Another week, another round of questions from episode 5 of WandaVision. This week I think it’s fair to say more mysteries were ignited rather than solved, but some running theories have maintained. Take a look back at my previous theories for the first 4 episodes here.
As always, major spoilers for ‘WandaVision’ episode 5 ahead.
The first thing I want to mention was one particular moment that stuck out in my mind from this entire episode (even that huge reveal at the end), and it came when Vision unearthed Norm’s suppressed (true) self from under the hold of the sitcom. Last week came the “big bombshell” that this is all Wanda, but I’ve never bought it. It was too early and too easy for Marvel to say this is just Wanda; unless you’re making Wanda the big bad, that doesn’t further the MCU that just closed up its first full chapter with Avengers: Endgame (which I suspect The Falcon and the Winter Soldier brings an even more solid end to with the potential death of elder Steve Rogers, which is why it was originally slotted to be first). So why was Norm’s moment significant? He never said a name.
From my previous mad theorizing I’ve landed on two suspicious entities in Westview — Agnes and Dottie. Agnes got even more weird in the episode which we’ll touch on shortly, and Dottie is still just a mystery. Neither of them were identified by the FBI as a missing person as the other less known to viewers residents of Westview have (although Agnes is on the wall, with no ID below her, while Dottie is just not even present despite her having a prominent role in episode 2). When Norm is snapped out of the Westview Anomaly by Vision he begs Vision to “stop her,” “make her stop.” So far, all three of our suspects are women — Wanda, Agnes, and Dottie — so while nothing gets cleared up, nothing is ruled out either.
Since the first few episodes, Agnes has been highly theorized as Agatha Harkness and Dottie potentially as Mephisto. Nothing new came out on the Dottie front as she wasn’t even featured in this episode (though we do know she makes a comeback at some point from trailer footage), but Agnes is extra suspicious now.
Throughout this entire episode, everything to do with Agnes was off — and Vision is on to it. From her comment about having “tricks up her sleeve,” to not batting an eye when Tommy and Billy grow five years before her eyes not once but twice and Wanda manifests a collar out of thin air, she’s completely unfazed. Vision himself is taken aback (finally) at Agnes uncanny ability to always have what they need when they need it, too. Whether it’s an entire five-course meal, some spare time to help with their babies, or even a dog kennel when the twins find a random dog in the yard, Agnes has got their backs. Then of course, was the odd “break” at the beginning of the episode.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen that Agnes is in on the Westview Anomaly. We saw it in episode 3 when she shushed Herb as he was about to spill some beans to Vision about why outsiders had taken interest in Westview. That alone made Herb suspicious but his good name has been cleared as he’s been identified as a missing person. When she breaks the scene because Vision didn’t go along with what Wanda “wanted,” which was for Agnes to hold the babies, it proved that she certainly knows exactly who Wanda is and what she’s doing.
What was interesting about this however was Agnes asking about Wanda’s ability to raise the dead after Sparky had died. (MCU Wanda’s ability to do this is still unclear, comic Scarlet Witch indeed can.) If she was as in on it as we all believed, she would know Wanda had risen Vision from the dead. So either Vision wasn’t resurrected by Wanda after all, or Agnes isn’t as close to the situation as we believe. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But I still suspect Agnes is Wanda’s mentor Agatha Harkness (it would explain why she’s always helping, and never suspicious, but also cautious) however, one could make a case for her being a villain of a more sinister and larger scale.
On the topic of Vision, his actual status is getting murky. In episode 4 we saw a very clear flash of dead Vision, but it was never expanded upon if that was a figment of Wanda’s grief or his actual status beneath the reality-bending spell Westview is under. It’s confirmed that Wanda stole Vision’s corpse nine days earlier than the present day from S.W.O.R.D. as well. However, it only gets more confusing as Vision can clearly still use his Mind Stone given powers when he snaps Norm back into his true self, and even all those times he took to the sky. Wanda also was unable to control him (even though she said she could), and Jimmy Woo brought up the question we ourselves are now asking — how can he do any of this without the Mind Stone? How is he here without the Mind Stone? I brought up the wild and out there theory that Wanda may have made a deal with Mephisto for Vision … it’s still plausible.
