Agatha All Along revealed the full backstory of Joe Locke’s character “Teen,” whom we now know is Billy Maximoff, a.k.a. Wiccan. And we also now know just what Billy was searching for at the end of the Witches’ Road—his lost twin brother, Tommy Maximoff. At the end of the series, he finds his brother’s wandering essence, helping guide him to a new body. But what do we really even know about his brother, Tommy? And who could he be in the MCU? First, let’s explore Tommy’s history in the pages of Marvel Comics, where he’s known as the super-fast superhero Speed.
Tommy Maximoff Was Created from Parts of Mephisto by the Scarlet Witch
Like Wiccan, Speed’s origins began in ‘80s Marvel Comics. This was when husband and wife Avengers the Scarlet Witch and the android Vision moved to the suburbs and started a family, after Wanda magically gave birth to twins, William and Thomas. Eventually, West Coast Avengers revealed Billy and Tommy were only magical constructs, something Wanda subconsciously created from lost fragments of the soul of the demon lord Mephisto. They eventually disappear, with the witch Agatha Harkness wiping Wanda’s memory of their existence. WandaVision loosely adapted all of this.
The twins are more or less forgotten about for years in the comics. Then, the Scarlet Witch nearly decimated the Avengers in the 2004 event Avengers Disassembled, after Wanda lost control of her power. In the aftermath, the Vision activates a protocol to recruit new young heroes as the next generation of Avengers. Among those heroes is teenager Billy Kaplan, who could wield potent magical powers, and calls himself Wiccan. He turned out to be the reincarnated Billy Maximoff. But if Billy was reincarnated, what of his twin brother Tommy?
Tommy Maximoff Becomes Tommy Shephard, the Speedster Hero Known as Speed
After Billy helps form the Young Avengers, he sets out to find new teen heroes to join. He’s not specifically looking for Tommy, as he doesn’t really know he’s Wanda’s son at this point. He and his team find Tommy Shepherd, a teenager from Springfield, New Jersey. Unlike Billy, he comes from a broken home, and had a less ideal upbringing. He has super speed powers just like the Avenger Quicksilver, who is Wanda’s twin brother. After accidentally vaporizing his school when his super-speed powers emerged, he’s placed in a high-tech facility, a souped-up version of juvenile hall. There, he was subject to experimentations so nefarious forces could turn him into a living weapon. Luckily, the Young Avengers rescued him, and he finally met his brother Billy.
Young Avengers Speed and Wiccan Search for their Mother Wanda
Eventually, the two realized who they really are—the reincarnated souls of Wanda and Vision’s children. They keep the how and why of this rebirth vague in the comics. Did their souls go back in time, and then born to other parents? Or, as Wanda believes, did they take over the existing bodies of two American teenagers? In any event, Tommy Shepherd takes the name Speed, becoming a member of the Young Avengers along with his brother. The two teen heroes eventually reunite with their mother the Scarlet Witch in Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. An openly bisexual character, Speed briefly dated teammate Kate Bishop/Hawkeye and then later David Alleyne/Prodigy, a young mutant who also joins the team.
Did Speed Make His MCU Debut in Agatha All Along?
Tommy did not appear in Agatha All Along, but we do get more information about him. In episode 8 of Agatha All Along, Billy tells Agatha that he can sense this his brother is out there somewhere. Unlike Billy, his did not find a new home right away in a new body. However, in the final trial of the Witches’ Road, Agatha helped Billy find his brother’s soul in the ether, and guide him toward a new body.
Although the details are vague, Billy found a young boy with no one who cared for him. A young boy who was bullied. This child was tormented so badly by other kids, they actually drowned him. At the moment of this unknown child’s drowning, Billy guided Tommy’s soul into this new form. We just don’t know exactly where that new body is yet. But we know he’s out there somewhere for Billy to find. We suspect the singular voice of a boy crying out for his mother that Wanda heard at the end of WandaVision was Tommy, not Billy.
While Tommy in his new body might be an existing MCU character, we have a strong feeling Tommy Shepherd will be played by someone not yet seen in the Marvel films or series. One thing’s for sure: Speed absolutely will show up in the MCU sooner or later, leading us closer to a Young Avengers movie or series.
