The biggest clues, predictions & takeaways from WandaVision episodes 1&2
The wait is finally over and the first Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe series, WandaVision, has arrived! With its first two premiere episodes, the story has already established quite the mystery for the remaining seven episodes in the weeks ahead. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest clues, what we can take away from them and what we predict for the characters moving forward!
WARNING: SPOILERS LIE AHEAD FOR WANDAVISION EPISODES 1&2 AND THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
RELATED: Everything is Falling Apart in WandaVision Final Promo
Clues: Memory Loss, False Advertising & Time Shifts
As with any Marvel property, big or small screen, nearly every frame is full of Easter eggs and clues for eagle-eyed comic fans and the first two episodes of WandaVision are not only full of these tidbits, but also hints at what might be going on in the bigger picture of the series.
- First up in the pilot, as Agnes and Wanda prepare for the dinner later in the episode the former can be seen reading an issue of Glamorous magazine entitled “The Husband Issue,” and on its cover a woman can be seen modeling with a ring closer to the camera. However, if one were to look closer at the ring, they may see a symbol on it that looks reminiscent of the counterintelligence agency S.W.O.R.D.
- Nearly halfway through the episode. is the advertisement for the ToastMate, a household cooking product made by none other than Stark Industries. While chances are its inclusion are more indicative of the story’s false reality created by Wanda, therefore implementing a name from her past such as Tony Stark and his company.
- During the dinner sequence in which Wanda and Vision try to impress the latter’s boss and his wife, Wanda uses her powers to set the table and even pour everyone a glass of wine from the winery “Maison Du Mepris”. While the direct translation of this reads as “House of Contempt,” one could read a little further into it as simply the “House of M,” inarguably one of the most iconic storylines in Marvel history that could hold big consequences for the future of the MCU (see Predictions for more info).
- As the group eat dinner and Wanda and Vision are questioned by Mr. and Mrs. Heart about their move to Westview and their history as a couple, the titular duo find themselves at a loss to remember anything about their pasts. While struggling to remember and being grilled by Mr. Heart, he suddenly begins choking on a piece of his steak, but rather than immediately jumping to his aide, the couple sit there for a moment as though they’ve no interest in helping while Mrs. Heart laughingly pleads to make it stop, only for Vision to spring into action as Wanda tells him to help. From the specific word delivery of Mrs. Heart’s request for help to Vision only jumping into action at Wanda’s command, this seems an indicator of something amiss with the world.
- The first episode finishes with the camera panning out from a television monitor watching the ’50s-style-black-and-white sitcom credits of the series to reveal a series of monitors and electrical equipment around while an unknown figure watches and takes notes. In the corner of one of the screens, the logo for S.W.O.R.D. can be seen, confirming their involvement with whatever’s going on in the show.
- The second episode of the series opens with a catchy theme song reminiscent of ’60s sitcoms Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, with the various citizens around town singing the title while the couple travel around the area. While this could easily be written off as everyone simply getting in on the fun, it may hold a darker meaning to Wanda’s connection with the very nature of the world of the series.
- Before heading off to the committee meeting with Agnes and some of the other neighborhood housewives to prepare for the talent show, Wanda finds a toy helicopter, completely in color, in one of the bushes in her front lawn and while examining the item one can see the logo of S.W.O.R.D. once again on the side.
- While chatting with Dottie after the meeting, the veil is once again nearly dropped on reality as she asks just who Wanda is, but before Wanda can dissuade her, they are interrupted by the sound of a voice calling to her via the radio nearby wondering where she is and “who’s doing this to you”. While it offers a crack in what exactly is happening in the world, the voice itself may be hard to hear but does sound vaguely like that of Randall Park, who is slated to reprise his role of Ant-Man FBI agent Jimmy Woo in the series.
- Keeping up the gimmick from the first episode, and one clearly set to appear throughout the series, a false advertisement for a luxury watch from a brand named Strucker appears with the Hydra logo and title appearing within the watch face itself. Those familiar with both the comics and the MCU as a whole should find no immediate surprise with either name’s appearance, but their relevance may prove pretty important in comparison to that of Stark Industries’ name drop in the pilot (See Predictions for more).
- The town’s talent show, which occurs midway through the episode, takes place in front of a department store named Wentworth’s. Though seemingly a generic name for a department store in the ’60s, this name actually could hold a deeper meaning to a notable supervillain from comics past (See Predictions for more).
- As the episode draws to a close, Wanda and Vision investigate a mysterious sound on their street and find a figure in a beekeeper suit with the insects flying around their head emerging from the manhole cover in the middle of their street. Shortly after glimpsing the S.W.O.R.D. logo on the back of their suit, Wanda simply states no and rewinds her and her hubby back into their house, indicating she has some level of control over the reality at hand.
