#one thing i love about the wandavision agatha all along corner of the mcu is that like

[thisischaostragic]

okay....... so........ i think agatha all along is gonna have a happy ending....... walk with me here........

we know jac schaeffer is intentional about meta-commentary and structures very good character arcs. wandavision wasn't needlessly devastating; it was devastating because grief is devastating.

i was initially thinking that agatha all along was gonna be a redemption story with a general "selfish to willing to sacrifice" arc, but her morality doesn't actually seem to be the main narrative concern (which i think is cool btw). the story is about all of the ways in which agatha has walled herself off from vulnerability because she never wants to lose anyone again. so... whereas wanda needed to accept loss, agatha in fact needs to accept love.

and.... and... the decision to have this particular arc with a queer character, with a queer ensemble of outcasts, and calling the show a "love letter" to the community..... feeling like jac schaeffer and the very queer creative team might actually understand the dangers of writing queerness as perpetual tragedy...... if i am to take this all seriously............ then....... i am beginning to suspect that agatha all along may indeed be trying to say that it's not too late to find the people willing to love you as you are....... we will see.......

[sokovianfortune]

do you believe that Dr strange 2 did something good for Wanda's character? because...with the billy reveal...it just feels like she died and killed for nothing....it irritates me because she deserves so much better

hi anon! i’m going to preface this by saying that i think i’m in the minority of wanda fans who very genuinely enjoys multiverse of madness, so that very much colors my view in regards to this question and i will very much be answering from this perspective. just. putting that out on the table.

the short answer here is yes, i think in terms of the characters she’s going to be interacting with in the future - particularly agatha and vision - multiverse of madness gave wanda some interesting plot threads to follow. i personally find the idea that she’s going to have people in her life that have also had experiences with a loss of agency via an outside party really intriguing! even if it’s not directly explored in canon, it’s interesting for me to think and write about — especially considering that i think she’d be quick to forgive them and subsequently be forced to reckon with the fact that this is hypocritical if she doesn’t forgive herself.

(although i’m not exactly sure how much this applies to agatha, considering that we haven’t had too much in the way of darkhold lore dropped just yet, but i have to assume we’re getting there eventually!)

also i’m not sure how much i can agree with wanda dying for nothing when she’s very much not permadead! imo as much as i adore agatha all along, it and vision quest probably wouldn’t exist if wanda wasn’t coming back. idk where this notion of “wanda’s side characters are all getting projects but not her” came from but i find it very silly. she is very much haunting this narrative for a reason. they’re literally building her and her family their own little private corner of the mcu.

long answer: i think what people tend to miss most about wanda’s arc in multiverse of madness is that it is a tragedy. for all that she is a villain/antagonist, she’s framed with a lot of sympathy by the narrative. people like to point to her in this movie as an example of the hysterical woman trope and i just. i don’t see it? we spend a lot of time with wanda in MoM. we understand her motivations and despite the things that she does to achieve them, we’re very much supposed to feel sad at the end! there are always going to be contrarians, of course, but frankly, they are just. not worth listening to. people who dislike wanda aren’t magically going to change their minds even if she does everything “right” going forward.

to me, billy having been alive and well in eastview reads the same as wanda not going to look for vision after MoM: it just goes to reinforce how powerful an influence the darkhold was on her mind. judging by the end credits scene in wandavision, i have to assume that the darkhold took the panic and fear of hearing her children cry out to her for help and used that to manipulate her — because otherwise, i can’t imagine her being tempted by any promises of power it might have made her. her children being in danger, though? surely it’s fine if she punches a few holes in the fabric of reality about that. they need her.

and isn’t that scary? how fully and completely this book can take hold of and almost consume someone as powerful as the scarlet witch? so completely, in fact, that any remaining traces of her own family can’t reach her? narratively speaking, i don’t think we’re supposed to look at wanda in MoM through the lens of a hysterical woman any more than we are regan from the exorcist or any other victim of demonic possession. there is something evil puppeteering her from within and we, the audience who loves wanda, are meant to be horrified by how far it’s forced her to fall.

but, and this is the most important part, at the end, wanda breaks free. her will and sense of self are so strong that, when faced with the reality of what she’s done, wanda defies both one of the most corruptive magical forced in our world and a prophecy that is perhaps as old as time itself. she leaves those variants of her boys with their mother and, in her ��final” moments, does everything within her power at that moment to set everything she did wrong as right again as she possibly can. she “dies” a hero, even if stephen is the only one who knows it. 

