Tag: WandaVision

Super Bowl to Feature Disney Trailers for ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, ‘Falcon and the Winter Solider’ And Potentially More

The Football event of the year is just around the corner. Everyone has their eyes on the Super Bowl for different reasons. Some are there to cheer on their team, while others can’t wait for those exclusive trailers. Well, after a year-long pandemic, some are wondering if anyone will risk the investment. According to Deadline, we will see a smaller line-up than in the past few years. Many streaming services like HBO Max, Peacock, Apple TV, and Netflix will skip this year. Luckily, it seems that Disney is willing to take the risk. They plan to release at least two to four trailers that will be on par with previous years.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a safe bet to be one of the trailers, as they want to test out their second Premier Access film that releases next month. Last year, Disney+ made a major splash with their first official teaser for their Disney+ slate. It was a short trailer that showcased Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and even Loki. None of these series got a release date at the time, but it certainly left an impact when it initially aired. So, there is a good chance we will get another trailer that teases their 2021 Marvel slate. Deadline does not rule out a possible trailer for Black Widow, which is still set to release May 7th. They highlight that you shouldn’t expect a sudden announcement that the film will be made available on Disney+ during the event.

It is crazy to think that Black Widow released a trailer last year and was only a few months away from release. If they do end up including the upcoming Marvel film, there is a good chance we might not see another delay. They could be waiting out to see how Raya performs before making any decisions. It is understandable after Mulan underperformed last year on the service. The release of Pixar’s Soul saw a massive increase in app downloads. However, it probably was nowhere near as profitable as a regular cinematic release. Well, no matter which direction they end up going. There is no competition this year, and Disney will be able to dominate the post-game buzz with anything they decide to release.

Source: Deadline, Digital TV Europe, Deadline (Soul)

February 2, 2021
‘WandaVision’: Wonder Man Could Be Jimmy Woo’s Missing Person

The latest episode of WandaVision finally revealed what was happening outside of the strange sitcom bubble. We get introduced to Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo. Most revelations in this episode surrounded Wanda’s control over this small American town. Yet, there was one more subtle reveal. Woo’s search for a missing person case brought everyone to uncover Wanda’s sitcom world. He reveals that it is a man who is in the Witness Protection program. It seemed odd that they added such detail to what could be just a throwaway line. I think we already got the teaser of who it might be as early as the show’s first week.

Let’s take a look back at the Disney+ show’s premiere. We finally got to see the first two episodes and were welcomed by a brand new featurette. There is a brief shot of head writer Jac Schaeffer with a comic image of Wonder Man, a.k.a. Simon Williams, in the background. So far, there has not been a single remark or hint at his existence within this story. There is another hint hidden in the second episode’s opening. If you look closely, there is the iconic helmet of Marvel Comic’s Grim Reaper. He is an iconic Marvel Comics villain who some might know as Eric Williams, Wonder Man’s brother. The character had an important role in Tom King‘s Vision run, so it felt like a nice Easter Egg. Yet, the image in the featurette may have given away his inclusion in the story.

There are a few potential hints that we can use to connect the dots. Wonder Man has an essential connection to Vision in the comics. When Ultron created the synthezoid, he used the brain patterns of the deceased superhero. Of course, we never got this origin story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After his apparent death in Avengers: Infinity War, there might be a chance to revisit his original origin. Plus, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Williams joined the Witness Protection program while being on the run from his brother, who could still appear in the story later on.

Also, there is the aspect of the Westview citizens getting trapped in a sitcom world. There is a possible connection to Wanda’s history with the genre, but it also seems like the perfect world for a guy like Williams to feel at home. He might overact his way through the events. There is also the fun possibility that he is one of the few people aware of what is happening but just decided to have some fun with it. This series would also not be his first potential appearance within the MCU. Nathan Fillion almost played the character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. There he was only going to have a brief appearance and be featured on posters. So, they were planning on introducing the character in some form or another at some point. Yet, there has been no sight of Fillion so far to tie it together.

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So, we certainly haven’t seen Fillion appear at any point in the past episodes. I doubt that he will be reprising the role, as he is busy filming The Rookie. Still, it doesn’t mean they would completely sideline this original set-up. He is in the witness protection program so he could’ve gone through facial reconstructive surgery. The former actor was forced into hiding and is on a mission to relive his glory days. Suddenly, the small town turned into a living sitcom. Even brainwashed, he couldn’t hold back his hammy acting and was there where he wanted to be. Once Wanda’s grip on this reality started to loosen, he couldn’t help himself and tried to embrace a larger role. If they continue Fillion‘s teased approached, he may end up biting more than he can chew.

