For the Children! Ever since the Disney Plus Expanding the Universe documentary hinted at the arrival of Wanda and Vision’s twins in WandaVision, fans have eagerly awaited the MCU debuts of Wiccan and Speed and this week, in Episode 6, we saw Tommy and Billy’s powers come into play for the first time. While the episode made great use of the super speed of both Tommy and his “uncle Pietro”, it was the awakening of Billy’s powers that really hit hard…and might be a key to what’s happening in the series.
The events surrounding the birth of the twins in Episode 3 were certainly abnormal, up to and including the fact that nobody, including Wanda, knew she was having twins. When Tommy arrived, several minutes went by before Wanda became aware that another bun was in the oven and there was something very disconcerting about Wanda during his delivery. I can’t quite explain it, but we all watched it and we all know what I mean. So to some extent, Billy was the bonus baby but with the nature of the twins already in question, I’m beginning to wonder if he was actually there all along or if his birth was a function of Vision choosing to name the first baby Tommy.
As I discussed last week, there’s something very strange about Agnes’ interest in the Maximoff twins, an interest that predates their conception and became very obvious in Episode 5. No offense to Tommy or to fans of the character, but as cool of a character as Speed is and as much as I look forward to seeing him develop over the next several years in the MCU, Billy has always kind of outshined his brother in the comics and it’s possible that a similar fate may be in store for the twins in the MCU. In the comics, Billy is destined to become one of Earth’s most powerful mages, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and, eventually, the all-powerful Demiurge, a being essentially responsible for maintaining the universe. Short version: Billy is fated to wield an enormous amount of power. And with great power comes great effort by those trying to steal it. And this episode showcased that, even if it was a bit more subtle than we’d like. While Tommy ran around with his asshole uncle, Billy’s ability to sense that his father was in danger was a far more impressive display of power for a kid who only found out he had powers in that moment. As cool as super-speed is, precognition and clairvoyance are the types of abilities wielded by witches, warlocks and make him a prime target for any power-hungry baddies out there.
In the comics, Billy’s powers were lusted after by Loki but I don’t think that’s the case here. As Arlyn Murphy mentioned in her Primer, it’s becoming more clear that while we are made to believe Wanda is in control, that she’s not actually the one in the driver’s seat, which means someone is using her power and, at this point, I think they’re using it to get to Billy’s. Who was talking about Wanda having kids before Wanda had kids? Who has been responsible for Billy (and Tommy…sorry Tommy) choosing to age up, making him old enough to begin to realize his power and “speed” him on his way to becoming omnipotent? All signs point towards Agnes being the power-hungry witch pulling the strings and out to either take Billy’s power for herself or manipulate him into using it for her (maybe that’s what is going on with Wanda?). Of course, this could be going totally down the wrong path, but with only 3 episodes left to go, we’ll all find out together very soon.