is multiverse of madness what i would have done with wanda in the wake of wandavision? probably not! but i’m not the one calling the shots and, to be honest, if marvel was set on giving her a villain arc, this was probably the best we were going to get. keep all of that stuff contained to one movie where it’s made very clear that wanda is not herself (“it corrupts everything and everyone that it touches — i wonder what it’s done to you.” / “wanda’s gone. she has the darkhold and the darkhold has her.”), give us a few interesting plot threads and send us and her on our merry way to the redemption arc. i much prefer that over dragging it all out over a couple of avengers movies. blegh.

so no, i don’t think the billy reveal changes anything unless you’re one of those chodes on twitter who can’t consume media without constantly pointing out when characters make bad decisions for narrative reasons and harping on about how they would have made smarter ones. which, on the whole, i think is a very silly and childish way to engage with media. if characters didn’t make mistakes and were never wrong, we wouldn’t have stories — not interesting ones, anyway.

i hope this answers your question! i have a lot of feelings about Why Multiverse Of Madness Is Good Actually.

[mackeydoodledoo]

Promises

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Cassia Beryl (Fem!Demigod), Agnes/Agatha Harkness x Cassia Beryl (Fem!Demigod) [Non-romantic]

Summary: For as long as you've been existing, you posess powers of a God. The Greek God of the ocean to be specific. Knowing Wanda since Ultron. You vowed to protect Wanda. Keeping her promise to Vision before the mind stone was ripped from him. When you rescue Wanda's kids from a witch named Agatha Harkness, using your godly abilities, she begins seeing something in you that she hasn't seen in a very, very long time.

Warning(s): WandaVision Finale Spoilers

A/N: hi, I recently finished Wandavision and let me tell you I'm bittersweet. Cassia Beryl is my MCU Character!

--------------------------------------

As you peek around the corner, you notice two kids being held by some kind of purple magic string. If i can sneak over there I can get those kids out of there. And that’s exactly what you do. You bob and weave through backyard after backyard until you're directly next to the witch. 

"This is Chaos Magic Wanda, and that makes you the Scarlet-" 

You throw your trident that pierces right through the magic, disappearing. Your trident lands into the ground on the other side of the road. 

"She really is special," you smirk, slapping the witch with water and picking up the boys 

"Cass?.." Wanda calls out to you 

"Hey Wans," you smile, turning to her 

"Mom!" One boy said, running to her as you let them down 

Mom? She's.. a mom? You were given a mission, from the Rambeau; Monica, to try and save Wanda from spiraling down into a Villain. You were pretty close with Wanda, considering how the two of you both joined after the Battle of Sokovia. 

"Get inside boys!" She replies, "Go in your rooms!" 

You watch Wanda's boys head into their house, you hold your hand out, your glove glowing. Your trident comes back toward you. You catch it with no recoil on the impact. 

"It can't be...." Agatha says, breathlessly, looking at you 

"Can't be what?" You ask 

"I know those colored eyes anywhere," she replies, "You're-you're Poseidon's kid!" 

"And? Your point is?" You snarl back, "I want NOTHING to do with my father!" 

Angered, you propel water from your feet and use it to kick Agatha into towns Square. With Wanda in tow. You watch Wanda throw one of her Psonic power however, you notice how Agatha absorbs it rather than falling back. 

"Wans?..." you call, noticing her black tipped fingers 

"I absorb your magic," Agatha speaks, "It's kinda my thing." 

You walk over to Wanda and feel her hands and try to rub off the black. Even with your water powers nothing came off. 

"I'll handle this," you say before your neck is wrapped with purple magic and you're dragged back 

As you turned around you feel your hands wrapped, unable to hydro kenesis. 

"Cass!" Wanda calls 

You wanted to let out a snarl but feeling the magic wrapped around your neck getting tighter. 

"You and I have a lot to catch up on darling," Agatha smirks before she's finally knocked back by Wanda 

Trying to gather your bearings, vision fuzzy, you begin falling. Expecting to hit the solid ground below you, you were wrong. But feeling a familiar, soothing feeling. It felt like a water current but you knew it wasn't water, cuz when you opened your eyes Wanda was standing in front of you. 

"Are you hurt?" Wanda asks, her accent coming in 

"I almost got choked to death," you laugh, getting up to stand by her side, "But other than that I'm dandy." 

You look over and Wanda's hands are continuing to turn black. 

"You built this town to feed your need to have Vision back," Agatha states, "You make these people feel your pain." 

You and Wanda look over and you see a lady's eyes turn gold and then back to normal. 

"Dottie?" Wanda asks, as she's walking over to the two of you 

"My name is Sarah actually," she says, "I have a daughter, Eight years old. I can't see her, she's locked in her room, if you could let me see her please." 

