After nine exciting weeks, Disney+'s WandaVision came to a close this past Friday. When the show was first announced it was billed as the MCU's first sitcom show and suffice to say, a lot of people were skeptical of it. In my opinion, it is quite clear that the show astoundingly exceeded expectations. Through the story, performances and the groundwork that it lays for Phase 4 of the MCU, WandaVision shows that Marvel is still riding high after Avengers: Endgame and will now strive (and currently succeeding) in dominating not only theatrical releases, but on the small screen as well. After WandaVision came to a close, I have no doubt that the MCU is in good hands on Disney+ for future releases. Let's talk about WandaVision and how it lays the groundwork for Phase 4. WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR WANDAVISION.
1) WANDAVISION HAD A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
If you told me back in 2018 when Disney announced that MCU would have its own shows on the platform that the first show released would be: in sitcom format, bring back Vision, officially name Wanda The Scarlet Witch, have Evan Peter's Quicksilver appear (sort of), have a hit theme song based on the villain and finally have Wanda don her comic-accurate costume, I would have said you were crazy. But man did WandaVision have a little bit of everything in it! The sitcom format and how it factored into the premise of the show was brilliant, and gave the MCU an opportunity to play in a sandbox it previously hadn't before because obviously, who would have thought the MCU and sitcom would go together?
The reveal that Kathryn Hahn's neighbor Agnes was really the villain Agatha Harkness may have been seen coming by hardcore fans, but the execution of how Agatha was the mastermind behind manipulating Wanda took fans for a loop. Her own sitcom theme song became an overnight hit, something I find a pleasant surprise. Hahn's performance was signaled out as outstanding and given the way things ended for her and Wanda ("If I need you, I'll know where to find you.") hopefully it is not the last we have seen of her. I could see Wanda possibly needing her help someday, otherwise I don't think they would have left her fate so open ended.
One thing that did hamper the finale in my opinion is that it did not live up to the impossible hype it was given. After Paul Bettany said there would be another "secret cameo" (more on that below) fan theories were in overdrive. Some theories included Ian McKellan appearing as Magneto (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's father in the comics), Al Pacino debuting as Mephisto; a villain with strong ties to Wanda's children, and Benedict Cumberbatch showing up as Doctor Strange to bridge the show to its upcoming sequel. While none of these panned out, the only one I was surprised about was Cumberbatch not appearing as Doctor Strange. I even read an article that the "secret cameo" could be Hugh Jackman's Wolverine coming back, which is utterly ridiculous on multiple fronts. The fan hype for the finale made it nearly impossible to live up to, and that's okay to me. It was still a satisfying and action-packed finale that was worthy of the story they were telling with the series. I think this will temper fans expectations for future MCU series on Disney+ and not cause the theories to go into overdrive.
2) ELIZABETH OLSEN DESERVES AWARD RECOGNITION
While the entire cast was strong for the show, Elizabeth Olsen anchored WandaVision with her phenomenal performance. Going through several sitcom eras whilst also portraying Wanda's underlying grief over losing Vision, Olsen really stepped up and showed her range throughout the show. Constantly switching between light hearted sitcom comedy and heartbreaking drama gave viewers a compelling character study of Wanda and who she is. Episode 8'; "Previously On", is one that stands out in particular when Wanda is forced to relive the pain of her past. We often forget sometimes that Wanda has had a very rough go of it across the MCU, losing tons of people along the way. The audience sympathizes with her reasoning of creating the faux world of Westview, even though she essentially takes an entire town hostage and manipulates them against their will.
I would rank Olsen's performance very high across the plethora of actors that have been part of the MCU over the years and she was able to give a performance that just wouldn't be feasible in a theatrical release. I think Olsen at the very least deserves an Emmy nomination come September and I am hoping voters remember her and this show when the time comes. As we've seen with The Mandalorian and many shows that are now primarily streaming, I think the show and Olsen can break into the awards season race and Disney will most likely be actively campaigning for her.
3) MARVEL'S TROLL GAME AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH
When Evan Peters' Quicksilver appeared at the very end of Episode 5: "On a Very Special Episode..." fans lost their minds. For those unaware, Peters played Quicksilver in Fox's X-Men movies, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Quicksilver in the MCU for one Avengers film where he was subsequently killed off. Ever since Disney bought Fox and got the rights to the X-Men characters back fans have been waiting earnestly for the X-Men to appear in the MCU. When Peters arrived, it was clear things were amiss with this Quicksilver but it was brought to a head in the finale to mixed reactions.