Tommy and Billy also got much stranger this episode. They’re impervious to Wanda’s abilities, even as newborns, and they can age themselves older as they please without any help from mom. Is it because they’re half Mephisto and Mephisto is behind this, leading to Wanda not being able to control them? (Same as Vision …)
Long before the series ever premiered, Wanda herself, Elizabeth Olsen, said that here in WandaVision we will see Wanda become the Scarlet Witch. They made a very obvious reference to Wanda still not having a superhero “alias” here in this episode, so that adds the fuel to the fire that after this series she’ll have her comic moniker. Another clue to that is Darcy and Monica now referring to Westview as “The Hex.” Having Wanda become the Scarlet Witch versus just Wanda would also weave her upcoming appearance (alliance?) with Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even tighter.
At this point it really seems like Marvel wants us to believe that Wanda is the only one pulling the strings (especially after that face off with S.W.O.R.D.), but they’re leaving clues that that may not be the case. Jimmy acknowledged that this is far beyond any power that Wanda has exhibited before. While Monica brings up her almost taking out Thanos singlehandedly as proof that’s a moot point, I’d have to agree with Jimmy. Of course, this is not out of reach for comic Wanda, but the two characters are so vastly different sometimes it’s hard to really compare the two. But, are we possibly trying to merge MCU Wanda with comic Scarlet Witch now? Yes.
The big reveal — Pietro, but not MCU Pietro. So how does this fit in? How does this work? Your guess is as good as mine, but my (farfetched) theory is something relating to introducing Magneto (the Fassbender version).
Obviously seeing the Evan Peters version of Pietro (or should we say Peter?) in the MCU was … unexpected. It raises so many bizarre questions — how does she know this is Pietro? Why this version? Is this an introduction to a Multiverse in some way?
The show itself acknowledges the “recast” of Pietro to Peters from Aaron Taylor-Johnson, so this is no weird casting swap because Johnson wasn’t available (and if so, this is a messy fix.) We know the X-Men are a new acquisition by Disney/Marvel and they’re certainly using this as an entry way into the Universe for those characters, so who else but Magneto would this be a perfect time to introduce?
In the comics, Wanda and Pietro are the children of Magneto and mutants from birth, unlike their MCU counterparts. Magneto plays a huge role in the comic series that WandaVision most closely resembles, House of M, where Wanda essentially loses her mind and creates an alternate reality, complete with Tommy and Billy and some assistance from Doctor Strange (I know you’re sick of me saying it but, he plays into this series somehow!)
Olsen has said there is a Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian-like reveal in WandaVision, and I should hope that it’s someone bigger than Quicksilver (no offense to him, but he’s no Luke Skywalker.) Magneto, however, fits that bill. It would introduce the mutants into the MCU, and possibly give us a new twist on more of Wanda and Pietro’s backstory — like why were they the only two experiments to survive at the hands of HYDRA? Magneto still someone being involved in their lineage could explain that. And yes, if I had to guess, the Multiverse will be involved in how Peter/Pietro/Quicksilver looking like Evan Peters found his way there, and it has big implications. Who got him there, for one?
Another little ember for the Magneto being part of Wanda’s lineage is the constant mentioning of her past and parents. Episode 5 mentioned them in the briefing at the S.W.O.R.D. base and many have theorized that the two actors in the commercial breaks are meant to actually be the Maximoffs, who died when the twins were 10. While that seemed like a more minor detail before this episode, it may be much larger in the grand scheme now.
Of course, Peters’ Pietro could also be the villain in disguise to throw Wanda off even more, but I don’t see the purpose in making him a new face from Aaron Taylor-Johnson for that purpose.
For those keeping up with those commercial breaks in episodes, this week brought us a flashback to Lagos from Captain America: Civil War. The incident that bore the Sokovia Accords, which also got a shout-out this week. If we’re keeping track, that would mean the death of Pietro was skipped in the representation trauma timeline. Because he’s no longer dead?
And finally, some super sleuths have uncovered a few possible hints in the most recent WandaVision poster that was released. One, the figure above Jimmy Woo bears a crazy close resemblance to the beekeeper/Artificial Intelligence expert from episodes 2 and 4, so he’ll be making another appearance with a more important role if that’s correct. Then, there’s the red box above. Hidden there in the floral wallpaper is what really appears to a devil a.k.a Mephisto, down to the signature collar and hair. Did Marvel make that to string audiences along? At this point it’s just as likely as it being Mephisto. Only time will tell. Time that is moving very slowly between episode … but the slow burn is so good, right?
The sixth episode of WandaVision will be out next Friday, February 12 on Disney+ and catastrophe is coming in hot.