As Agatha 'frees' everyone from Wanda's unintentional mind control, they all begin ranting on about how they have families outside of Westview and how they wanna leave. You pull Wanda into your arms tk try and calm her down as she was beginning to break. However, she loses it and begins putting red magic around the people, excluding yourself. 

"No, I'm sorry," she cries, releasing her magic from them 

Without thinking, she begins releasing her magic against the barrier. 

"Everyone out, now!" Wanda commands 

As they begin running, you begin hearing military trucks... 

"Hayward... that lying rat!" You yell 

However, before you could reach them, they reached you. Westview Vision and Wanda's kids join up with you two. However, almost dissipating... Wanda closes the Hex, regaining their form. 

"Boys, take care of the military," Wanda demands, as Vision becomes occupied with white Vision, "Mommy will be right back." 

You follow Wanda as you both head for Agatha, "Wans, Can you reach into her mind and force her to show her greatest fear?" You ask, looking at her, "I'll keep her distracted. Apparently she has history with my father... Time to get a crash course." 

Wanda smiles as she disappears as you land right in front of Agatha, "You have history with my father? Let's talk then." 

You put your trident against your back. No tricks. Or maybe one trick. 

"Your father, he-" 

Before she could even start, Wanda flicks her magic into Agatha's temples. Taking the both of us back to her... trial? 

"No no no no," Agatha shutters, "You tricked me!" 

"Well, you should have remembered I want nothing to do with my father," you said 

But you were also interested. Why was Agatha keen on talking to you about the father you never want contact with? Oh well, save it for later. You look around the dead corpses and realize there was a body of water nearby. Kinda made sense. But also not. However, once Wanda resurrected Agatha's coven members, they push you out of the way and gather around Wanda and begin bringing her o to the stake instead of Agatha who was free. You tried to get up but purple magic held you down. 

"No! Wanda!" You call out 

"You can't win Wanda," Agatha smiles, "You lack knowledge." 

As you looked up you noticed a crown forming along Wanda's head... Your eyes gape in awe, you knew Wanda was capable of so many things. Reaching her full potential as someone with magical abilities is one of them. She launched at Agatha, bringing you guys back to reality. Free from the magic shackle, you launch yourself with Wanda as you two slam Agatha into the ground. However, Wanda's arms completely black. 

"Mom!" The boys call out 

You turn however Wanda pushed you back toward them as she begins lifting herself up into the air. The boys help you up as you three watch. As Wanda continuously throws magic after magic, you realize she's getting weaker; her attacks becoming less forceful. 

"Auntie will be right back," you tell the two boys as you, with sheer willpower, must up all that you have, create a water vortex, lifting yourself towards Wanda. 

"Wanda! Hang in there!" You call out to her 

You realize she's just standing there, however, begin noticing runes all around the Hex. You don't say anything or do anything else but just watch as Wanda's complexion go back to normal. But, she began to re-take her magic. You couldn't make out what they were saying but you knew Wanda was doing.... You just sit in your vortex and watch in awe as you realize Wanda is becoming The Scarlet Witch.You realize she also has a new costume, and you fell in love with Wanda all over again. 

"Wow..." was the only thing that came out of your mouth as you let the vortex go and watch Wanda land as Agatha lies on the ground. 

"So, are you just gonna lock me up somewhere?" She asks, angrily 

"Not somewhere, here." Wanda replies, "you have the role I give you; the nosy neighbor." 

"You can't do this," Agatha, "You don't know what you've unleashed. You're gonna need me," she retorts back 

"Will I?" Wanda replies, "I know where to find you if I need you. You have your role here now." 

"No no please!" Agatha pleas 

Before Wanda could mind control her again, you gently touch Wanda's outstretched hand. Wanda stands down, a little angered. Agatha smiles as you kneelt down to her. But the smile faded when you didn't smile back. 

"Your history with my father...," you start, "I'll come around once I'm ready to talk." 

You stand and turn to Wanda, signifying she can control her again. Thus, she does. 

"Hiya hon," she says cheerfully, "Quite the getup hot stuff." 

Not sure if she's talking to you or Wanda. As your back was turned to her. You watch Wanda as she embraces her boys and Vision. 

"You'll make things right Wanda, just not for us," Vision smiles, "Lets go home." 

They all nod in agreement as Wanda begins releasing The Hex. As they pass by you, Vision stops. 

"You," Vision calls, you end up looking at him, "Would you like to join us?" 

You smile and nod as Wanda slings her arm around you as you follow them to their home. 

"Thank you Cass," Wanda says 

"Always Wans," you smile

As you watch Wanda and Vision tuck Billy and Tommy [you finally learned their names] into bed. 

"Thanks for saving us today," Billy states, looking at uou 

"Cassia Beryl," you smile, "I'm a close friend of your mom's." 

