Welcome to another week of discussing a Disney television show about magic and superheroes, are you ready to getreally freaking sad? It’s been a blast bouncing theories around these last seven weeks about speedsters, multiverses, and M.O.D.O.K., but “Previously On” laid bare a devastating idea that’s been lurking beneathWandaVision’s surface since the beginning. The sitcom-homage magics hovering over Westview, New Jersey are rooted in Infinity Stones and superpowers, but the actual villain of this piece is trauma. The impetus for the Westview Anomaly a primal scream of grief and rage erupting out of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) in the form of the sitcoms that offered her comfort through loss after loss. Wanda has had a tough life, folks. Parents blown to bits by a bomb bearing Tony Stark’s name; brother murdered by artificial intelligence with the voice of the damnBlacklistguy; love of her life—who was a machine to start with, raising several logistical questions—killed in front of hertwice, once by her own hand, a second time by a genocidal Grimace. That much sheer, throbbinghurtbuilds in a person, and if that person also happens to have reality-altering powers, of course the emotional dam-break would cause collateral damage.
We revisited all of it, thanks to a magical trip down memory lane courtesy of Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), serving several witchy lewks. It was a lot. This episode is a lot. But it built to a name that first appeared in 1964: “You are the Scarlet Witch.”
I certainly have questions. You definitely have questions. We are all very, very sad. So, let’s jump right into “Previously On.”
What’s Going Down—and Who Is Showing Up—in the Finale?
“Previously On” left a lot of threads hanging as we head into the season (or series?) finale, and that includes literal threads of magic tied around the necks of two children. Because the penultimate episode was primarily a flashback, there are beats it didn’t even touch on, such as what happens whensnoopers get caught snooping by a Fake Quicksilver. So there’s really only one question I want to tackle when it comes to next week: Who is the Luke Skywalker-level cameoOlsen previously alluded tothat is now likely arriving in the finale?
It’s possible she’s just selling the show, almost like she has a vested interest in people watching it. It’s equally possible she was simply referring to the presence of confirmed icon Kathryn Hahn. It’s three-qually as possible it’s Mephisto. (Sorry I’m contractually obligated to mention Mephisto at least once in all my coverage, including ones unrelated toWandaVision.) But if you crunch the numbers, run the data, and do some weird swirly stuff with your hands, there is one clear, likely candidate:Benedict Cumberbatchas Doctor Stephen Strange. That likelihood jumped up to damn near certainty the second Agatha Harkness said the words “chaos magic.”
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Historically, on the list of things that get Doctor Strange and his powerful theater kid energy to show up, “Chaos Magic” is right near the top. If someone’s firing missiles or holding hostages, my dude is like “absolutely not my division,” but the second someone disturbs The Magics, Strange and his allegedly platonic cape sidekick swoop inimmediately. When it’sChaos Magic? Forget it. Strange drops in like a dad sensing someone touched the thermostat. In Marvel lore, Chaos Magic is a form of reality-altering sorcery so old, Doctor Strange initially didn’t even believe it existed. But oh boy, it did, first crafted by the Lovecraftian Elder God named Chthon, who scribbled down his dangerous enchantments in a cursed book called The Darkhold.
Sound familiar? The Darkhold—or something very much like it—more than likelymade an appearance last week, sitting in Agatha’s witch chamber and generally exuding an aura of Bad News. It makes sense; this week’s cold open confirmed Agatha has been messing with magic way above her paygrade since, at least, the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Put it all together, and the picture is actually pretty simple. Agatha Harkness is interested in learning chaos magic. Wanda Maximoff, without even meaning to, manifested chaos magic several miles long. And somewhere, probably meditating at the top of a mountain or some equally extra location, Doctor Strange’s chaos senses aretingling.
So What, Exactly, Is Fake Pietro?
Extremely unclear! Agatha describes Wanda’s faux-bro as “my eyes and ears…a crystalline possession.” Because I do not currently own a single book on Chaos Magic etymology and Agnes just kind of breezes past this information, there’s still a mystery as to whatEvan Peters' role even is. If he’s simply a bit of illusion magic, why in the world would Agnes conjure the face of a Quicksilver Wanda has never met before? No, the word “possession” suggests Agnes is simply controlling some random schmoe in Westview who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Pietro Maximoff from another cinematic universe, which neither Wanda or Agatha knows — but we do. Although, this would also suggest that Agatha has the power to give any random doofus from New Jersey the gift of super speed, in which case…maybe follow that route? There has to be money in that. For now, we know what’s happening here is “crystalline possession.” Got it!
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What’s more intriguing than what Pietro is, is what he’s apparently not, and that’s literally Peter Maximoff from the 20th Century StudiosX-Menuniverse.WandaVisionis not, at this juncture,introducing mutants or the multiverse. You’ll notice this is now the second time, afterSpider-Man: Far From Home, that Marvel zigged with a multiverse only to zag into something else. That is more than one swerve. It’s the rare Multi-Swerve. In Marvel’s defense, it would be objectively hilarious if they did this, like, five to six more times.Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessis just gonna' be about how Benedict Cumberbatch looks kind’ve different when he’s mad.
Damn, Is Director Hayward “Evil” Evil?
The fact that Hayward named his secret project to re-build Vision after an eye disorder that causes “double vision” should be enough to send this absolute goober straight to jail. But “Previously On” revealednew layers to Hayward’s deviousness. For one, he clearly manipulated the footage showing Wanda smashing into S.W.O.R.D. and stealing Vision’s body. She broke a few windows, yeah, but left empty-handed. Second thing: Hayward has used a sample of the Westview Anomaly to bring Vision—therealVision—back online as a colorless husk that S.W.O.R.D. can puppeteer. Pure villainy, IMHO.
Here’s aslightly more in-depth explainerfor what’s going on with White Vision, but the TL;DR is that everything is about to go to complete shit, which is saying something, because it’s already at like DEFCON Shittiness for everyone involved. IfWandaVisionis pulling from the comics, White Vision is just Normal Vision with all of his emotional attachments removed. Hayward just hit Ctrl-X on my man’s ability to feel love. The details are different in the comics—Vision is kidnapped and torn apart by a spy consortium, Wonder Man refuses to transfer his brain waves over to Vision because he’s fallen in love with Wanda, tale as old as time—but the implications forWandaVision’s finale are still clear as day. “Previously On” walked us through Wanda’s past traumas step by step, laying out the blueprint of an unimaginably powerful woman driven over the freaking edge by lost loves she can never see again. What do you think is gonna' happen when shedoessee Vision again, and he looks back at her with unrecognizing eyes?
WandaVisionEpisodes 1 through 8 are now available to stream on Disney+. TheWandaVisionfinale airs on Friday, March 5, also on Disney+.
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