After over 500 days of no new Marvel content, the MCU is back with Wandavision.
The Disney Plus series has a lot to unpack and throughout this video we’re gonna be breaking down episodes 1 and 2, pointing out the easter eggs, giving our theories and explaining the ending. Up top, we’re gonna be dropping some big fan theories and then we’ll continue with our more traditional breakdown.
Vision’s Alive?
Now the last time we saw Vision he was giving a piece of his mind to Thanos and Wanda was moping around after the Avengers saved the universe. Cheer up love it’s a funeral.
Now the series itself picks up with us having very little idea over what it is that’s exactly going on and why the characters are in this strange 1950s sitcom world.
Now in death, Vision actually turned grey and this was very similar to his silver costume in the comics that became a big part of the character. Though we know from the trailers that won’t remain I love the black and white aesthetic here that sort of ties into that Easter Egg and who knows he may turn back to being grey at some point.
Trailer Clue
As for Wanda, she has clearly created this pocket dimension and though we don’t know exactly what’s going on just yet there was a big clue in one of the tv spots that was recently released. Now I just wanna give a huge shoutout to @kwistatz on Twitter for sending me this through and the trailer ends as most do with a voice-over announcing when it’s coming out. However instead of saying streaming Friday, it sounds like he says ‘dreaming Friday’ and when you turn on closed captions you can see that this is indeed the case.
This mistake seems deliberate and to me, it’s hinting that Wanda is actually dreaming this entire reality and due to her powers it may have manifested. This could mean that the character is actually asleep at the centre of it all and the reality is building up around her.
The characters that we see could have been sucked into this and this is why they are unable to remember what’s going on outside of their reality. The people that we see the pair interact with could be doctors or psychologists on the outside trying to help her with her grief and they’ve become trapped in the dimension unable to escape from it.
Visions Tie also could be hinting at people being enclosed in something and from what we see it has a rectangle with two dots inside of it. These two dots could represent both Wanda and Vision who are trapped inside this box that the former has dreamt up.
Anyway this dreaming instead of streaming small thing so it may have nothing going on but I definitely thought I’d drop that in before we get deeper into what’s going on. There are rumours that Nightmare is going to be a big villain in Doctor Strange 2 and that this show will tie directly into that so dreams and nightmares, in general, could reflect the way that things are going forward.
Meet Agnes
Now that brings us to another big character who could in fact have helped Wanda create this reality. Kathryn Hahn is playing a nosy neighbour named Anges. Throughout the trailers, we’ve seen that she actually appears as a witch at one point and this to me solidifies the theory that she is Agatha Harkness. If you take the first syllable of her first name i.e. Ag and then add the last syllable of her surname i.e. Ness and push them together you get Agnes so to me for the moment it does line up.
Recently she was shown in the posters wearing a stone around her neck which is also a common motif of Agatha Harkness so things do start to line up slightly.
She seems to just be having a blast and in case you don’t know Agatha herself is a witch that is over thousands of years old. In the comics, she’s been both an ally and villain to Wanda but she could have helped her to create the reality. Hell she may even be working for Nightmare herself and perhaps what they’re doing will be similar to how Loki was the big bad of the Avengers but Thanos was actually the one behind the scenes controlling it all.
Sitcom Theme
Now as for the episodes themselves they actually call back to several old sitcoms from the 50s and 60s. The Dick Van Dyke show Never Bathe of Saturday features a dress that Wanda wears at one point. There’s also an episode of Bewitched that features a variety of acts which is similar to Wanda and Vision dressing up. So ey, nice that they’re paying homage to what’s come before.
Entering Westview
We join them as they drive towards Westview having just been married. In Infinity War the pair’s dream was to always run away together so it makes sense that they’d escape to the fictional location of Westview.
Now in story writing when things go west it means that they’ve either fallen apart or have changed from what they originally were. This term originates from the first world war and thus it carries some significance here. A west view of the world would mean that things have changed drastically which is likely why this dimension is the way that it is.
I don’t know what TV shows Wanda got growing up but clearly, they have influenced her into creating this idyllic world. Vision is a character that could not be brought back because of the snap and thus Wanda has likely held a grudge against reality so that is why she has created her own.
Now on top of the tv shows this setting is also inspired by the graphic novel Vision by Tom King. In that, the character lived out the ideal life with a manufactured family but things slowly start to fall apart.