They smile as Wanda and Vision sit at their bedside. You standing at the doorway. 

"Your mother and I," Vision starts, "Are very proud of you. 

"The both of us," Wanda says, her accent slipping in 

You heard her accent clearly. You loved Wanda's accent. You look out the window and sigh, realizing Wanda is gonna be alone again. 

"Cassia is it?" Vision asks 

"Yeah," you reply 

"May I have a word with you? Alone?" He asks, looking at Wanda to stay with the boys for now 

"Yeah, sure," you say, going downstairs 

Once the two of you reach the main floor, you turn to Vision. 

"You, I don't know you at all but you seem to have a close connection with Wanda. Before I'm gone, I must know your connection with her." Vision asks 

You sigh, "I can't put it in words. However, I can show you my history with Wanda." 

A single tear drops down and you catch it with your finger. It then turns into regular water. 

"I hope this works," you whisper as you flick your memory water at Vision 

"You know I could have stopped him myself, disarmed him, killed him," you say, "But I didn't do anything. We all played our pieces, some aren't going to end as pretty as you hoped." 

[...] 

"Can you play me a song Cass?" Wanda requests 

"Always." You smile, grabbing Wanda's guitar as she seats herself right next to you 

[...] 

"Cass, I didn't mean to-" 

"Save it Wanda," you sigh, "Besides, you've looked happier without me." 

[...] 

"Cassia, can you keep a promise for me?" Vision asks, pulling you into a corridor 

"Of course Vision," You reply 

"I need you to look after Wanda for me," Vision blurts, "Should anything happen to me, Wanda is going to need someone. I don't want her being alone. You're the second most person she trusts." 

[...] 

"Vision, I don't know how I'm going to look after her without you," you choke out on a sob 

"It'll be alright Cassia," he says calmly, "You'll be able to figure it out." 

[...] 

"VISION NO!" You scream, scrambling up to your feet and attempt to save Vision again from Thanos. But he bsck-hands you into a tree, knocking you out 

[...] 

As you regain consciousness you see Wanda beginning to become dust. As half-consciouss as you were, you scrambled up to your knees and launched yourself with whatever energy you have left to reach Wanda. 

"Wanda NO!!!" You scream as a last effort 

She dusts right as you try to cup her cheek with your hand, a couple of dust. You open your hand and begin banshee screaming.

You let out a sigh once Vision comes to. 

"The last five years were horrible," you sigh, "Trying to get my mind off of Wanda in said years, didn't help. She'd often be in my dreams. Hoping I could revive you or get her back." 

"So in other words," Vision starts, "I left a promise to you that would look after Wanda after I'd be gone?" 

You nod, blushing a deep red as soon as you look over Vision's shoulder; Wanda standing at the bottom of the stairs. 

"W-Wanda," you stutter, "How long were you standing there?" 

"Long enough." She smiles, but the smile faded as the Hex was getting even closer 

You motion for Vision to Wanda in his final moments. You look on as Waves and Vision embrace. 

"Before I go Wanda, I must know. What am I?" He asks 

"You are Vision," she smiles sadly, "You are my sadness, my hope. But most importantly, you are my love." 

He smiles as he kisses Wanda for the last time as the house begins going back to its original state. You felt tears run down your face as you watch Vision disappear. 

"Goodbye Cassia," Vision says, "take care of Wanda for me. " 

You ugly cry as you try to smile and nod at his request. 

"So long darling," he finally says as he disappeared, the go far to its foundation 

You regain yourself as you begin walking toward Wanda. 

"You okay Wans?" You ask, hectic putting your hand on her shoulder 

She sighs at your touch. 

"Cass, make your own life worth while. I'm not worth it, " Wanda says 

You meet her face, "Wans, your worth a million universes to me. Besides, I like adventure." 

"Cass, you do know that once you go with me, you can't turn back right?" She asks 

"I'm fully aware doll," you say, holding her hand, "Where you go, I go." 

"You-you don't hate me? For leaving you?" She asks 

You take her hand in yours and intertwine your fingers together, "I never did." 

You place a gentle kiss on her forehead before you put on her hoodie as you begin leading her away from the foundation to leave Westview. However, you felt eyes on Wanda... Not the good kind either. However, you meet up with Monica. 

"You don't hate me?" Wanda asks 

"With your situation and your kind of power," Monica starts, "I'd bring back my mom." 

"That makes two of us," you emphasize with Monica, "I'm sorry." 

"I'm sorry too," Wanda says, 

"They'll never know what you've sacrificed for them," Monica states 

"I don't think it'll change how they see me," Wanda adds, "Goodbye Monica." 