- The final moments of the episode see Wanda and Vision not only transition to a world of color, but also learn that the titular heroine is in fact pregnant with the previously-deceased hero’s child. Given the series offers only a cheeky hint of sex between the couple in its opening and Wanda is clearly months along, the teases continue to increase about the dreamlike nature of the series’ reality.
Takeaways: Wanda’s Escalating Powers, This World Isn’t Real & A Baby?!
Whew, okay so that first hour of television not only dropped plenty of subtle clues as to what we can look forward to in the coming weeks, but also established some major plot points for the series moving forward. First, foremost and quite obvious is that the world of WandaVision is a fragile façade with Elizabeth Olsen’s heroine somehow powering and controlling it all. Second, her powers seem to be greatly increasing as she demonstrates an uncanny ability to not only repair broken items by reversing their breaking, but also to reverse time itself, something previously only seen accomplished with the power of Doctor Strange’s Time Stone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and indicating a dangerous-yet-intriguing evolution of Wanda’s abilities. Third takeaway, which I’ll discuss a little further in predictions, is that the counterintelligence agency known as S.W.O.R.D. is finally making its way to the MCU and are somehow involved with the mystery behind the story. Fourth, and possibly most important, is Wanda and Vision are having a child! Aside from the fact that one of the two has been dead for two films, the rapid growth and appearance of Wanda’s child is quite disconcerting and begs the question of will this be a normal child, a human/machine hybrid or something much worse.
RELATED: CS Video: Kathryn Hahn Talks Joining The MCU With WandaVision
Predictions: Experimentations, False Identities & SWORD
- One of the biggest takeaways from the first two episodes is also open to some of the most wild predictions: S.W.O.R.D. Introduced in Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3 #6 and created by Joss Whedon, the agency originally served as an offshoot of S.H.I.E.L.D. to deal with extraterrestrial threats. In the last MCU film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, we see former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury aboard a spaceship with members of the Skrulls, and though he’s supposed to be on vacation, one can’t help but wonder if he was pondering the creation of a space-set iteration of his former agency and if that also becomes the earthbound replacement investigating the ongoings of the series, especially given a few heroes involved with the group in the comics are ones fans are itching to see introduced in the MCU.
- A subtle Easter egg that begs reading into it far too heavily but, if right, could change the course of the future MCU: “House of M”. Penned by Brian Michael Bendis, the 2005 comic storyline centers on Scarlet Witch as she suffers a mental breakdown following the tragic loss of her children and uses her powers to rewrite reality to try and recreate them. The series, which explored Wanda’s relationship with her brother Pietro and father Magneto, may not be able to be translated to the tee as elements including mutants and Magneto haven’t been introduced to the MCU just yet, but should the wine bottle be more than a subtle nod to this comic past, it could be paving the way for the X-Men’s introduction to the expanding franchise and the series’ connection with the in-development Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- Fans of the MCU and comics should know the names Hydra and Strucker by heart and while the two members of the latter have previously appeared in the franchise, their deaths may indicate to some that the name drop is simply a manifestation of Wanda’s subconscious in the false world from her history as a subject of experimentation at the hands of Baron, but it could actually be far more than that. First off, the MCU has yet to properly meet Andrea and Andreas von Strucker, better known as supervillain duo Fenris in the comics, with their origin story being tweaked to introduce Pietro and Wanda to the franchise, which makes their introduction still possible. Additionally, with the deaths of both Baron and son Werner due to the actions of protagonists, the opportunity is also there for the series to introduce Baron’s wife Elsbeth von Strucker to the fold looking for revenge for their demises and possibly even continuing experiments on the titular heroine, following in the footsteps of her husband.
- Another Easter egg with the possibility of being a simple subtle nod or a groundbreaking introduction, the department store’s name of Wentworth’s could very well be an early set up for the arrival of Deidre Wentworth, better known as supervillain Superia. The Mark Gruenwald and Rik Levins-created character was a recurring enemy for Captain America in the comics and was also at one point the leader of the law enforcement agency H.A.M.M.E.R., which was formed by Norman Osborn and established in the wake of the Skrulls’ occupation of Earth in “Secret Invasion“. Though the Osborns have yet to be introduced in the Tom Holland-fronted Spider-Man franchise, the rumors that Andrew Garfield’s iteration of the webslinger is set to appear in Holland’s third film and the actor’s now-defunct franchise having a surviving member of the Osborn family and the H.A.M.M.E.R. moniker previously making an appearance in ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., chances are high the name’s appearance could be more than a simple coincidence.
What did you think of the first two episodes of WandaVision? Catch any Easter eggs we missed or predictions we didn’t put together? Let us know below!
WandaVision
-
WANDAVISION
-
WANDAVISION
-
WANDAVISION
-
WANDAVISION
-
WandaVision
-
WandaVision
-
WandaVision
-
WandaVision
-
WandaVision
-
WandaVision