From the very first episodes of Disney+’s WandaVision, one of the main questions has been: who is the villain? So many theories and possibilities have been tossed around, one even being Wanda herself, but the most popular pick for WandaVision‘s big bad has been the demon, Mephisto.
With the defeat of Thanos finally complete at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel is no doubt looking for the next big, big bad of Phase 4 and possibly beyond, and Mephisto certainly fits that bill. Marvel’s version of the devil himself, Mephisto has an arsenal of deadly powers at his disposal, ones that would give the new magic-wielding veterans of the Avengers, such as Dr. Strange and Wanda Maximoff, a run for their money.
Mephisto has been mentioned and hinted at a fair bit throughout WandaVision thus far, with the most recent coming in episode 6.
The most obvious comes from Pietro (who is an entirely different anomaly). As Tommy and Billy head out to start their trick-or-treating adventure, Pietro calls out, “Unleash Hell, demon spawn!” after them, and well, that’s accurate. Billy and Tommy are demon spawn. In the original comics Billy and Tommy are created both with Wanda’s powers and two shards of Mephisto’s soul that Wanda unknowingly pulled. While the boys meet a very quick and untimely demise in West Coast Avengers at the hand of their … father? … before returning years later as Wiccan and Speed, the MCU very well could be skipping that aspect of the story and keeping the boys as they are.
The twins are impervious to Wanda’s powers so there’s something else at work there, and the boys being half Mephisto would certainly be a good reason for it. Wiccan and Speed also don’t possess the ability to age themselves, but WandaVision‘s Billy and Tommy do. This level of magic is certainly on par with Mephisto.
One of Mephisto’s power is the art of the magical deal, and he favors very powerful beings to make them with. Who’s more powerful than Wanda Maximoff? We know Wanda has been through more trauma than any one person should have to shoulder, especially within the last few years and the death of Vision and Pietro. If anyone was going to make a deal for anything to ease her suffering, it’s her.
In the Malcolm in the Middle themed WandaVision opening credits, Vision is seen reading the newspaper, and the front page may show yet another sign that Mephisto is involved, and that Wanda made a deal. The front page reads “[other?]worldly deals!” with a television from Westview Appliances. Subtle, but aren’t all good things in Marvel subtle?
Also in the opening credits is a very strange drawing on the fridge with not four, but five family members. And one of those family members looks a tad … fiery. The placement is also interesting, with the unknown fifth (demonic) member next to one twin while Wanda is beside the other. (Sparky is also beside Vision, RIP Sparky).
We can’t leave this without also mentioning this was episode 6, do with that what you will.
The first six episodes of WandaVision are currently streaming on Disney+.
Bonus
When watching the opening credits, Pietro is the only person to get “As Himself” added after his name. Suspicious both because why wouldn’t he be himself, and adding those letters makes it possible to spell out Mephisto …