You casually salute three fingers up to her and give her a smile. Wanda wraps her soothing red magic around you along with her arm slithering around your waist and you two turn to the edge of Westview. 

"We're going to be okay Wans," You say 

You weren't fully sure. But you were certainly going to give it your all to protect Wanda. For Vision. Real and Westview Vision.

Epilogue You emerge from the waters that was right in front of your shared cabin with Wanda. It was way off grid. That's whats gonna stay that way. You look up and see Wanda holding a towel out to you. You first wipe your face dry and then your hair. 

"I have tea warming up just for you love," Wanda smiles as she brings you inside, her fingers gently running along your bare back, "Your favorite."

Sometime later, you knock on the doorframe to your bedroom and peek around the door. As much as you didn't want to disturb her, you wanted to check on her and you wanted to see her as her true self. She smiles when she sees you. She stops her studies and walks over to you. 

"You doing okay?" You ask 

"Yeah I'm alright Cass," she smiles, kissing your nose, "I'm beginning to think Vis let you come with us is that smiles they're gone, I still have someone to look at." 

"I think he was right," you put your forehead onto Wanda's, "I never want to let you go away from me again."

[harknesswife]

It was you all along (Agatha HarknessxFemale reader)

Summary: This is a sweet self-insert love story between Agatha and a Westview citizen. Everything that happens follows the original events of “Wandavision” and MCU, like a parallel.

Chapter: 09/10

Word count: 1.359K

"Yes?", she said out loud.

"Let me in."

It was the voice of a man and Agatha didn’t seem surprised. She opened the door with a quick hand movement. I covered myself with one of the curtains while she just stood there, half-naked, staring at the guy wearing a hoodie over his white hair.

"It’s time", he said, looking at her.

"Are you sure?", she asked, getting up. I blinked for a second and she was already dressed in a purple sweater with her hair up.

"Here", he said, giving her a CD. As she held it, the thing turned into a vinyl. And then into a cassette tape.

"I thought we had more time", she replied to him, but her eyes were on me.

" What are you talking about?", I said, also getting up despite the stranger staring at us. She snapped her fingers and, of course, dressed me up in a black tank top and jeans before my feet even touched the ground. I got nervous. "Will you tell me what’s going on?"

"You gotta get out of here", she said in a rushed voice. "Fietro will take you outside the hex and..."

"I can’t take her", the guy said, moving his shoulders. "The agents already know about that exit. They’re gonna shoot anything that goes through that way."

"You have super speed!", Agatha screamed, scaring the hell out of me.

"But I’m not bulletproof, as you might remember. Neither is she."

I had my arms crossed, waiting for an answer, feeling left out from whatever was happening.

"This is the price", she said, holding me by my elbows. "If Wanda finds out about you, about us, she’ll have no mercy. And I’m not gonna risk it."

I sighed, defeated.

"Take her home", she said, looking at him. "Don’t let anyone see you two together, and be sure to lock everything. And you - she held me tighter - wait for me."

He held out his hand to me. I glanced at Agatha before holding it and everything happened as fast as a heartbeat. The world got blurry when Fietro placed me in his back and just ran until we were in the middle of my living room. At least I was. He was still running through the house, the windows being shut one by one, really fast. Suddenly he stopped in front of me.

"Wait for Agatha", he said.

"I will."

And I did. I thought about packing, but I had no idea where we’d go, so I just laid on my bed. The weird thing that happened with that CD was also happening to everything else in my house, glitching from older to new, and old again. My wallpapers, the furniture, everything! When my computer turned into a typewriter I closed my eyes just for a second. I was so, so tired...

I woke up with Agatha right next to me, breathing heavily. She was wearing a long dress, way different from the purple sweater she had on before. Her hair was also bigger and tangled. For the first time, I actually saw her as a witch. The tips of her fingers were gray like she was holding balls of fire just minutes ago. Maybe she was.

"I don’t have much time", she said, out of breath.

I stared at her. By the look in her eyes, I knew what she was going to say.

"You gotta go first. I need to finish what I started", her voice was breaking. "And I’ll come for you after it ends. I promise."

I tried to look away but she held my chin in her warm hands. She was telling the truth. I did my best trying not to cry when I asked her what I needed to do.

"You’re gonna walk towards the city hall. Just… walk like everything is okay. You’ll see a crowd ahead of you..." she stopped, making sure that I was listening. I nodded "And you’ll keep a safe distance from them until it’s time. I’m gonna make her open a breach in the hex, and when she does, you’re gonna run through it. No looking back."

"But she’ll definitely see me..."

"You won’t be the only one running."

"You’re gonna free everyone?"

"I’m not doing this for them", she said, staring at me and making one of her magic gestures. A tiny object just popped in the palm of her hand: A ring. "As long as you wear this, no one will be able to get in your head or use any magic against you."

