Category: Features

How Mjolnir May Return in ‘THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER’

In 2019’s SDCC, it got announced to thunderous applause that a fourth Thor film is in production. Titled Thor: Love and Thunder, the film will draw heavily from writer Jason Aaron‘s early work on the character where the God of Thunder fights one of his greatest foes, Gorr the God Butcher. He also lost his title and hammer to his former romantic partner, Jane Foster, who went on to take the mantle for herself as the Mighty Thor. As such, one could surmise that Love and Thunder exist mainly to be a passing-of-the-hammer tale in the MCU. Unfortunately for Natalie Portman‘s character, the hammer was in multiple pieces the last time we saw it. Director Taika Waititi made a concerted effort on the Comic-Con stage to let fans know that Jane Foster would indeed be holding Mjolnir when she arrives in theaters in 2022. So, how the heck are they going to pull that off? Let’s dig into three of their most likely options in an increasingly wacky order.

Eitri and Nidavellir

Let’s face it. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen Mjolnir in shards. Thor has lost his trusted sidepiece on multiple occasions in the comics, whether it’s at the hands of the aptly-named Destroyer or his grumpy grandfather Bor. More often than not, he realizes that he can make a new Mjolnir. Marvel comics have commonly found Odinson making his way to various forging locations to put the pieces back together. Magic isn’t even always required, as the Thunderer once even managed to reconstruct the legendary hammer in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. The MCU’s Thor wouldn’t have to resort to such methods, as he’s already pals with an answer to fixing Mjolnir. We met the last of the dwarves on the dying star Nidavellir, and it doesn’t seem like a reach that he could put the hammer back together if the remnants get found in that fateful Norwegian field. Sure, the last time we saw Eitri, Nidavellir was a little worse-for-wear, but who’s to say Thor hasn’t gone back to help in the time since Thanos’ defeat? With any luck, Hulk might have even been able to bring back some of the dwarves when he reversed the Snap. This direction might be the quickest explanation for Mjolnir’s return and a great reason to give us more of giant Peter Dinklage.

Time-Travel

Marvel Studios has already brought back Mjolnir once before through time travel. While that hammer had to be taken back to its original point in time, Waititi may attempt to go two-for-two on those shenanigans. After all, there is a precedence for this in the comics that the film is adapting. The arc that introduces Gorr takes place throughout several millennia, bringing him into conflict with a younger Thor from the Viking Age, a modern Thor we all know and love, and an older Thor who lives alone on a desolate Asgard. Gorr’s rather unusual abilities lead to all three versions of Thor fighting side-by-side against the God-Butcher on his home planet. Set photos have already leaked showing what could potentially be our first look at the said planet. If that’s the case, we could see a younger Thor bring his Mjolnir to the present-day, where it somehow ends up in the hands of Jane Foster. That reminds me, there is still an entire Disney+ series on the way based around Loki. It’s unlikely that he ends up worthy of carrying the hammer, but we may see him pull off his greatest trick and deliver Mjolnir through time and space. Actually, now that we mention Loki.

Multiverse

If there’s one thing we know the MCU is delving into in the coming years, it’s the multiverse. Between recent revelations on WandaVision, all the rumors surrounding Marvel and Sony’s third Spider-Man film, and the literal title of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, you can bet we’re in for some “alt-u” impacts moving forward. Although complicated, we could hypothetically see a Mjolnir pop in from somewhere else in Marvel’s massive catalog of alternate worlds. Our very own Ms. Lizzie Hill suggested the idea that the hammer-wielding Jane we meet in the film could hail from a different universe, where Gorr had already done away with the Odinson, and his Mjolnir ended up in Jane’s possession. The resulting pairing between Portman and Hemsworth against Gorr could be a fitting substitute for the Thor Trio team-up from the comics, though this could lead to more questions than answers. If Kevin Feige did want to commit to a hammer from the multiverse, it would be on my wish-list that it came from Beta Ray Bill, a legend among man and horse alike. It could be unlikely, but it is just too much fun to theorize on his potential appearance.

February 10, 2021
‘WandaVision’s Six Infinity Ads: Predicting the Final Two

WandaVision is a unique experience in comparison to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It embraces its nature as a mystery show by continuing to confuse us with each new episode. There are many unanswered questions so far, but one stands out. Every sitcom-themed episode featured an advertisement that seemed connected to a traumatic experience in Wanda’s life. Until now, most of us focused on trying to figure out who the couple is that keeps reappearing. Current theories still point to them being Wanda’s parents, but it tends to overshadow one aspect of the ads. The latest ad features a paper towel brand named Lagos that fixes problems one didn’t mean to do. It reveals a rather interesting red liquid that, at first, seems mainly as a pun on spilling blood due to the incident. Yet, if we look at the other ads, you start to notice a pattern. We have the blue square of the HYDRA soap, the blinking light on the toaster, and the watch’s recurring reference to time. Each ad seems to represent an Infinity Stone.

