Across over a decade, from its inception in 2008 until 2019, Marvel released 23 films in what is now known as the Infinity Saga. The overarching story saw Earth’s mightiest heroes battle Thanos, a mad titan obsessed with bringing balance to the universe. But one of the biggest omissions from the comic on which the saga was largely based was the character of Lady Death. Five years after the end of the Infinity Saga, the MCU finally has its Lady Death thanks to the latest episode of Agatha All Along. Here’s what you need to know about the powerful cosmic being.
Before we dive into Lady Death’s comic origins and the potential powers she brings to the MCU, let’s talk about her debut. This comes with a big spoiler warning, so if you haven’t seen episode seven of Agatha All Along, then don’t read! OK. The latest episode of the Disney+ series starring Kathryn Hahn as the titular witch dropped the bombshell that Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal is none other than Lady Death herself. This reveal came at the end of the show’s best episode so far. Fans had already guessed this reveal thanks to the show’s not so subtle hints and an unfortunate Funko Pop leak. But what does this actually mean for the MCU?
Lady Death, Mistress Death, or just Death was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin and first appeared in Captain Marvel #26 in 1973. While the idea of death had been in the comics before this, the now iconic representation of Death as a woman or robed skeleton stems from this issue. But Death would become most famous for the 1991 Infinity Gauntlet arc written by Starlin. The story has the mad titan Thanos wiping out half of the universe’s population in order to gain the attention of Death, whom he’s in love with. The Infinity Gauntlet would become the basis for the MCU’s Infinity Saga, but Death would not appear. In subsequent years Death has never had as big a role in the Marvel universe as she did in Infinity Gauntlet, and is more known for making brief appearances in other characters’ stories. One of her recurring roles in recent years has been as a love interest for Deadpool.
The most interesting aspect of Death is her powers. Death is not a god or superhero but a cosmic entity. This means she is the living personification of death and the embodiment of all life that ends in the universe. She is, for lack of a better word, all-powerful. Her comic appearances have shown her killing and resurrecting any being she chooses, taking any form, and even controlling time and reality. This would make her the most powerful being the MCU has seen.
The question is whether or not Aubrey Plaza’s version of Death in the MCU will be as powerful as her comic counterpart. So far we haven’t seen her use her powers, but this version of the character leans way more into the mystical side of the MCU than the cosmic, hence her introduction in Agatha All Along. The show has hinted at her relationship with Agatha being troubled due to the death of Agatha’s son, which Death could hypothetically undo. When introduced to the rest of the coven as Rio Vidal, Death says that she is the original Green Witch, meaning her magical powers give her some sway over life and death.
That tracks with who Death is, but might also hint that the MCU’s version of the character is far more limited in power and purview than what we might expect. Death in the comics has almost no rules to follow, but the MCU version could be more of a steward of those who have passed on than anything else. This restraint on Death would help explain the tension between her and Agatha as well as why Death hasn’t resurrected any of the dead coven members. With two episodes left, it’ll be interesting to see what else we learn about Death’s MCU iteration.
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