She gently put the ring in one of my fingers and smiled at me, only with her eyes. A sad smile. I wish I had something to give to her.

"I will never take it off", I said. And I really meant it.

Agatha was still holding my hand.

"When the hex opens you can’t hesitate."

We both knew that she had to go back to whatever was happening outside. She opened her mouth to say the last thing I wanted to hear. I stopped her right away.

"Don’t you dare."

I violently pressed my lips against hers, a kiss wet by my tears. She was too afraid of losing me to realize how much I also feared to be apart from her. I felt her arms around me, her embrace was the only thing keeping me from falling apart. Agatha closed her eyes and held me tighter for one more second, before waving both of her hands around herself, leaving nothing but purple fog and her scent in my skin.

“I’m just going first”. I told myself that a few times before opening the door. It was just like any sunny day, which felt wrong, somehow. People walking and chatting. I forced myself to take a step, and then another one. I did that for a while, glancing a few times at the ring on my finger just to be sure that was still there. A reminder of her promise.

When I finally reached downtown, the crowd was there. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Agatha. She was flying, her dress just floating along with her hair, pointing in all the directions. She was speaking to Wanda, which I recognized from the magic show. “Focus”, I’ve said to myself, looking away. I took a few steps back, standing a little behind from all the commotion. The crowd was getting bigger and those people were really mad.

They cornered Wanda, everyone talking at once until she lost it. She was crying and screaming, lights coming out of her collapsing body like a red lightning storm… chaos. I walked a little bit further, trying to understand what was happening when I saw Sarah. The woman who welcomed me into Westview was choking and so was everyone else. I placed my hands around my own throat, waiting for that same thing to happen to me, but it never did. The purple stone from my new ring was glowing, instead. I blinked a few times, feeling a little dizzy.

"Use your power and do it NOW!", Agatha said to Wanda, who was now standing. The citizens were all getting up, recovering.

Wanda lifted both of her arms and at that moment she seemed like the strongest person I’ve ever seen. Breaches slowly opened on both sides of the hex as she told us to go. She wouldn’t be able to keep it open for too long.

So I ran. Convincing myself to not look back. My legs felt heavier than ever, but I kept on running. The glitch was everywhere now, the whole city looking like a channel with bad reception. I could see agents on the other side, receiving people, calming them down, making calls... But some of them were getting in with weapons and tanks, and that vision almost made me turn around.

I finally stepped outside that red force field, throwing myself in the arms of one of the agents. I didn’t do it because I was tired or scared. I just needed someone to hold me so I wouldn’t run right back to her.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 5: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains WandaVision spoilers through episode 5, possibly beyond, and for the wider MCU.

WandaVision episode 5, “On a Very Special Episode…” took everything we liked about the first two episodes and shook them up. For the first time, we have a fully blended approach to the storytelling, with the episode alternating between the altered “sitcom” reality of Westview, NJ and the actual, current MCU events. And then there’s that multiverse-shattering ending to contend with.

There’s a lot to break down with this week’s WandaVision, so we’d better get to it…

Sitcom Influences

WandaVision took us to the ‘80s this week, with a little Growing Pains, some Family Ties, and maybe a hint of Full House thrown in for good measure. The living room set itself looks very much like the standard seen on shows of the era, specifically Family Ties and Growing Pains.

Family Ties

The aging up of Billy and Tommy is much like Andy Keaton from Family Ties. In season 4, Andy was born and spent the whole season as a baby. As of the beginning of season 5, Andy was suddenly about 5 years old with zero explanation.

Also from Family Ties is the beginning of the opening credits, where it would show someone painting a colorless sketch of the family.

Bettany’s Michael Gross impression was extremely disturbing in how good it was a couple of times.

Growing Pains

Wanda and Vision getting vaguely horny for each other while doing regular domestic stuff is reminiscent of the way the parents would occasionally get it on on Growing Pains and Family Ties.

The sitcom theme lyrics and feel are extremely Growing Pains. And yes, as you might expect, they are very appropriate for these characters.

Here are the full lyrics for you (courtesy of the Disney+ closed caption feature):

“You wander the world with a vision…Of what life could be But then the years come and teach you…To just wait and see Forces may try to pull us apart…But nothing can phase me If you’re in my heart Crossing our fingers Singing a song We’re making it up as we go along Through the highs and lows We’ll be right, we’ll be wrong We’re making it up as we go along And there will be days…We won’t know which way to go But we’ll take it higher…You’re all I desire When the going gets tough…When push comes to shove We’re making it up Cuz we got love we got love we got love We got WandaVision”

Darcy also refers to Vision “playing Father Knows Best,” a callback to the sitcom style of the first episode.