Who would be perfect for a potentially larger role in the MCU? Well, how about Evan Peters? We are still waiting to find out who he might be playing ever since our very own Charles Murphy reported his addition. Everyone focuses on his history with American Horror Story as the template for him to potentially end up playing Mephisto. There is also his comedic background with Kick-Ass and the X-Men films. Now that I mentioned it, there is also the big question in the room if he might be a different version of Quicksilver, as he took on the role since Days of Future Past. Whatever he turns out to be playing, he would be a fantastic addition that could grow into a larger role moving forward. He seems like perfect casting to take on the role and showboat his acting skills while everyone else is trying to figure out why Wanda is controlling their lives.

Source: Instagram

February 1, 2021
New ‘WANDAVISION’ Mid-Season Trailer Arrives

With Episode 4 behind us, fans now have a much better idea of what is going on in Marvel Studios first Disney Plus streaming series, WandaVision: it’s all Wanda! After giving us a little glimpse into their mystery box, Marvel Studiso has now released a brand new mid-season trailer that helps fans set expectations for what we’ll see over the next 5 episodes, which we all know will culminate in some major action!

For those who have been avoiding TV spots, this trailer recaps much of what we’ve seen and seems to hint at a full on S.W.O.R.D. invasion and a rift between Wanda and her synthezoid husband! Looks like plenty of big stuff to come over the next month!

February 1, 2021
How Monica Rambeau Will Influence ‘WandaVision’s Future Episodes

After rewatching the latest episode of WandaVision, I’ve come to realize I never asked myself the question of why they decided to reintroduce Monica Rambeau in this story specifically. The character has close ties to Carol Danvers, but it seemed surprising they wanted to include her in a series focused on Wanda. Yes, it works to introduce an older version of the character played by Teyonah Parris, but something felt like it was missing. Advertisement showcased her as an essential character for the series. The moment the episode started, it suddenly clicked with me. At that very moment, I realized why exactly she is here and her importance moving forward into the rest of the season.

I will be mainly spoiling the opening of this episode. If you are planning on going in without any spoilers then be sure to return to this article later. Otherwise, continue at your own risk.

The episode opens up with Monica being blipped back into existence. She finds herself in a hospital where everyone is in disarray. Her priority is the empty bed beside her, as she tries to find out what happened to the person she was at the hospital. It turns out, her mother, Maria Rambeau, was fighting cancer. The surgery went well before she got snapped. It is heartbreaking when she finds out that her mother survived before facing a relapse two years later. We see her try to keep her composure, try to return to a normal life, and somehow move on with whatever happened to her. She returns to back to work and is ready to take on her old tasks again. Instead of falling into the tragedy, she accepts it and tries her best to move on.

Her journey is a counterpoint to that what made Wanda bring Vision back to life. They both lost someone very dear to their heart, but one couldn’t let go. It leads to some questionable decisions that are still unknown in how far they go. Monica is here to become the emotional anchor that probably leads to the final decision of the show. Her experience of loss could help Wanda learn the same lesson. It is her chance to learn that forcing something to exist won’t make the pain go away. The ending of this episode highlights that aspect of her journey moving forward.

We don’t know exactly where they are going with this yet, as we still have five more episodes to go. Monica is returning in Captain Marvel 2, so some story elements might get a focus later on. Still, the main character of this story is Wanda and her grief. It may also be what brought together an unlikely pairing of characters that would turn an entire town of New Jersey into a sitcom. Marvel Studios’ first venture into long-form storytelling feels unrestricted in many ways but still part of an ever-expanding franchise. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us in next week’s episode.

January 29, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’ Shows Its Hand

In just 34 minutes Episode 4 of WandaVision, “We Interrupt This Program”, managed to shit on pretty much every popular fan theory, integrate some key pieces of MCU history and clarify the direction of the series, setting fans up for what looks to be one of the biggest heel turns in Marvel Comics history making its way into the MCU. While there’s a chance Marvel Studios could be giving us all a big okey-doke, it seems like we’ve seen what we need to see to know that depending on what side of the story you’re on, the bad guys are either Wanda or S.W.O.R.D. Let’s dissect how “We Interrupt This Program” gets us there.

