After two or three weeks of some fans struggling with WandaVision being so far off their expectations for an MCU entry, this weeks episode kicked it all up into high gear. The cat is out of the bag now as we can start to get a clearer view of just what the hell is going on.
Be Warned… There Are Rampant Spoilers Below
This week we primarily got to see outside the town of Westview, after we saw Geraldine forcibly expelled by a Wanda who seemed to snap out of a perfect sitcom trance momentarily. That ended up with Geraldine surrounded by soldiers in the present day.
This week it is all about the outside, all about SWORD and the show is placed firmly in the MCU timeline via a brilliant cold open that sees the millions of people erased by The Snap suddenly ushered back into existence. Geraldine was confirmed as Monica Rambeau, daughter of the now deceased character from Captain Marvel and SWORD operative.
We learned the origin of the beekeeper and the toy helicopter, who the voice on the radio was, and why there are some strange time jumps in the sitcom world. We got to understand that there is an energy field surrounding the town and many people seemingly have no knowledge of this town even existing.
Darcy from Thor and Thor: The Dark World, now a fully fledged astro-physicist in her own right, blew this world wide open and confirmed what we suspected:
“It’s Wanda, it’s all Wanda!”
In case we had any doubts about the fate of Vision following Avengers: Infinity War then that was also settled once and for all too.
So that’s it then? Case closed. We know exactly what is going on right? …Wrong!
While this blows the whole thing open it poses just as many questions as it answers. Is this really Wanda doing this? If so, why? What could possibly be the goal? Does she even know she is doing it? Is she doing it willingly? Do SWORD need to worry?
One of the most intriguing things is how anything entering the bubble is immediately altered to fit the reality of inside the bubble. A drone becomes a toy helicopter, a SWORD agent in protective gear becomes a beekeeper. Monica Rambeau becomes friendly neighbor Geraldine. Why is that even happening?
Just as perplexing is why every single resident of Westview that SWORD identified from the TV is linked with a real identity with a New Jersey driving license except Agnes (Kathryn Hahn)? What does New Jersey have to do with this and why is Agnes seemingly exempt?
The sitcom format isn’t over. The investigation angle will not be the only action going forward. A new trailer for the show, building on the revelations of this episode, is out there. It shows scenes seemingly modelled after newer sitcoms. Some online commentators have said that Wanda talking to the camera is akin to Modern Family.
If Vision is dead, and this is all Wanda’s mental creation, why is Vision sentient enough to try to figure out what’s going on in Westview? He has been the constant source of questioning and discomfort with this presented reality? He’s clearly still an integral character for the remainder of the run and, don’t forget, will appear in a form of vintage Vision costume soon.
Efforts to penetrate the shield will definitely be made. The trailer shows a brief snippet of a special vehicle colliding with the shield and also a shot of a driver or pilot, perhaps behind the controls of that same vehicle?
Maybe the loud noises that woke up Wanda and Vision in episode 1 were the noise of this vehicle arriving? Did it immediately become a car with big fins to fit into this world?
There is still almost too much to take in and speculate on. No further reveals or even hints I have seen of either Grim Reaper or Mephisto outside the ones we have already discussed in our previous speculation threads here, and here. Will a villain be revealed? And if Wanda is creating this world herself why isn’t her dear brother Pietro appearing?
Final episode will the 5th March, then we will apparently be seeing Wanda again in the as yet untitled Spider-Man 3, before Doctor Strange 2 continues this story.
Which brings us to a further conundrum – COVID-19. Everything is at least a year late, but with an MCU that now exists in a mix of Disney+ shows and movies, how long is it before the whole thing has to be halted again because the shows are ready to roll but the movies have no route to market due to a depressed theatre landscape? Will WandaVision leave us hanging while we have to wait another year? If this whole new Phase is linked then the plan must mean an order has to be preserved?
Outposters… to the Disqus for rampant speculation!