In the background, we can hear a jolly old theme tune and Vision hides his face from the mailman purely because he’s not in his human form. They enter the house which is numbered 2800. This could be a reference to Earth-2800 from Marvel Comics though that might be a reach. Now though they are married at this point we discover later on that they don’t have rings which shows the contradictions in the world and where things don’t line up.
In complete opposite to the MCU, we see Vision with a newspaper and when you look at the headline it states ‘Little Baby Jane First Word Tickles Mother.’ On Earth-616 people had been dead for five years so for this to be taking up the front page shows how disconnected everything is. It also shows how pristine and perfect that this world is even though everyone should be miserable.
Yaaay depression.
Vision’s dress code in general is very similar to the husband from Bewitched and it’s nice that they’ve paid this close attention even down to the costume design.
Calendar Panic
Now we discover on the calendar that their anniversary is on the 23rd. This number 23 could also be a reference to the 23 MCU films that have come before this series and it holds special significance in several ways. On top of the number is a heart which ties into Visions Boss coming over for dinner who just so happened to be called Mr Hart.
This could be a reference to Agent Hart of Johnathan Hart from the comics. Both are quite high-powered beings and though I don’t think this guy will go forward to be a super-powered hero, it could be setting things up.
Agnes comes over and discusses her anniversary being on June 2nd, this is actually the day that the Marvel digital store closed and it just so happens to be my dad’s birthday.
So…all connected.
Superspeed
We see Vision at work moving at super speed and at the end of the second episode discover that Wanda is pregnant. From trailers, we know that the pair are having twins and these will likely be Wiccan and Speed. The superspeed that Vision displays here will clear be inherited and thus it’s laying the groundwork for things to come.
Now throughout both episodes are commercials for products. In the first one, we see a Stark Industries toaster which carries a lot with it. From Wanda’s back story we know that a Stark missile landed in front of her when she was a child and because it didn’t explode, she and her brother were forced to look at it for a while.
Stark holds a lot over her young life as does Strucker whose watch appears as a commercial in the second entry. That has a Hydra logo on it and he was revealed as being one of their agents who had been experimenting on Wanda and Pietro.
Now the toaster starts to flash red and I believe that this is the outside world, namely the agents of SWORD trying to infiltrate her reality. They would likely be using Stark tech to do this as his industry is laced throughout the majority of 616 society.
In case you don’t know who the agents of SWORD are, they basically deal with space and interdimensional issues. Whereas SHIELD deals with problems on earth, they go beyond that but they are likely doing this on earth because Marvel Studios hate the agents of shield now for someone reason.
Bring back Daisy!
Dinner Party
Now Mr and Mrs Hart arrive at the Vision’s, the latter of which is played by Debra Jo Rupp who you may know from the sitcom That 70s Show which the series will likely be riffing on.
Agnes comes over and helps Wanda to prepare and when the table is getting made we can see a wine bottle with the letter M on the neck. On the label, itself is Maison Du Mepris and this translate to House of Contempt.
The use of M here and house of course ties into House of M which is a story that heavily relates to this. At the end of the run, Wanda actually wiped out the majority of mutants on earth however here it could be possible that she births them into existence which could mean that the X-men can feature in the show going forward.
Now the group all sit around and have dinner and the boss starts to go wild when trying to find out what their history is. Again this could tie into him being a doctor or psychologist and he is remembering his life outside the dimension in which he was trying to find out what’s going on.
The last time my boss spoke to me like that I quit my job to do YouTube full time…ey you having that?
Breaking the Illusion
Wanda clearly isn’t too happy either about them asking deep and personal questions and Mr Hart starts to choke. It is rumoured that in Doctor Strange 2 that the ‘madness’ in the title in the Multiverse of Madness will be her. Mrs Hart pretty much breaks through the illusion in order to tell her to stop making him choke and it’s clear that she wants to remain in this reality and will cause issues for all those that try and take her out of it.
The pair leave, seemingly even unable to remember the events that have just transpired showing that Wanda can also alter the consciousness of those trapped in the space. The end of the episode has us cut out to an Agent of SWORD watching things play out on the screen and in episode 2 they send in what looks like a drone before a beekeeper climbs out of the sewer at the end.