Now, I am not the only one to notice this pattern. ComicBook.com’s Adam Barnhardt also noticed the trend in an article you can check out here. The before-mentioned red liquid is most likely Thor: The Dark World‘s Aether. Episode 3 introduces a blue-shaped square that is the Tesseract. Of course, the watch is connected to the Time Stone even if its iconic green color was absent. The toaster most likely builds on the joke from Tom King‘s The Vision run, where Wanda describes the poor Synthezoid as such. It seems to have a face with a blinking light where its forehead is, which creates the connection to the mind stone. As such, there are two more stones left that have yet to get showcased. It also matches that the next two episodes may be the last sitcom-based stories, as we haven’t explored the 90s or 2000s yet.

Let’s start with how the Power Stone may appear in an upcoming ad. Now, each advertisement has been pretty close to the era they represent. So, we need to think about a product that would best personify the purple rock. There is the possibility they could go down the route of the famous “A diamond is forever” commercial with the stone acting as jewelry. Yet, it feels like there is no actual connection to the stone’s ability. It’s about giving people power or even strength beyond human comprehension. It also needs to connect to an event that is traumatic for Wanda. Lagos represented Captain America: Civil War. So, the next installment would be Avengers: Infinity War. We all know what happened in that event, so it would be connected to head pains. What if the Power Stone is a purple pill that echoes the 1994 ad of Extra Strenght Tylenol?

Now, there is only the Soul Stone left. It is the toughest one to connect, as the whole concept of its abilities is uncertain. To some degree, I wonder if it may not get an ad, but rather a reference to the events that Thanos went through. So far, it seems plausible that Wanda’s abilities are connected to each one of the stones. She might be the first to introduce us to what it can do, as it could explain how Vision has returned from the dead and why we see her parents in the ads if that theory turns out to be true. I was doing some research on advertisements of the early 2000s, so there are, in my opinion, plenty of hilarious potential ways it may appear. Remember the strange hair-raiser Bumpit? It would certainly be hilarious to see that iconic stone of unlimited power is used to raise someone’s hair. Maybe it is in the form of something that warms the soul like a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup from Campbells. Its strong focus on family-friendly advertisements would make it the perfect choice. It would be hilarious if they recreate the mysterious Soul World showcased in Infinity War, but the water is chicken noodle soup. That might not be likely, but we’ll see if the next advertisement has something purple or orange to confirm this theory.

Source: Comic Book, YouTube (Tylenol ad), YouTube (Campbells)

February 8, 2021
The New Normal For MCU Solo Movies
Spider-Man actor Tom Holland recently referred to the upcoming third film in the series as, “the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made”. I’m not sure if that’s an accurate statement; the movie is sure to be ambitious, but if the rumors about this film are true it’s hard to think of the movie as a “standalone” picture.

Marvel Studios, like many other franchises, has a tendency to take what fans love about their projects and run with it. Usually they do a better job of it than most; audiences loved the comedy in Guardians of the Galaxy? Let’s bring in more to the other sub-franchises! New markets successfully tapped into with Black Panther and Captain Marvel? Let’s make future content even more diverse and inclusive!

If one aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has stood out above all else, it’s the interconnectivity of it all. The Avengers rocked the world in 2012 and the blockbuster industry has never been the same since. But it was 2016’s Captain America: Civil War that pushed this concept to a whole new level; here was a “Captain America” movie that not only spent nearly equal time focusing on Iron Man, but also featured the majority of the other Earth-based heroes we’d been introduced to in the eight years since the MCU was born, even serving as the introduction to multiple new ones who would soon go on to star in their own solo flicks.

They did something similar in 2017 with Thor: Ragnarok. That film didn’t just feature the two Avengers who weren’t present in Civil War, but included a one-scene appearance from Doctor Strange, who’d made his MCU debut in his first solo movie the previous year. Of course, since then, Marvel Studios has put out even more ambitious crossovers (and become even more popular as a franchise) with the third and fourth Avengers movies, Infinity War and Endgame…and it’s likely that the scale and success of those movies is what has the studio returning to the crossover-in-a-solo-vehicle model for so many Phase 4 projects.