The finale revealed that Peters was actually playing Ralph Bohner, the occupant of the house Agatha was living in next door to Wanda and Vision and was most likely the hapless husband Agnes always was referring to. After kidnapping Monica, she was able to stop him and found that the necklace he was wearing was actually keeping him under Agatha's control. So Peters' character is not the Quicksilver from the X-Men universe unfortunately. In theory, Marvel's casting of Peters did its job. It got everyone talking about the episode and the show, even though he did not turn out to be his Quicksilver. Fans were understandably peeved about the reveal, even regarding that Marvel could have casted anyone to play Ralph but in the end, I was okay with it because I've had a feeling that the X-Men coming to the MCU is still ways off, even if the Ralph reveal was kind of a letdown.
In addition to the Ralph Bohner reveal, there was some even more straight up trolling by Paul Bettany a few weeks ago. In an interview, he talked about how another big cameo (after Peters had appeared) was coming from an actor he greatly admired and "always wanted to work with". After Episode 8: "Previously On", the post-credits scene revealing that the White Vision was coming into the MCU, it was clear that Bettany was talking about himself, something he confirmed just before the finale to troll fans. Still, fans held out hope that another big cameo would happen but nothing came by of course. I think that Marvel did a good job of throwing fans off, even if it set unrealistic expectations for the finale. After watching WandaVision, I will definitely be more careful about my imagination running wild on possible theories for future shows!
4) THE POST CREDITS SCENES AND WHAT THEY MEAN
After the finale ended, there were two post credits scenes shown. The first focused on Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), the daughter of Maria Rambeau from Captain Marvel (2019). The agent that leads her to the Westview movie theater is revealed to be a Skrull, shapeshifters who first appeared in Captain Marvel and then across the MCU in other films since, and tells her that a "friend of her mother's" wants to meet her help while pointing up.
The "friend" is almost certainly meant to be Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who was last seen during the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home commanding from a Skrull ship in space. While Parris will be appearing in Captain Marvel 2 next year, the scene serves as a minor set up to Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion is an upcoming Disney+ show that focuses on the Skrulls while Fury is expected to have a leading role. The scene goes to show that Rambeau is expected to have a big role in the MCU going forward, especially with her newfound powers and future as the hero Photon. It will also be interesting to see her finally reunited with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel next year in Captain Marvel 2 after she reacted quite coldly to her name being mentioned in an earlier episode of WandaVision.
The final post-credits scene focused on Wanda. While in seclusion within the mountains at a remote cabin, Wanda is seen taking in the scenery and making some tea. It is revealed that her astral form is reading and studying the Darkhold, a book that Agatha had that contains dark magic and chapters dedicated to the Scarlet Witch. After a moment, Wanda hears her sons cry for help and she immediately sets off to find them.
So what does this mean for Wanda's future? First, the show leads right into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) where Olsen will return as Wanda. The film is expected to focus on the multiverse with Strange traveling across dimensions to fight an "friend turned enemy" and it is rumored that he will serve as a mentor to Wanda, most likely to help her understand and control her new power as the Scarlet Witch. After Vision and her sons disappear when she removes the Hex from Westview, it is possible that her sons are alive in a different universe, something Wanda may or may not know about just yet. I personally think that this scene takes place after Wanda has met with Doctor Strange mainly because of the presence of her astral form, as we saw in Doctor Strange (2016) a similar scene when Strange's astral form is reading books studying the Mystic Arts while his body is sleeping. It will be a interesting dynamic seeing Wanda and Strange working alongside one another, esoceailly as Agatha revealed during the finale that the power of the Scarlet Witch exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme, who is currently Doctor Strange. Chances are we'll have to wait a year before getting any answers to these questions, so its a good thing we have lots of MCU content in the meantime to keep us busy!
WandaVision was a fantastic addition to the MCU and I'm sad to see it ending, but I'm looking forward to the next step of Wanda's journey as it is far from over. We won't have much time to rest from the MCU as Falcon and the Winter Soldier drops its premiere next Friday. Will you be tuning in? What was your favorite part of WandaVision? Let me know in the comments!
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