‘Yaga: The Dark Witch’ Mythology Behind Hudson Williams’ Sexy-Scary New Show
When it comes to iconic witches, front and center is Baba Yaga. The Slavic folk legend has been referenced time and time again in movies and TV shows. Now, her legend is again front and center thanks to an adaptation of Kat Sandler’s play Yaga (2026), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, Clark Backo, and Hudson Williams.
The eight-part drama follows Reid’s character Rapp, a private investigator who arrives in a small coastal town to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery, Henry Park (Williams). There, he finds himself at odds with an apprehensive local detective, Carson (Backo) and a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men, Katherine (Moss).
The story that Sander is telling in Yaga goes deeper than a police mystery. There’s a rich mythology behind this sexy new show. But also there’s a lot of symbolism tied to the legend of Baba Yaga that is rooted in feminism, the patriarchy, and ageism. I’m going to help you better understand Yagaby breaking down Baba Yaga’s origins, what she looks like according to legend, and the symbolism of Baba Yaga that has kept her legend alive to this day.
Baba Yaga’s Origins, Explained
Living in a magic hut atop a set of bird legs, Baba Yaga is one of the most famous figures in Slavic folklore and is often presented as an evil witch who eats children or as a guardian of the forest she resides in. She’s often seen as the embodiment of female empowerment and independence.
Baba Yaga was first mentioned in a book on Russian grammar in 1755 But like in many communities, her legend existed long before that as part of an oral tradition handed down generation by generation. She is thought to be the most cunning and clever woman in folklore, often living outside the norms of society and its rules
Although she’s often painted as a solitary figure, she is said to live with two sisters, who carry the same name. Her home also has a fence that is topped with human skulls, and it is said that she can ride through the air in an iron kettle or a mortar that she drives with a pestle, creating tempests as she goes
What Does Baba Yaga Look Like?
Baba Yaga is depicted as an ugly older woman with an enormous nose and wild hair. She’s also often compared to an ogress with sharp teeth and a hideous disposition. Other times, she’s said to be emaciated and have one average-looking leg and one skeletal-looking leg.
Basically, she’s built up as this picture of a fractured being that you should fear and not want to be like in any shape, way, or form. Still, her frightening disposition is especially helpful if she’s being used as a way to teach lessons about life or morality.
What Is The Symbolism Behind Baba Yaga Within ‘Yaga’?
From Kat Sandler’s own playwright biography, she was interested in Baba Yaga because she was “a witch powerful enough to be remembered for how she operated, not just how she died.” She also described Baba Yaga as a “morally ambiguous, complex female character – a villain and a protagonist, an antihero who does what she wants in the woods and refuses to be defined or labeled as one thing.” And she thinks that’s why Baba Yaga still resonates with women today.
Sandler goes on to explain that historically what we call a witch is just someone society has decided it’s scared of. In a patriarchal society, she is spot on that “what could be scarier than a powerful, sexual, brilliant older woman making and living by her own rules?” And that is exactly what Carrie-Anne Moss’ character Katherine embodies as the charismatic University professor who likes younger men, one being Hudson Williams’ character Henry Park.
The story about Baba Yaga is a jumping-off point for Yaga as a show to talk about ageism in a world with shifting social ideas where women are still demonized for stepping a toe outside of line. Yagadoes that by making Katherine someone indistinguishable. Is she the predator? Is she a victim? Is she a woman scorned? It’s a modern twisted fairy tale where everything isn’t so black and white like in the Disney stories many of us grew up with.
Other Movies & TV shows That Reference Baba Yaga
In our modern age, the most well-known reference to Baba Yaga in a movie is, of course, John Wick. After reading everything above, it is almost surprising that such a feminine symbol of the unpredictable and untameable is attributed to the actions of a man. But it also shows how fearsome the legend of Baba Yaga is that when they needed a name to strike fear in everyone’s hearts, that name was chosen for Wick’s character.
Baba Yaga was also mentioned in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) when they were trying to figure out the mystery that was Ava Starr and everything she was up to. She also made an actual appearance in Hellboy (2019) as an antagonist imprisoned by the titular character. There have also been direct horror movies about the legend, like Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest (2020).
Then there are inspirations like Yubaba in Spirited Away(2001), which depicted her as a powerful older woman and witch with a big nose while her sister, Zeniba, was a kinder counterbalance. There was even a character in The Witcher (2019) that was inspired by Baba Yaga, the Voleth Meir or the Deathless Mother. The point being, her legend remains, with echoes of it in many movies and TV shows.
While a private investigator probes the disappearance of the young heir to a powerful fishery, he finds himself at odds with an apprehensive local detective, a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men, and a labyrinth of enigmatic suspects, secret lives, and ancient magic.
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