Looking at the film slate alone, at least four of the upcoming solo movies will feature at least one other character who has headlined their own film or Disney+ series:
- The untitled third Spider-Man movie will feature Doctor Strange (and most likely a slew of characters from previous Spidey movie franchises)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature Scarlet Witch
- Thor: Love and Thunder will feature (most of) the Guardians of the Galaxy
- Captain Marvel 2 will feature Ms. Marvel
And that’s not even counting characters who have made major appearances in other franchises, like Monica Rambeau, or may do so in the future, like Miss America. It’s pretty obvious that this style of team-up has become the norm for MCU solo movies…or more specifically, MCU solo sequels.

All of the films on the above list will be either the second, third, or fourth solo outing for the characters in question. While we haven’t seen any promotional clips from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings or Eternals quite yet, both of those films seem to be relatively insular, without a lot of huge nods to previous MCU projects, at least not on the level of the ones listed above.

This is, potentially, very telling of how Marvel Studios plans to balance maintaining audience interest while still being able to bring in new fans, and is likely why the goal seems to be for Marvel Studios to introduce at least one new franchise per year. It appears to be a safe bet that new solo movies starring characters who have yet to have one will be the prime “entry points” for those new to the MCU. Even heroes like Spider-Man and Black Panthers who made their MCU debuts in someone else’s movie had solo films that could be understood by newcomers, though the Tony Stark/Pepper Potts engagement stuff at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming may have been a bit weird for those not “in the know”.

And once a new hero’s first outing has hooked in those new fans? Anything is fair game. They’re free (at the studio’s discretion) to be crossed over with seemingly any other character and appear in pretty much any MCU project going forward. There isn’t really a safety net of a middle area to bridge the two together, it’s zero-to-100.

We’ve seen this work out when it comes to a singular medium (think of the people who saw Black Panther as their first Marvel movie and a few months later cheered when Wakanda was first shown in Avengers: Infinity War) but it might be trickier to achieve when working across multiple mediums. I have a feeling Marvel’s plan there is to not worry about having to hand-hold the audience when it comes to the Disney+ stuff, except for when introducing a new character; however, they’ll probably be willing to play catch-up for said projects in the movies when need be, the assumption being everyone watching the Disney+ series has seen the films, but the same might not be true the other way around.

This is probably why the scene of Sam Wilson being given the Captain America shield was included in Avengers: Endgame; even though he’s not technically “Captain America” right now, he more than likely will be by the end of the series, and this scene gives the movie-only viewers the context needed to understand why he’ll have taken on the mantle in later big-screen projects. Disney+ debut characters like Ms. Marvel will probably require a bit more catch-up work when they debut in films, but Marvel surely has a plan for this and things will hopefully go smoothly in that regard.

So there we go. There will probably be three “tiers” of MCU movies going forward: solo debuts largely focusing on a single character (or “always-together” group like the Guardians), “solo” sequels featuring team-ups between a few major heroes, and Avengers-level events. Sequels used to be more on a similar level to debut films, but after several aforementioned Phase 3 projects and a wider gap in time between Avengers movies than fans have grown accustomed to, Marvel knows that typical comic book movies aren’t always going to cut it anymore: now that fans have gotten a taste of what’s possible in terms of interaction between their favorite superheroes, they want more. And thus, the bar for “regular” has been raised.
February 7, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’: 6 Reasons Why Monica Rambeau’s Phone-a-Friend is a Skrull
WandaVision‘s Episode 5 was, for many, the best one yet as the show seems to be kicking into high gear for the final half of the season. The last couple of episodes have finally started to shed some light on some of its initial mysteries, but the show also keeps raising new questions to leave unanswered. One of those came up on the last episode when Monica and Darcy discussed what it would take to assemble a vehicle that would allow them to enter the Westview Anomaly without being affected by it. Rambeau immediately says:

I know an aerospace engineer who’d be up for this challenge.

That obviously begs the question: Who might that be? We’ve all read the crazy possibilities that started to make their way through social media and elsewhere: Reed Richards; Victor Von Doom; The Blue Marvel; Hank McCoy; Abigail Brand; Riri Williams. But let’s get serious for a second: besides Riri Williams (who will be played by Dominique Thorne in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart) none of these other characters have been cast yet and there is no official word of when and where they might be eventually introduced into the MCU. At the same time, introducing almost any of them in an episode of WandaVision would only distract us from the focus of the story being told, as we would all get drawn to those characters that are bound to become franchise staples within the next decade.