On his back is a logo of the agency so we can assume that they are one and the same.
Episode 2
Now jump over to episode two and this time we see an animated intro for the series. This is extremely similar to the one used for I dream of Genie which this episode is clearly aping on.
We watch Wanda and Vision preparing for a magic act that they perform later in the episode. On the cabinet that the pair use we can see the mind stone which is of course a big part of visions character.
The extent of what’s going on also stretches beyond that as we discover that the act’s name is Glamour and Illusion. Everything going on in the show is of course an illusion and this could hint that even Wanda is subconsciously aware of what’s going on.
Now the people in and around her could either be trapped or part of the illusion.
Mephisto and Grim Reaper Rumours
There are rumours that both the grim reaper and Mephisto will be appearing in the show and if I had to put money on who they are I would probably guess the mailman Dennis and maybe Dotty. There really are a range of possibilities over who they all could be but in the meantime that’s who I’d put my money on them being.
Dennis of course travels the town looking in on people through the guise of being a mailman and Dotty pretty much controls all the ins and outs of the town. From Agnes we learn that she’s infiltrated all parts of the city and is the key to everything, making me believe that she is a higher power.
However, she does bleed showing that she’s not actually in control of reality so maybe her being in control is a misdirect.
Monica Rambeau
Now at the meeting, we are also re-introduced to Monica Rambeau who we last saw as a kid in Captain Marvel. From behind-the-scenes images, we know that she is actually an Agent of SWORD and if you know her from the comics then you’ll be well aware that there’s a lot in store for her.
In the comic books, Rambeau actually becomes a hero known as Photon and thus she may end up gaining these abilities by being in the reality.
Not Getting It
Now vision ends up eating chewing gum and this gets clogged in his gears and makes him seem drunk. Honestly, this performance really didn’t gel with me that much and I have to say that on the whole, I’m a bit unsure over the whole concept.
I’m not sure if this is gonna work for 9 episodes and to me, it feels like an art project that is going on a bit too long. It’s really hard to gel with right now because we don’t really know what’s happening behind the scenes and I wish that we at least had some set-up to give context to the events because I feel like a lot of people will become lost due to the strangeness of it.
However, these are only the first two episodes so it may grow on me as things progress. Marvel is often accused of not taking chances and they do here but I just feel like the concept is a bit too short to sustain interest without knowing more about what’s going on behind the scenes.
Magic Show
Anyway, the pair do a magic show in which Vision actually carries out miracles and Wanda must cover for him to make it so that they don’t stand out. I guess they never saw the prestige because a magic show is the only place you can get away with stuff like this but they cover it up to the point that even the dude who looks like David Schwimmer didn’t realise.
Bro, I bet he gets called that all the time and if you’re watching this then I’m sorry for doing such a played-out joke.
Now after the gum is pulled out from Vision they’re awarded the prize from Dotty and it looks like things are gonna be just swell.
What Does The Beekeeper Mean?
The pair return to their house and Wanda wishes herself into pregnancy after saying that the children will need popcorn. The pair are interrupted by a noise from outside and this is where they encounter the beekeeper. Now there have been a lot of theories that this is Mephisto but due to the SWORD logo on his back, I highly doubt it.
The bees swarming around him are creepy as hell but I just feel like that’s part of the costume and nothing more. Of course, let me know if I’m wrong though.
Changing Reality
Wanda then rewinds time and completely changes reality to be A 70s show. Is that even a pun? We know that going forward the era in which episode 3 takes place will be that one and it’ll finally add a bit of colour to the proceedings. Now as mentioned earlier the twins will be born and these will be the mutants Wiccan and Speed.
This opens the door not only to mutants in the MCU but a lot more.
SWORD Gets Through
We end with the radio broadcast saying who’s doing this to you Wanda which does confirm that there is an outside force but due to the dreaming comment I think that they might have just enabled Wanda to bring it on herself rather than forcing her through it.
Review
As a whole I did feel like this was a bit all over the place and even judging some of the early social media reactions it seems very divisive. Marvel has made 23 great films though so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt this time we will see what happens in the next one.-
Anyway, that wraps up the first two episodes and I’d of course love to hear your thoughts on it. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that they loved it, a lot of people confused and some are just saying that this is the worst MCU thing that they’ve ever seen. so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
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