Nobody is Anybody

Probably the biggest reveal of the series so far is that everyone in Westview, other than Wanda, Vision and presumably Agnes, is just Joe Schmoe. Herb’s not the High Evolutionary, Bev isn’t Bova, Norm’s not the Grim Reaper and Phil isn’t Wonder Man. I suppose there’s still a chance the Dottie could be SOMEBODY, but at this point, Occam’s Razor would lead us to believe that none of these neighbors are anything other than puppets in Wanda’s new reality, as Arlyn Murphy predicted earlier this week. On the surface, we get a cute little sitcom, but the larger reality is that Wanda is essentially responsible for the abduction of a large number of real human beings for the purpose of making her fantasy a reality. These people are being held captive and having their memories altered or erased.

S.W.O.R.D. is on the Case

The episode deftly integrated some key pieces of information about S.W.O.R.D. into its first few minutes and, by doing so, made it clear that they are a well-established organization that has redefined itself a bit after the Blip. We’ve always known S.W.O.R.D. was in the series, but by devoting an entire episode to the organization, Jac Schaeffer and Matt Shakman have made it clear that they are the “big bad” from Wanda’s point of view. It’s not Hydra; it’s not AIM; it’s just S.W.O.R.D.

We get some key pieces of info during the episode that explain some of the things fans have been questioning since the beginning. We see that the bubble around the town of Westview is hexagonal and hexagons have been omnipresent throughout the series. As I mentioned in our first episode of The Universal Church of Truth, the way they continually framed Wanda and Vision with hexagons made it seem like they were contained within one, something I attributed to Wanda’s “hex” powers from the comics. This episode seems to support that and it also lends credence to an old scoop that we shared which indicated that Wanda’s reality-altering powers from the comics would come into play in WandaVision.

We’ve seen hints throughout the first 3 episodes but now it’s made clear that S.W.O.R.D. is investigating this hex bubble and Wanda clearly views them as a threat to her reality. We saw the cracks starting to form in Wanda in the last episode, but today’s perspective shift made it crystal clear: S.W.O.R.D. is the enemy and Wanda has already assaulted an agent.

Agnes

While there were other people (most noticeably Dottie) whose “real” identities weren’t revealed, it’s no mistake that we don’t have a real-world match for Agnes. Ever since she was cast, people have expected Kathryn Hahn to be Agatha Harkness and she certainly has a much meatier role here than helping Wanda with dinner. If you’re not asking, “Why in the hell is Wanda in New Jersey in the first place?”, then you should. And while we don’t have a clear answer at this point, the chances are good that it has something to do with Agatha.

Given what we know about Wanda so far, she shouldn’t be capable of something like this massive hex that seems to be altering reality, wiping the minds of people both inside and outside the bubble and releasing a massive amount of energy in the form of the cosmic microwave background radiation so neatly explained by Dr. Darcy Lewis (and now the most likely explanation for the impending powers of Monica Rambeau). Thanks to the lessons of the Ancient One, we know MCU magic is all about energy manipulation and it seems like that’s what is happening here, meaning someone had to teach Wanda some magic and that someone is Agatha. I expect we’ll get quite the exposition on her sooner rather than later, but I’m sure she’s Wanda’s teacher and the reason why Kevin Feige told us all so many times that WandaVision will give us the MCU’s true Scarlet Witch.

Wanda as the Villain

The signs have been there all along that Wanda will stop at nothing to keep her reality intact and we’ve already covered some of the darker decisions Wanda has made. In addition to kidnapping people, altering their memories and attacking a S.W.O.R.D. agent, she rewound time and maybe erased the S.W.O.R.D. beekeeper after she and Vision discovered him. She continues to stop Vision from investigating. She’s willing to lie to Vision repeatedly to keep him living the fantasy, but in one of the show’s creepiest moments yet, she received another reminder of the world she’s attempted to escape when we briefly saw the synthezoid corpse of her husband appear (is Wanda toting Vision’s corpse around with her?!). If she hasn’t lost it entirely, she will soon. We’ve heard the moment from the trailer where Wanda and Vision decide to fight for their home and that means that we are likely to see a full-on attack on S.W.O.R.D. in the final two episodes of the series. Wanda before magic was plenty powerful to nearly kill Thanos. This new and improved Wanda is going to be way out of S.W.O.R.D.’s league, even if Monica is powered up or if she finds herself going up against her own husband. Think Avengers: Disassembled.