So being, it would have to be someone a bit more lowkey, while being interesting enough so that the disclosure of the secret actually pays off. And in true MCU fashion (as WandaVision has been living proof of with Monica, Darcy, and Jimmy), if it happened to be someone we have already met in a past project, even better. Considering all of this, and a few more interesting facts we’ll get into ahead, the choice seemed logical: Talos’ daughter, the little girl that we met at the end of Captain Marvel.

Now why does that seem like the logical choice, you ask? Here’s why.
- She was raised by space-traveling aliens, and the Skrulls are a far more advanced race than ours. It would take someone with that kind of background to turn Darcy’s theory into a reality.
- Monica clearly says that she knows the person in question. Making it seem that it’s more of a personal connection and not so much a professional one. As we saw in Captain Marvel, Monica bonded with her, in the scene on the staircase when she said “You guys have the best eyes. Don’t ever change your eyes.”. As Maria probably stayed in contact with Talos even after he left earth, Monica could have easily done the same with his daughter.
- We know both Talos and his wife Soren eventually made it back to Earth, it’s likely their daughter came back as well.
- She’s someone only Monica would know off, and by making their connection essential to the story you also highlight Monica’s role in the show.
- When Monica mentions “An engineer..” the Spanish subtitles show us “Una ingeniera..”, meaning that whoever Monica is talking about is female.
- Almost a year ago there were reports of a casting call out for a male aged 16-23 “A Skrull hiding on earth under the protection of SWORD.” This obviously isn’t Talos’ daughter’s character but it does make it clear that Skrulls will appear on the show, so her appearance may have added context. By making it clear in episode 4 that Maria Rambeau, Monica’s mother, built S.W.O.R.D. from the ground up, and knowing how Maria came into contact with Skrull refugees in Captain Marvel, it would be fair to assume that she got S.W.O.R.D. to help them out and that Monica would be aware of that situation. Even if other operatives, such as Director Tyler Hayward, didn’t. After all, secrecy would be paramount in such a situation.
All of this may end up being meaningless, but there sure are a lot of details hinting that this might be the person Monica refers to. Above all, it’s a simple enough answer that doesn’t need too much explanation, much in the way of how Marvel Studios usually does these things. Both characters have a natural connection, one we’ve already seen on screen, and it won’t leave people clamoring for answers on who is this person, how did they meet each other, or how does she know so much about these specific subjects. Being Talos’ daughter people will get it all immediately, advancing the story without having to waste time explaining what people already know.
February 7, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’: Putting Together the Pieces

Episode 5 of WandaVision was not only the most well-written, well-executed and exciting episode of Marvel Studios first foray into streamable TV but also the first time the creative team left clues big enough for us to potentially finally put together what exactly is going on in the Maximoff Anomaly. Some of what we saw was fresh and some of what we saw tied back into things we’ve been thinking about since Episode 1. Applying deductive reasoning to Marvel Studios properties can be a lost cause, but given the enormity of what I think I saw yesterday, let’s give it shot.

The Clues

The Reemergence of Wanda’s Accent

When Wanda left the Hex to confront S.W.O.R.D., she not only put on an impressive display of power, she also reverted back to speaking with a Sokovian accent. A hot topic of discussion in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, the accent waned and essentially disappeared over the course of Wanda’s MCU appearances. Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed Elizabeth Olsen in her 3 most recent MCU films explained that part of the reason her accent had faded was that she had been trained in espionage under Natasha Romanoff; in a 2020 interview with Inidwire, Olsen explained that the accent hadn’t disappeared and that her experiences with the Avengers in the United States had caused it to fade. Hearing yesterday was startling and it was meant to be.

Wanda’s Lack of Control Over the Twins

Episode 3 was the first time we saw it, though it took until Episode 5 to really understand it: Wanda holds no power over her children. She couldn’t postpone their arrival, she can’t control their minds (even as babies) and they are clearly aware of what’s happening in Westview unlike everyone else who is under her power. We’re led to believe Wanda is in charge of everything, but over the course of the episode it becomes entirely clear that is not the case.

Aunite A’s Uncanny Ability to Know Everything

Everyone has been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes and it may have finally done so in Episode 5. As Vision not-so-subtly tells us, Agnes seems to have a knack for knowing exactly when to be there for the twins. Somehow she knows they can’t sleep and that they are suddenly in need of a dog house. It’s also no coincidence that in Episode 5, she’s present for both times the twins age up and there when Wanda talks them out of doing it for a third time. If you think back through the earliest episodes of the season, Agnes made several comments about Wanda having children and certainly seems to be incredibly interested in them now.

