Like a lot of MCU fans, for some time I’ve been trying to figure out what is going on in WandaVision. Where’s this series heading? What’s Wanda’s state of mind? Who is the villain of the show? How will this lead into Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness? How exactly is Vision alive? Is he alive? How will Monica get her powers? What will happen in the last big final battle? How might mutants figure into this show, if at all? And how can everything fit together to make a coherent story?
Possible major spoilers for WandaVision below!
To be clear, the following is based on my own speculation, based on trailers and such that is already out there, not insider information. That being said, after a lot of thought about a lot of things WandaVision, I believe I’ve figured out one key piece to the puzzle. I believe Wanda will attempt to recreate the Mind Stone in the hopes of making her fantasy life with Vision and her children a reality. This will very, unfortunately, backfire on her, in spectacular fashion, as is seen in some WandaVision trailers. The destruction of this Mind Stone will likely create the mess that awaits Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, may open a door for Billy and Tommy and maybe even Papa Vision to survive the series, could tie into Monica gaining powers, and quite conceivably could inadvertently lead to the creation of more mutants. The latter making Wanda Maximoff, in a way, the mother of all mutants. Kevin Feige really does love Wanda, doesn’t he?
You may have some questions about how I came to these conclusions, so if you’re curious, please read on…
As I mentioned, I’ve been mulling over many aspects of WandaVision for a while now. Utmost in my mind was: How is Vision alive? Is he really alive or her imagination? Is he of his own free will or not? In regards to the last question, there are lots of hints and clues within the show so far, pointing both to Vision having some free will within the sitcom fantasy, and to him being under Wanda’s control. His restraint was shown during their dinner with the Harts, his looking to Wanda for her okay to help, when Mr. Hart was clearly in danger of choking to death, being chief among them. As I mentioned in an article about this last week, we all know if Vision was fully in control he would have helped Mr. Hart right away. Another moment comes up during the third episode, where Vision begins to think something is wrong during his conversation with Agnes and Herb. He is exhibiting free will there, in his curiosity and questioning. This appears to be happening again in other trailer footage of future episodes where he seems to be going on his own and investigating things. Considering Wanda would probably not want him to investigate here, this is a clear indicator of free will. It is possible that in the beginning, he had less free will but as time goes by, and he “reboots” so to speak, he begins to exhibit more of his old self, and his own free will to do things that are not necessarily going to make his beloved Wanda pleased.
I say “reboots” as in, yes I think this is Vision’s body, repaired either by Wanda’s own reality-altering powers or through attempts to bring him back without the Mind Stone. The Mind Stone was not, after all, a requirement of him living, it’s just the fact that it was so viciously ripped from his head that he appeared dead. I believe there is no reason to not think that some of Vision’s programming, the essence of who he was, could still be in that body just awaiting a spark of life to bring him back for real. Certainly, there is no reason to think that Wanda would not believe that as well. This is perhaps why we see her at the SWORD facility. She may have been working with them to try to bring him back to life, only to find they could not, and perhaps taking his remains with her for safekeeping until a solution could be found. So if that theory of mine is correct, this might explain why she’s imagining him alive again, and perhaps using her powers to try to bring him back “online.”
Vision and Wanda were always deeply connected not only through the power of the Mind Stone stuck in Vision’s head but through love. So with all of that in consideration, what if because of her love and grief, Wanda attempts to use her powers to bring Vision back to life, and to some extent succeeds in “rebooting” him? And does so to the extent that his body comes to life again, with his personality, and free will, and love for Wanda very much intact? Wanda and Vision are connected through the Mind Stone’s power, even tho it is no longer lodged in his head, there may be residual energy from it infused his is vibranium imbued body. Wanda’s connection to the Mind Stone may be the one thing she has that can actually save him, through repowering and rebooting. But what if that’s still not enough?
What would Wanda do then? And what about her children with Vision that were born in episode three? What if the outside world threatens them? Because it definitely will. What would Wanda do then? I think everyone knows not to mess with a mother protecting her children, and Wanda is certainly no one to mess with, as Thanos himself learned. So what can she do to protect Vision, her children, and their alternate reality with the likes of Monica and SWORD figuratively and literally knocking at her door? What can she do, how can she protect them, and how does this all lead into Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness?