Who You Gonna Call?

Over a year ago, I shared a rumor about Benedict Cumberbatch appearing in WandaVision. While a lot of people had happy thoughts about him delivering the twins, others of us have had a different idea in mind: the Sorcerer Supreme is going to have to come into play to protect the real reality by taking down Wanda. We know Wanda’s story will continue into Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness and we know that she’s the key to breaking open the multiverse, turning the MCU into the MCM (Marvel Cinematic Multiverse). Avengers Disassembled again provides an excellent example of what we might expect when the Sorcerer Supreme faces off with the Scarlet Witch (even though I can’t hear that “NO.” from Wanda on the page, it somehow sounds a lot like the “No” from episode 2).

Wanda’s heel turn in the pages of the comics while not well received by everyone, was one of the very few times that the Avengers were not only helpless but also terrified. I imagine the same will be true in the final episodes of WandaVision, though I’m less sure that her villainous turn will carry on after the series concludes. Either way, it seems as though Episode 4 has made the path forward for the series pretty clear. Sure there are going to be some twists and turns, but this episode seems to have laid out the main components of the plot and given us quite a bit to look forward to over the next 5 episodes.

January 29, 2021
6 Forgotten MCU Characters Who Could Appear in ‘WANDAVISION

In case you weren’t aware, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quite big. Since its modest inception in 2008, the franchise has grown to include a seemingly endless list of names and faces as part of it’s character roster. One might think this would make it easier for incoming writers to pick and choose who they want to play a role in their story, but a recent Digital Spy interview with WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer has confirmed that isn’t exactly the case. Schaeffer, who also worked as a writer and producer on the series, revealed that Marvel Studios does not allow “free rein” on which characters a writer can use in their project, and instead supplied her with a larger list of “suggested” names to implement in her plot. This strategy definitely makes more sense than some might give it credit for, considering the MCU would probably fall apart pretty quickly if every film and series were allowed to have Iron Man or Captain America as part of the cast.

Luckily for the showrunner, she was able to use everyone she wanted, even managing to bring back Randall Park and Kat Dennings as Jimmy Woo and Darcy Lewis, respectively. The revelation that Marvel has a list of characters not currently planned for use sheds new light on comments made by Marvel boss Kevin Feige over a year ago, when he told viewers of a Reddit AMA that he enjoys bringing back characters some may have previously thought forgotten. The unexpected return of Darcy and Woo seemed to prove that concept, with the former not having been mentioned since 2014’s Thor: The Dark World and the latter feeling like a one-off reference in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Feige took it all a step further when he shocked fans with the Investor Day announcement of Tim Roth reprising his role as the Abomination for Marvel’s upcoming She-Hulk series. The actor hadn’t appeared since his debut in the role in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, a film often thought of as the MCU’s red-headed step-child. Now that it feels like any return may be possible, let’s take a look at a few other “forgotten” characters that could make their grand re-entry in WandaVision, or beyond:

Dr. Helen Cho

Wait, who?: Appearing only once before in Avengers: Age of Ultron (played by Claudia Kim), the good Dr. Cho is presented as one of the world’s leading geneticists, head of the U-GIN Research Group, and a friend of Dr. Bruce Banner. Normally based in her home country of South Korea, Dr. Cho traveled to Avengers Tower in New York City to help patch up an injured Clint Barton, and had multiple close-up encounters with the villainous Ultron. The robotic menace even used Loki’s scepter to manipulate her into helping him create a new body, until Wanda severed his hold and Dr. Cho heroically put a stop to the upgrade.

Why WandaVision?: From what we know so far, it seems the creation of S.W.O.R.D. involved recruiting some top names from other organizations. Jimmy Woo seems to have transferred from his position at the FBI, and Darcy Lewis has apparently graduated from her political science program at Culver University. Therefore, it stands to reason that the new government agency may reach out to the world’s leading brain in genetics, especially with all that potential to study alien life. If nothing else, with the current situation happening in Westview and the mysterious reappearence of the previously dead Vision, the organization might want to speak with the woman who was directly involved with Vision’s creation in the first place.