Dr. Darcy Lewis

WandaVision has brilliantly reinvented Kat Dennings’ Darcy. So far nobody has been more instrumental in understanding what’s going on inside the anomaly than Darcy, both for S.W.O.R.D. and for viewers. Darcy dropped 2 big clues in Episode 5. The first being her cool nickname for the anomaly (the hex) and the second being that Wanda is displaying more power than she’s ever shown before.

Monica’s Comments to Wanda

One of THE biggest hints from Episode 5 also seems to clarify something from Episode 3. During the aforementioned standoff with S.W.O.R.D., Captain Rambeau steps forward to reason with Wanda, mentioning that for someone who is a telepath and therefore should have easily seen through Monica’s “Geraldine”, Wanda was very willing to let Monica in and have her help deliver the twins. It’s also of interest that while Monica was in the house, the normally helicoptery Agnes was reduced to a gossipy bystander.

“I don’t know how any of this started in the first place.” and “I didn’t do that.”

Following Vision’s discovery that Wanda is controlling the minds of the people of Westview, he confronted his wife and refused to back down. What followed was the most protracted discussion about the strangeness of the town to date, including an admission from Wanda that while she is definitely in charge, she doesn’t remember how things started. Not long after that and just as Vision begins to confront Wanda about her wrongdoings, the doorbell rings. These interruptions have been all too common over the course of the show, but Wanda’s admission that she’s not the one doing this paired with her surprise at the arrival of someone claiming to be (but who is certainly not) her brother make it clear that there’s a bigger game afoot.

So What’s Up With Wanda?

I’ve long thought that the folks who complained about the first 3 episodes of WandaVision would be running back for clues they missed when the season was over. I was wrong because Episode 5 is the time to do that because the clues above point in the direction of someone more powerful than Wanda being in charge of what’s going on. As Dr. Lewis pointed out, Wanda has never wielded her power at this level nor manifested it in this way. That points to someone having potentially taught her how to do it, someone with a different connection to the energies of the universe than Wanda’s. While Wanda is certainly controlling the minds of the citizens of Westview, the clues above are enough to convince me that she’s not doing so CONSCIOUSLY.

Wanda reverts back to her accent because she’s being controlled, puppeteered into making that show of power against S.W.O.R.D. So while it’s Wanda talking, it’s Agnes pulling the strings, explaining why the accent Wanda has worked so hard to hide finds its way out. Agnes always knows when to be there or to cause a disruption because she quite literally has a “plant” in the house giving her info. Olsen has referenced the plant in more than one interview which would be really strange if it were just another set prop like a couch or a table.

Darcy and Monica are both onto something significant in Wanda’s ability to manifest new powers and her subconsciously allowing Monica, who she may well view as someone who could help free her from whatever is controlling her, to enter her life. It’s almost certainly their insistence that Wanda is not acting totally of her own volition that will lead to them doing something off books to help her out.

Who Done It?

If someone is controlling Wanda, all signs point to Agnes and to Agnes being Agatha Harkness. Why is Agnes doing this? They told us in Episode 2 and it became pretty clear in Episode 5: for the children. There’s enough evidence to suggest that Agnes is incredibly interested in Wanda’s children, and given Billy’s power set and destiny in the comics, it makes sense that she’d be particularly interested in him. While there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Agnes is the mastermind behind all of this, the one thing I still can’t quite wrap my head around is how Wanda came into contact with her in the first place. Maybe in an effort to reconnect with someone who knew her parents somehow? Maybe in an effort to find some relief from the many traumas that have shaped her life over the past several years? Whatever the case, her interactions with Agnes aren’t leading down any good paths and I expect things to get worse before they get better. I suppose we’ll all find out together over the next 4 weeks.

February 6, 2021
‘WandaVision’: Westview is Toying With Vision

WandaVision is a fascinating project for Marvel Studios. It is their first officially released long-form story that spans multiple weeks. After over ten years of films, we’ve come to have certain expectations on what defines a Marvel Studios project. Suddenly, they throw all of that out of the window for a mystery thriller series focused on Wanda and Vision. On top of all that, the show kicked off with three episodes that were primarily sitcoms from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We then break up the pace by watching people within the Marvel Cinematic Universe watching the show within the hexagon that surrounds Westview. Darcy Lewis is echoing us as viewers that are witnessing everything unfold within the sitcom show. Yet, there something only we can see. It seems that Wanda and the town are desperate to keep Vision in check and distract him from uncovering the truth.

There will be some spoilers for the latest episode. Only continue at your own risk if you haven’t watched the latest episode yet and wish to avoid all spoilers.

