For many Marvel fans, the last year and a half of no new content has been torturous. Yes, we may have needed time to recover after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but we didn’t need that long!
Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has begun with a bang: WandaVision. This is Marvel’s first series on Disney+; the MCU has developed many television series in the past, but this is the first that centers around the main characters of the movies as well. But, that is only one of the many factors that make it unique.
This twisted mystery centers around a powerful sorceress, Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a Scarlet Witch, and Vision, her synthezoid husband. The two live a seemingly normal life in the town of Westview, where almost nothing is what it seems. I mean, when you’ve got a witch and robot trying to live an ordinary life, there’s going to be trouble. Each episode is based on shows from different decades, starting with I Love Lucy set in the 50s. The newlyweds move into the town of Westview as if the previous events of Endgame did not occur. How is Vision alive? Was he brought back to life? Has Wanda created a new reality? With the first six episodes out , fans of the show have received more questions than answers.
We are introduced to some new characters – while most of them are passing side characters, there are a few that have made their mark on the show. Most importantly, there is the “nosy neighbor” Agnes. It appears as though she can magically appear at the doorstep right when Wanda needs her. At first, she just seems like the cliche busybody character we all love to hate, but there seems to be more than what meets the eye.
The town of Westview is a perfect depiction of the community in a typical American sitcom. A neighborhood watch group, wives meeting to brainstorm fundraisers, and activities in the town square. And so, Wanda and Vision must do their best to blend in. As the show progresses, it becomes harder for the two to keep their secret. The big question is, how is this Wanda’s life?
In the rest of this article, I will be discussing theories and possibilities of where this show may go after the first six episodes have come out,
**Spoiler Warning for those that have yet to watch the show from here on out!**
Firstly, many fans questioned how it was possible for Vision to still be alive. He died at the hands of Thanos at the end of Infinity War; since the snap itself did not kill him, he didn’t “die” like the rest of the characters who simply faded away. Vision should be dead and gone, but now we see him in Wanda’s world. One theory claims that once Wanda stole Vision’s corpse from S.W.O.R.D headquarters, she brought him back to Westview to try and resurrect him. But, nobody’s too sure if Wanda has the ability to bring someone back to life, so she may have made a deal with Marvel’s “devil”, Mephisto.
The character Mephisto seems to be the center of every WandaVision theory out there. We have not seen him in the MCU, but in the comics this alternate version of the devil has made many appearances. He is introduced to Wanda in an extremely morbid way; she realizes that she unknowingly used parts of his soul to create her own children, Tommy and Billy. This could set up the House of M storyline , which many believe could be retold in this series. Now, in WandaVision she gives birth to twins in episode three, but it is not stated how they were created. There is some debate though whether the MCU will be able to bring in Mephisto, as the devil is taboo in many countries; some say the main villain of WandaVision could be Nightmare with some of Mephisto’s powers incorporated. Guess we will simply have to wait and see!
Agnes has been a suspicious character from the very start. In episode one, Agnes continues to push Wanda to entice Vision for their “anniversary.” She refers to an article called, “How to Treat Your Husband, to Keep Your Husband.” Which now seems more suspicious considering Wanda must do whatever she can to keep Vision from discovering the control she has over the town. It now seems obvious that Agnes is actually the witch Agatha Harkness, who in the comics teaches Wanda how to use her chaos magic in tune with her powers. This would also tie in with the Mephisto theory, as she is the one who reveals to Wanda that her twins are fragments of his soul. With Agnes encouraging Wanda to start thinking about having her own kids, could she be planting the seeds for Mephisto’s soul to be added to them?
One of the biggest surprises of this series was the appearance of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff a.k.a Quicksilver. In the MCU, Aaron Taylor Johnson plays Wanda’s twin brother while Evan Peters plays him in the X-Men movies. Disney recently bought the rights to The X-Men from 20th Century Fox and we have been waiting to see how they could incorporate that world. Though this was a wonderful surprise, many suspect this is not the Quicksilver from Fox. Pietro in this series refrains from answering Wanda’s questions, constantly teases her, and makes side comments that frustrate her quickly; my favorite line being, “Hey, don’t sweat it, sis. It’s not like your dead husband can die twice.”
This could simply be that Quicksilver from the X-Men movies has somehow been pulled into the MCU, whether by Doctor Strange or Mephisto, and is now stuck in Westview. Or, maybe someone is disguising themselves as Wanda’s brother to learn how to gain more control of her world. Wanda herself seems to be lost on how this all started, but it seems like her powers are growing and growing.
WandaVision has proved to be a fantastic start to the limited series coming to Disney+. Fans are extremely excited to see how this could tie into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or other series like Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. These last few episodes have been rumored to be an hour long, so who knows what may happen this week!
Tune in for Episode 7, coming out this Friday (2/19) on Disney+!