If not WandaVision, where?: If Marvel were to bring Helen Cho back anywhere other than WandaVision, it would make sense to do it in She-Hulk. Dr. Cho is a friend of Bruce Banner, after all, and he may need her help again when his cousin requires an experimental blood transfusion. It also doesn’t hurt that Cho’s son in the comics, Amadeus, is a genius sidekick with strong ties to the Hulk mythos.

Mitchell Carson

Wait, who?: Introduced in Ant-Man as the former Head of Defense at S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of the many enemies made by Hank Pym over the years, he was later revealed to be a secret agent of HYDRA, ousted off camera during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When Scott Lang infiltrated Pym Technologies to steal the Yellowjacket suit, he found Carson attempting to strike a deal with Darren Cross to purchase it for HYDRA. While that deal didn’t end up happening, Carson did manage to escape Pym Technologies during an ensuing scuffle with a vial of Pym Particles. Many expected this plot thread to be continued in the film’s sequel, but the dastardly agent hasn’t been seen in the MCU since.

Why WandaVision?: We still don’t know who or what is behind whatever it is that’s happening to Wanda Maximoff, and while it seems unlikely, I wouldn’t completely rule out HYDRA from the mix. If the recurring group of baddies should make a return, it would make sense for them to use a familiar face for the big reveal. Perhaps Mitchell Carson and his stolen Pym Particles have played a role in the shenanigans in Westview?

If not WandaVision, where?: If actor Martin Donovan is ever to return to his role elsewhere, it would probably be the recently announced threequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, for obvious reasons.

Justin Hammer

Wait, who?: C’mon, there’s no way you forgot about this guy. A fan-favorite character portrayed by the brilliant Sam Rockwell and perhaps the best part of Iron Man 2 (that’s subjective but it’s also not), Justin Hammer was the smooth-talking, stage-dancing business rival of Tony Stark, and one of the film’s main villains. Determined to get the best of Stark, he used the resources of his company, Hammer Industries, to break Anton Vanko out of prison and create the Hammer Drone army that laid waste to the 2010 Stark Expo. He also innovated the MK. II Iron Man armor to create the original design for War Machine, faulty as it may have been. Hammer was eventually sent to prison after his criminal activities were exposed by Natasha Romanoff and Pepper Potts, and we got a brief glimpse of his life there in 2014’s short film, All Hail the King.

Why WandaVision?: If S.W.O.R.D. is anything like General Thunderbolt Ross, they may just attempt to blast their way through the mysterious wall surrounding Westview. This would not be a task that could be completed by ordinary weaponry, and with Tony Stark having recently passed away, they may have to turn to the prison consultations of one Mr. Hammer, weapon extraordinaire. However unlikely, one can dream, right?

If not WandaVision, where?: Although not confirmed, it seems incredibly likely that Rockwell will be back as Hammer for Armor Wars on DIsney+. The series will be based on the comic series of the same name, which features a far less agile Justin Hammer stealing Tony Stark’s technology and selling it to a wide array of iron-clad villains. While the adaptation may take a different approach, it would make more sense for them to use the character they already set up over a decade prior.

Samuel Sterns

Wait, who?: Only appearing in The Incredible Hulk, Samuel Sterns was a cellular biologist at Grayburn College who contacted Edward Norton‘s Bruce Banner via online chat with a potential antidote for his unique green rage monster disease. This outreach, and a military raid, led Banner to come out of hiding in South America and return to New York to find Sterns, who was ultimately unable to rid Bruce of the Hulk. He was, however, revealed to have a very large blood collection and ended up being cornered into helping Emil Blonsky accelerate his transformation into the Abomination. The film’s ending included a cliffhanger in which some gamma-infected blood drips into a cut on Sterns’ head, which begins his journey towards becoming the big-brained comic book villain, The Leader. Unfortunately, the plot thread has never been addressed again.

Why WandaVision?: The Leader is no stranger to crafting large domes to accomplish his goals, and with no villain yet revealed, maybe he’s behind this one as well? It’s been theorized that AIM, the sketchy science group founded by Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3, is responsible for the technology surrounding the town of Westview, and it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that a group so grounded in knowledge could use a Leader with a big head. With Abomination already confirmed to appear again in the MCU, it doesn’t seem like Incredible Hulk characters are off the table.