Every sitcom episode seems to unravel Wanda’s control over Westview. The initial Dick van Dyke Show tribute only really fell apart in the final few minutes, as Mr. Hart almost suffocated on a strawberry. Yet, if you rewatch the episode, Vision was already suspicious while questioning what exactly his day job was. He was too drunk in the second to notice anything, but once we hit the 70s, reality started to seep in. It was hard enough for him to make sense of his wife giving birth to twins in a matter of hours. Herb cutting through a brick wall without blinking an eye was the last straw for him to realize that something is off. If only Wanda didn’t rewind to ensure he wouldn’t notice. After a short intermission in the MCU, we’ve finally arrived in the 80s.

Here is where things get interesting. Vision still plays along most of the time, but Wanda’s control over the town has mostly fallen apart. Agnes randomly asks if they should redo a shot before returning to the usual format. Wanda uses her magic in public without caring to hide it anymore. I mean, the twins age from babies to 10 years of age within no time at all. Naturally, all of this starts to make Vision question what is happening around him. He manages to break Norm out of Wanda’s control over him to realize what exactly is happening around him. It leads to a confrontation between the two, where we uncover that Vision has no memories of his time before they arrived in Westview. At that very moment, an iconic knock distracts at the perfect time and derail the conversation.

Wanda confirms that she was not responsible for that. In a way, it feels like Westview or the hex that surrounds it was trying to distract them. We might even have evidence that the next episode will do something similar. A major reveal is that Vision notices there are no children in the town. Wanda tries to distract from that question, but it is true. Even with the “For the Children” line from the second episode, we only met the twins. Yet, if you look closely at past trailers for the upcoming Halloween episode, we suddenly see children. We already know it won’t work going by the official teasers, but it may be hinting at a greater force trying to ensure that Vision remains in Westview. There might be a chance Wanda’s new guest could have something to do with it.

Source: YouTube

February 5, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’: The Twins may be Pivotal to Wanda’s Downfall

Just as predicted in Arlyn Murphy’s Episode 5 Primer, this week we got our first real glimpse of the twins, Tommy and Billy, along with a few hints on how their immediate future might unfold. Given how big of a deal they are bound to become in the MCU as instrumental parts of the Young Avengers roster, their introduction, the questions it raised, and the few answers we might have gotten are certainly attention-worthy.

One of the first relevant quotes regarding them was when Jimmy Woo asked if anyone had managed to identify both kids, as they had done with most of the people Wanda interacted with inside the Hex. Monica then said:

Oh, Wanda’s twins are hers. Everything might look fake on the TV, but everything in there is real.

This means that, unlike everybody else trapped inside Westview, the kids didn’t exist in the outside world before the Hex was set up. So being, when/if the Hex is destroyed, and everybody returns to their regular lives (as the kids appear to be, in Monica’s words, “real”), they won’t just disappear but also their minds won’t just go “back to normal”, as there won’t be any normal to go back to. They’ll still be Wanda and Vision’s kids, even in the real world, with everything that entails.

Coming from Wanda and being outside of the initial group being mind-controlled by her probably means that whatever powers they might be displaying inside the Hex are theirs alone and that they aren’t serving as Wanda’s proxies. We start to understand just how much autonomy they exhibit when both disappear from the crib and appear as 5-year-olds much to Wanda and Vision’s surprise. Then later, when they manage to age-up, against Wanda’s wishes, so they could keep Sparky as their pet. When they plan on aging up once again to get away from the pain felt by Sparky’s death, Wanda feels the need to talk them out of it, again making it seem like they are outside of her control. But the biggest hint on just how much Tommy and Billy are in control of their own actions is given us by Agnes, right after they turn themselves into five-year-olds:

Kids. You can’t control ’em.

This feels like foreshadowing, as the kids should become increasingly more autonomous and going against Wanda’s wishes. Even though they are a huge part of the model family Wanda created for herself inside the Hex, the twins (and Vision) are beginning to display certain traits that are bound to collide with that dream scenario. Wanda cannot be truly happy if she has to control the ones she loves, as she needs to feel that they are with her not because they have to, but because they want to. If the twins begin to question their situation too much (as they did when asking Wanda why she wouldn’t bring back Sparky from the dead), throwing wrenches right in the gears of Wanda’s creation, that might just be the catalyst to Wanda’s future loss of control over the entire situation. Her search for perfection will be the reason for her downfall.

And this leads to life after the Hex, after WandaVision. If the twins are kept away from their mother in order to keep safe from someone, by then, so disgruntled with life, that might just be what leads Wanda into the dark path we are sure to follow her on in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Their absence might be presented to both her and the audience as “They couldn’t survive outside the Hex”, but they’ll be sure to come back later on, to rediscover their real connection to the Scarlet Witch.