We wrote in more detail about the sitcom influences of WandaVision episode 5 here.

Scarlet Witch

For the first time, we get the names of Wanda’s parents: Irina and Oleg Maximoff, but in the comics they were known as Django and Marya.

Wanda was born in 1989, the same year as Elizabeth Olsen.

We learn here that the “Scarlet Witch” codename has never been used in the MCU

Darcy refers to the anomaly as “the hex” after the hexagonal patterns that were noted in the previous episode. In the comics, Wanda’s powers are often referred to as “hex bolts.” She could also produce “hex spheres” and the town seems to be enveloped in a large one here.

Wanda’s accent, missing since Avengers: Age of Ultron, makes its triumphant return here.

Wanda talking to the kids about how “my brother is far away from here” is technically true: his corpse is…nowhere nearby. Although given how the episode ends, she could very well have been referring to another corner of the multiverse. We’ll get to that soon enough.

SWORD seems to refer to what’s going on as “The Maximoff Anomaly.”

Vision

We now know that Vision’s corpse is physically present in Westview and he isn’t just a manifestation of Wanda’s powers, nor was the horrific image of him glimpsed at the end of episode 3 a hallucination: it was Wanda seeing him as he really is.

Vision is working on a Commodore 64 at Computational Services. This early personal computer was a terrific gaming machine, with graphics and sound that were far better than early home gaming consoles of the era.

Vision apparently had a “living will” about what he didn’t want done with his body in the event of his untimely demise. Think of it like the MCU equivalent of a DNR. No, not a “do not reveal.” The other thing.

House of M

Before Agnes shows up the second time around, Vision is reading a newspaper with the headline, “LOCAL HOMEMAKERS INNOVATING RECIPES.” Moments later, he folds the newspaper in a way so that it only says “HOM.” HOM is short for the big Scarlet Witch comic event House of M.

The Twins

While it’s used as a setup for the twins inexplicably growing up, Wanda and Vision are horrified to find that the babies have simply vanished. In the comics, the first time we really get an idea that something is wrong with the children (as well as Wanda’s mental wellbeing) is when they show us that Billy and Tommy would cease to exist when Wanda wasn’t around.

This episode is the first to really feel like it’s borrowing a lot from Wanda’s most important story: the Dark Scarlet Witch story from Avengers West Coast. In that book, the first clue that something was wrong with Wanda was how the twins would disappear when she wasn’t looking a them. This would often happen when Agatha Harkness (presumably Agnes here) was babysitting for them. And later, Wanda’s personality started to shift towards full villainy and she was very cavalier about the use of her powers, something we start to see in this episode. 

For most of the episode, the twins are dressed in red and green. This more than a nod to their parents’ favored color schemes, but it appears to mirror the colors they adopt when they grow up to be superheroes themselves. William becomes the hex-wielding Wiccan, who favors red, while Tommy favors green (like his Uncle Pietro) as Speed.

Sparky

Poor Sparky. Good boy.

The name “Sparky” is a reference to Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s brilliant Vision story, in which Vision and his “family” (not the Maximoffs) move to the suburbs and try to live a “normal” life. Part of that includes a synthezoid canine named “Sparky.” He didn’t meet a good end there, either. Stop letting dogs die in our stories, you monsters! It’s too sad.

Lagos

This week’s commercial is for Lagos Brand Paper Towels, with the catchy slogan of:  “For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.”

This references the opening scenes of Captain America: Civil War, when Wanda used her powers to stop Crossbones from detonating a bomb in a crowded marketplace. While she reduced the number of casualties overall, a number of innocent civilians still died when he exploded. It’s the first indication that Wanda’s grief and trauma in Westview are driven by far more than just the loss of her lover.

The Lagos ad is also another reference to the Infinity Stones. Previously, we’ve had the toaster (Power), the watch (Time) and the Tesseract-shaped bath powder (Space). Here, we have a red liquid spill in a sly nod to the Aether (Reality). Only the Mind and Soul stones to go – which means two more commercials.

X-Men

These are definitely not the only X-Men references in the episode (of course), but we’ll get to that big one down below…

The scene of Wanda confronting SWORD agents looks to be directly inspired by the scene in the first X-Men movie where the police try to take down Magneto. Much like Wanda, he uses his powers on their guns, causing them to be aimed at the cops themselves before escaping. Considering the payoff to this episode and Magneto’s role as Wanda and Pietro’s sometimes-father in the comics (not to mention Pietro’s definite father in the X-Men movies), this was more than likely set up. 

Vision says he was reading Charles Darwin’s “The Descent of Man” to one of the twins, a book that deals with evolution. (David Bowie voice) “Gotta make way for the homo superior!”

