’s style as highly self-customized. His parents are both pretty straight-laced but allow for and embrace his self-expression, leading him to visually share details about himself and his personality through style. To us, this looked like thumb-holes cut into sleeves, writing and patches applied to blank surfaces, eclectic yet meaningful jewelry layered and worn like protective amulets.
Jeans Board

Denim has long served as a canvas for self-expression, and in our view Billy would take full advantage of any boring or blank surface and turn it into something fully-customized.
Our research and R&D for Billy’s pants included ripping and repairing holes along the legs, runes and spells written ip and down the sides, and a mixture of fabrics and textures from different source materials, much like Billy is a combination of William Kaplan and Billy Maximoff.

Step Three: Design

I compiled our most inspiring research into road maps for our illustrators to generate costume concept art based off of. I then turned this concept art into presentation boards that we used to take the director and studio executives on our characters costume journey.

SWEATER SYMBOLS & RUNES

The symbols, runes, and references included on Billy’s sweater were carefully selected by our design team, and had to receive studio approval before we could begin to the process of fabrication.

After many rounds of ideation, we settled on a selection of MCU canon references, WandaVision references, and occult references. The MCU references were meant to represent Billy’s joining of the Marvel witches community, and nod to past uses of runes and symbols in other movies and comics, particularly Doctor Strange.

The WandaVision references were pulled from symbols that were used in the spells cast by Wanda in WandaVision. We had unique access to these designs as the costume designer of Agatha All Along was the assistant costume designer on WandaVision, and therefore brought a familiar perspective to the project.

Each occult symbol was extensively researched and reflected an element of the shows plot, Billy’s personality, or family history. For example, the Triple Moon Goddess symbol on the upper right shoulder of the sweater was a reference to the Mother, Maiden, & Crone symbol on Agatha’s iconic brooch.

Not referened explicitly on this illustration but also of note, Billy’s oxblood Doc Martens were specially laced in a pentagram pattern on the arch of the foot. A symbol of faith, protection, and the unity of the five elements: air, fire, water, earth, and spirit, it was also a reference to the trials that the coven would have to endure on the Witches Road.

Billys jeans also served as a playground for hidden symbolism, featuring MCU symbols and WandaVision references.

Final Costume

After many rounds of R&D, sampling, and fittings with cast, the final costume made it to the screen reflecting the resounding detail that had been the vision of Daniel and myself from it’s initial conception.

Based on studio feedback and screen testing, the final costume ended up featuring a gray sweater rather than the midnight blue from the illustration, and had less holes and tears than were originally pitched. However, the signs, symbols, and runes had the desired effect of drawing in the viewer and the sweater became an iconic that fans couldn’t get enough of!