February 5, 2021
Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man’ Could Return in Marvel Studios’ Disney+ Era

Just recently, Edgar Wright revealed that he and Kevin Feige finally buried the hatchet. To offer some context, Wright worked on Ant-Man back in 2003 with Joe Cornish. At the time, Artisan Entertainment held the rights before it returned to Marvel Studios. At one point, it was part of the original 2006 line-up alongside Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America before getting delayed due to concerns the technology hasn’t quite caught up with the idea. After a second draft and test reel, it would join the franchise’s second phase before Feige gave him time to work on The World’s End.

The problem was that the standalone script was facing issues with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s growth. As a result, creative differences due to constant rewrites led to Wright leaving the project two months before production start. Six years later, he revealed that they were able to bury the hatchet:

I’m very glad I did it… he was really touched that I had reached out, and I feel what he wrote was great. I told him that I read what he’d said about ‘Aliens’ to James Cameron, which he said was just wild. So it was nice, it’s a nice happy ending to that story.

It is great to hear that these two titans in the industry were able to make amends. Wright left a lasting impact on how to do visual comedy in the industry. He moved on to direct Baby Driver, which continued to skyrocket his cinematic career that started in 2004 with Shaun of the Dead. So, it was a huge loss for everyone involved that he could not realize his vision of the original script that Joss Whedon described as Marvel’s best. Now, it seems like a distant dream that may never see the light of day. Well, at least that was until Marvel Studios’ latest project, WandaVision, proved we are in new territory.

Marvel Studios’ expansion into long-form storytelling introduced us to a show that embraced its sitcom inspirations completely. It broke the formula that has plagued the releases even after the Marvel Creative Committee finally was disbanded. Kevin Feige had the freedom to give his directors more freedom. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn confirmed that Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter and his committee added haphazard notes that disrupted the production process, such as their decision to ax the Awesome Mix.

They probably added to the tension surrounding Wright‘s Ant-Man. After some time has passed since they got disbanded, we have a new and more diverse future for Marvel Studios. WandaVision is proof they are willing to explore new types of stories. Even their films have changed drastically over the years. Thor: Ragnarok proved how much freedom a director has nowadays. The MCU project is truly a vision that only Taika Waititi could bring to the silver screen. We are not talking about the same Marvel Studios from five years ago.

As such, there is a possibility they use the current multiversal storyline to create unique one-offs that explore existing characters. They could explore a past story within the MCU that doesn’t have to concern itself with the overarching storyline too much. How about we go back in time to follow a young Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne becoming heroes in a pulp-era? The early times of using Pym particles and his adventures as Ant-Man. It still feels like the one storyline Marvel has yet to explore, and it is a waste. It would be a great Disney+ film or TV series, where he can go wild with ideas that were tragically lost when the original script got scrapped. Even if that chapter ended, I will always keep out a little hope that there is a possibility of him returning and make the film he worked so many years on.

Source: Collider, IndieWire, Collider (Creative Committee), SlashFilm

February 4, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’: The Theory of Knowing Nothing

Spoiler Warning ahead for Episode 4

For years, people on the internet have gone out of their way to make theories and speculations about the upcoming MCU films and for a time, people started to get a sense of the direction that Marvel Studios wanted to take these films in. Albeit being by reading the source material the films base themselves on, seeing set pictures, breaking down trailers and clips frame by frame. These are all standard things fans and writers do when they try to unravel the mystery behind any project. I include myself in the list of people who spend their time trying to piece together a story based on these facts. And it would help me predict many plot points from previous MCU projects at the time. But WandaVision truly is a challenge to many theorists. Mainly because Marvel has broken its standard formula and genuinely surprises us each week with every episode that comes up. And Marvel truly wasn’t lying when they said “We just don’t know what to expect.”

The mind of a theorist can be truly interesting at times. For example, when watching the first minute of the 4th episode and seeing Monica “return”, I thought of a number of different theories in a span of a minute. At first, I thought we were following the events of what happened after the 3rd episode and that what we saw was just Monica’s mind coming back after being “Geraldine” in Westview for so long. Then I thought that what was happening was that Monica had actually obtained her powers and didn’t know how to control them. As we cut to the hospital room, my theories started to fall apart as I realized that we were back at the time of Avengers: Endgame, when the snapped or “blipped” were brought back by Bruce Banner. What happened there was a brilliant example of what happened to everyone who had been theorizing about WandaVision and the direction this show will take. And it did a brilliant job of changing up the script on all of us.