Some deep thoughts and a rewatch of WandaVision trailers on Youtube later and the solution starred me and Wanda right in the face. Look at that moment in the “Daydream Believer” trailer where Wanda is staring at what appears to be a levitating Mind Stone. One might think it’s a flashback but for the fact that she wouldn’t have seen the yellow stone inside of Loki’s scepter when Hydra was experimenting on her. She appears ragged and distraught, she stares at the seemingly forming stone. It may be a trailer maker’s trick but it seems as if the yellow light and particles and dust are gathering to form the stone in front of her. Then it explodes with a flash, sending Wanda back for a split second in the trailer. It really looks to me as if she’s actually using her powers to form the stone, but she fails and it cracks and explodes in front of her. This is no flashback. It’s her present. If I’m correct about this, there is only one reason why she would attempt to recreate an Infinity Stone, and that’s in a desperate attempt to save Vision and her children.
Could she even do this? Can she actually form an Infinity Stone? Her stans often refer to her as the “most powerful Avenger” and even Wanda Maximoff superfan Kevin Feige has conceded he thinks she is the strongest Avenger after she nearly took out Thanos in Endgame. That was just because Thanos killed her Vision, she has his kids now. I don’t doubt Wanda will find the strength to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. However, if you can’t quite buy that she could form one with her powers alone, think about this possible route they could take, as set up in Avengers: Endgame. As Thanos pointed out in that film:
Gone. Reduced to atom…. I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me, but the work is done.
Technically the Infinity Stones still do exist in the prime MCU timeline, they are merely reduced to dust. Could Wanda, with her very specific and strong connection to the Mind Stone and her incredible powers combined, somehow reach out and pull together the remnants of the Mind Stone from across the universe and form the stone again? Is that an explanation that viewers would accept? I think I would.
It would also prevent the whole issue of having more than one Infinity Stone of the same type in a timeline at once, which I’d think would cause a certain amount of chaos as well. Either way, the Mind Stone exploding, could bring on a catastrophe that creates or opens up various realities, and multiverses among other important, consequential, events for the MCU. Now, I’m aware the stone exploded before, when Wanda destroyed it in Avengers: Infinity War, and nothing seemed to happen as consequence. However, Thanos pushed rewind fairly soon after, so we didn’t really get to see the consequences. Also, some of this might depend on what Wanda’s trying to do with the stone at the time. For instance, if she’s trying to use it to bend reality to the extent that she’s expanding her Westview bubble to encompass the whole world, and the stone explodes due to instability, then that could believably fracture reality, and set up the multiverse for Doctor Strange 2. It may also set up a scenario where Vision, Billy, and Tommy, live beyond the last episode of this series.
Lastly, a note on Mutants and possibly Monica as well. Depending on what exactly Monica and S.W.O.R.D. are up to during the course of the series, it’s possible that Monica gains her powers as a result of the explosion of the Mind Stone, or equally likely as a way to try to combat a certain “scarlet witch” who is angry, protective, and not willing to just talk things out.
As for Mutants, and how they could come into the MCU here, I believe that the effects of the Mind Stone exploding could provide a suitable explanation. Wanda and Pietro are mutants in the comics, even if they are not yet referred to as that in the MCU. Ultron commented in Avengers: Age of Ultron, that they were the only ones who survived Strucker’s experiments with the Mind Stone. There’s been some debate for a while why that was, and whether or not the Maximoff twins were in fact Mutants (even if they weren’t calling them that). It’s long been speculated that the Mind Stone triggered latent abilities in the twins which may be connected to their mutation. This would explain why the twins don’t have the same powers. More recently, I’ve seen many speculate that the HYDRA soak, commercial in the third episode might be a hint at this as well. The “Release the Goddess within” catchphrase is a pretty strong wink to the idea that the Hydra experiments on the twins with the Mind Stone are what unlocked the twin’s latent abilities.
This line of thinking about the twins and the effects of the Mind Stone on them certainly makes the how and why Wanda might “create mutants” much clearer. This notion that Wanda might somehow create Mutants has been around for a while now. How and why has been more difficult to answer. It occurred to me that if exposure to the Mind Stone brought out Pietro and Wanda’s mutant powers, then it would do the same for other Mutants that have not had their powers activated yet.
My first thought was that perhaps Wanda tries to expand her fantasy world’s bubble to encompass the world, and exposure to her powers triggers other mutants. It’s certainly one possible scenario. But then I realized that Wanda may actually be attempting to form a Mind Stone and use it to protect her family. With the Mind Stone exploding in front of her, it appears she was unsuccessful. Now, what if the Mind Stone explosion lets loose a shock wave of the Infinity Stone’s energy throughout the world, and this energy triggers mutant genes in certain humans? What if that’s the last thing we see evidence of during WandaVision? That would be a pretty mind-blowing result and an incredibly exciting note the end WandaVision on, right? And something I think I could and would like to see happening. We shall see.
Source: Youtube