The Twilight Zone

Serious Twilight Zone “It’s a Good Life” vibes in the episode throughout, particularly when Agnes is visibly weirded out by Wanda with her “take it from the top” moment (unless she’s deliberately screwing with everyone), and the mailman telling the twins “your mom won’t let [Sparky] get far.”

Also, while we’re on the subject of The Twilight Zone, Agnes appears to live at the corner of Maple St. and Sherwood Drive. “The Monsters are due on Maple Street” is a notoriously paranoid unpacking of suburban paranoia.

Westview

The opening credits feature a “Greetings From Westview, NJ” postcard in a pretty common format, but one made most famous on the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Greetings From Asbury Park” album.

We wrote more about Westview in general here.

“For the Children

Vision points out that there are “no other children in Westview,” which calls to mind the creepy “for the children” chant from back in episode 2. 

Captain Marvel

Darcy draws the connection between how both Wanda and Carol Danvers got their powers via an Infinity Stone. Similarly, they acknowledge Wanda almost took out Thanos in Avengers: Endgame but that this feels outside the scope of her powers. Still, the fact that both Wanda and Carol stood up to Thanos isn’t something that’s being glossed over in the MCU.

Note Monica’s reaction when the name “Captain Marvel” is said isn’t exactly what you’d call enthusiastic.

Monica Rambeau

Monica’s test results coming back blank seem pretty significant. Is this a signifier that her molecular structure has changed, whether from the blip or passing through the hex barrier? Are we witnessing Monica’s superheroic origin story in slow motion?

Who is the Villain of WandaVision, anyway?

Despite the implications from the end of episode 4, Wanda isn’t completely in control of what’s going on. At various points in the episode she seems to be manipulating everything, but at others seems to be completely immersed in this reality. 

But if she doesn’t remember how this all started, that sets up a potential villain reveal (or more than one) down the road.

What’s up with Agnes?

Agnes is complicit but was disturbed by Wanda’s ability to “resurrect” so how much can she really know? Unless, of course, she’s just “acting” this way to continue with her cover.

On the other hand, Agnes “helping out with the kids” is kind of in line with our Agatha Harkness theory for the character.

Reed Richards?

Monica mentions that she has a particular “aerospace engineer” in mind to call for help. Based on all the other subtle Fantastic Four clues that were in the fourth episode, could this individual be Reed Richards?

If they aren’t taking that big a swing, it could be Adam Bernard Brashear, known as “The Blue Marvel,” another prominent Marvel scientist, and one who has led the 616 version of the Ultimates with Monica on the team.

Evan Peters is Pietro

“She recast Pietro?”

Yes, you are indeed seeing Evan Peters returning as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver here. This is (at least until it’s revealed that the MCU Wanda and Pietro were indeed mutants whose powers were merely “activated” by Strucker’s experiments) now officially the first appearance of a mutant/member of the X-Men in the MCU. Peters, of course, played Pietro in three films,X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. While Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Peters played him in Days of Future Past, and he was generally more warmly-received by fans.

And does this indeed mean that Pietro is alive again, albeit in “recast” form? Or is Wanda so powerful that she ripped open a hole in the multiverse itself in order for her brother to “make a guest appearance” in Westview? This could very well be the first indication of what’s to come in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the possibly Spiderverse-y Spider-Man 3.

Unless…what if this isn’t Pietro at all? What if it’s someone manipulative merely taking the form of Pietro to mess with Wanda even further?

Also, Pietro’s “bad boy” appearance very much feels like it fits with the Family Ties aesthetic. His “New York tough guy” look and persona is much like Nick, Mallory’s idiot boyfriend.  Coincidentally, Nick also starred in an episode of the show where he got a dog and it died soon after from an accident.

We wrote much more about the shocking WandaVision episode 5 ending here.

We Are Kind of OK With the ’80s

Jazzercise was indeed a real thing, god help us.

For those of you thinking the internet was a whatever a reverse anachronism is, we made the same mistake too. But it turns out it has been around in some form since the 1960s, when the Advance Research Projects Agency (precursor to today’s US government mad science agency, DARPA) networked a few computers and sent messages back and forth. 

Unanswered Questions

Dennis the Mailman is back from episode 1. His little aside to the kids is an indicator that he is vaguely aware of what’s really going on. Not necessarily in a sinister way, but a reminder that the people of Westview aren’t really enjoying this.

One of the camera feeds we see is from Satellite 348. Avengers #348 had a Vision-centric cover and story.

Is there a significance to the stuffed animal on the chair at the beginning? I thought maybe it was a stuffed Bova or something, but I think it’s just a bunny.

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Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

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