There’s a scene in Episode 4 where pretty much every single theorist gave a collective sigh as they had to erase everything they thought they knew about WandaVision and start from scratch. And you can tell Marvel had a lot of fun making that episode as a lot of us could potentially relate to being in S.W.O.R.D.’s position. When S.W.O.R.D. started identifying the people in Westview and revealed0 that they were just “cast” in Wanda’s reality, so many theories about this show just collectively went out the window. Herb as the High Evolutionary, The Harts being amalgamations or demons that are after Wanda’s children, Phil Jones, and the possibility of Arcanna Jones appearing in this series. The point being that Marvel really flipped the script on us by making us think that we know everything when in reality, we practically are still in the dark about this show, and every episode introduces a new aspect that leaves fans just buzzing with new ideas. “What happened to the beekeeper after Wanda said no? Who is censoring the broadcast of what’s happening in Westview? Why is it even being broadcast in the first place? Is Wanda literally imagining all of this happening with Vision’s dead corpse?” And that’s just from this last episode alone.

This is why WandaVision is so interesting in the first place. We’ve grown used to expecting big Marvel fight scenes and straightforward stories in the films. But by having a story like WandaVision play out as it does, it allows fans to make theories and try to look back at what the big mystery of the show truly is, only to realize that most of what they thought they knew was wrong. Having scenes like the ones where S.W.O.R.D. is at the command center watching the first episode of WandaVision as if they were us really allows for fans to have more of a connection to the characters of the show and its what keeps bringing back fans for more to try to uncover the mystery of what’s really going on in WandaVision. So maybe, in this new phase of the MCU, Marvel’s new plan isn’t really to follow the same ol’ strategy, but rather explore the universe it’s established with new characters and different storytelling formats that could make the films and shows less predictable.

February 4, 2021
‘WandaVision’’s Occam’s Razor

Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that “entities should not be multiplied without necessity”, or more simply, the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

It wasn’t what was initially scheduled to happen, but WandaVision is serving as our entry-point into Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having fans starving for content for over one year and a half since the last MCU property hit theaters, was certainly noticeable after just the first couple of episodes were made available a couple of weeks ago. Fans had already picked up on where the show would draw inspiration from, starting with House o M, Tom King‘s Vision run, John Byrne’s Vision Quest, and a few more, and so the theories being devised were already plentiful, but it was like nothing could prepare us for what was to come.

The MCU has always been a fertile ground for imaginative minds. The notion that everything produced within this Feige-designed Universe might have strong connections to the stories published in the comics for decades is all it took for the idea that everything does to settle in. If you really want to, every single detail in the movies can be interpreted as an obscure reference to something that took place in a 70’s limited-series that only a handful of people even know of. It doesn’t take much.

And now, with WandaVision‘s weekly format, the theories keep pilling up faster than ever, with each one trying to surpass the last, making it hard to discern what actually might or might not be a true possibility for future episodes. But amid all this chaos of Fantastic Four hints, Mutant origin stories, or Hell references, it’s in the past of the MCU that we might find a way to look forward into the future with a bit more certainty.

If you’ve been paying attention to the past decade of MCU content, one of the things that come to mind is how streamlined most events and characters introductions turn out to become. The theories that always come about after the first trailers, or after the first plot details are revealed, always seem to overcomplicate things, as the plot always seems to be way simpler than what fans expected. Yes, there is a regular number of call-backs that reward the investment of some fans in the material, but for these projects to become viable they also need to cater to the regular audience’s needs, and those can be summed up in a single sentence: “Make it easy for me to understand.” I’m also guilty of trying to develop theories that end up wanting to sound more clever than they really are. And even though most won’t amount to anything significant, it is still an important part of connecting to and with the material, and especially to other fans. It’s basically part of what makes it fun to share these movies with everybody. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In WandaVision‘s case, we’ve all been inundated with Mephisto and Salem Witches references, and the latest is a supposed cameo in the final episodes that may rival Luke Skywalker showing up in The Mandalorian season finale. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We should really take a few steps back in order not to lose focus on what the show really is about. Family, grief, the inability to move on when one’s world is shattered to its core. In order not to upstage what Wanda (and Vision) are going through, we really should not expect anything that’ll impact the show more heavily than what these two are and will go through in the next few episodes already is.

Will we get a cool cameo? Most likely. Will it be from someone that hasn’t yet been introduced to the MCU? Doubtful. May the show unveil a new antagonist? Perhaps. Will it be someone who’ll manage to draw the show’s attention all to himself? That’s questionable. Will these “low” expectations take away from what the show still has to offer? Absolutely not.

February 4, 2021