If not WandaVision, where?: The project that would make the most sense is clearly She-Hulk, which could be on track to reunite the classic comic book duo of Leader and the Abomination. However, one might not rule out an appearance in the tech-based Armor Wars, which again, still doesn’t have an announced villain. After all, why wouldn’t Marvel Studios want Tim Blake Nelson back as a fully-fledged villain?

Betty Ross and Leonard Samson

Wait, who?: More Incredible Hulk characters, the former love interest of Bruce Banner and her former love interest, both doctors at Culver University. Betty Ross is the daughter of Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and a former employee of Harvard, who worked on gamma radiation with Banner. The two fell in love, and she was present when his transformation to the Hulk first occurred. She was once the only person who could calm the Hulk down, and she aided Bruce in hiding from her father when he came back to NYC. Bruce left her behind when he realized he was too much of a danger for her safety, and she hasn’t made another appearance since. As for Samson, he become romantically involved with Betty during her and Bruce’s time apart. He didn’t do much else in the film, but in the comics, Samson finds himself evolving due to gamma exposure, and becomes known as the hero Doc Samson.

Why WandaVision?: Much like my suggestion with Dr. Cho, it would make sense for S.W.O.R.D. to potentially recruit some of the American educational system’s top minds in their early days. After all, the organization hired former graduate Darcy Lewis. Besides, Ty Burrell would fit well into the episodes based on 2000’s era sitcoms.

If not WandaVision, where?: This is another She-Hulk situation, which Marvel may use to tie-up lose threads from the Incredible Hulk.

Ian Boothby

Wait, who?: You didn’t think I’d forgotten about Ian, did you? Ian Boothby was Darcy Lewis’ unofficial official assistant in Thor: The Dark World. Doing her dirty work as assistant to the assistant manager, he ended the film by passionately kissing Darcy.

Why WandaVision?: It could maybe be assumed that Darcy and Ian’s romance has ended by the time of WandaVision, but I’ve seen no proof of this. One can only hope they’re still happily together, and if that’s the case, there’s nothing stopping him from showing up to work to visit the love of his life (or even work for S.W.O.R.D. himself).

If not WandaVision, where?: I just shook a Magic 8 Ball, and it said “not likely”.

January 29, 2021
Murphy’s Law Rewind: Episode 4’s ‘WANDAVISION’ Scoop

With episode 4 of WandaVision set to blow some minds, we thought it was a good time to revisit Episode 4 of Murphy’s Law in which Charles and Charles dropped a scoop that came their way while the show was still in the early stages of development:

I’ve heard that as this show unfolds, it’s gonna find Wanda really starting to come into her powerset and that the reality-altering powers from the comic are gonna make their way into MCU.

Check out the scoop in detail by listening here!

January 28, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’ Episode 4 Primer

We can all agree that the third episode of WandaVision, “Now in Color”, had a LOT going on. Wanda’s pregnancy goes VERY fast. Vision senses that something is wrong, but when he starts trying to tell Wanda, the scene rewinds and starts over. By the end of the episode, Wanda and Vision have the two baby boys, formally known as Billy(Wiccan) and Tommy( Speed). In the comics they are part of the Young Avengers. Billy has the powers that his mother has, and Speed has the same powers as Pietro. Let’s go to Geraldine’s role in the show. Right from the beginning, we could tell she was a little weird; Agnes and Herb add to that by saying that she doesn’t have a house or a family. When she was with Wanda she somehow knew about Pietro being killed by Ultron. How does she know this? An angry Wanda kicks her out of whatever reality they are in. At the end of Vision, Agnes, and Herb’s conversation Herb says something like “We’re all…” but never finishes the line. What could he be saying?

I think that Westview is a real town and Wanda just took it over and made everyone puppets in her very own world. She made a perfect paradise for her and her family. She did all this so she could live a perfect life with the twins and Vision. Sometimes Vision starts saying things that might ruin her paradise and she simply makes it so it never happened. So obviously Vision thinks that something is wrong but Wanda makes it so he never gets to finish those thoughts.

Arlyn’s Assumptions

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany both say this next episode is mind-blowing and something huge is going to happen. Olsen says that it is a change in perspective. These past three episodes have been in Wanda and Vision’s perspective inside this bubble they are in. Maybe in this next episode, the perspective will shift to someone outside the bubble. As seen in the trailer Monica is outside of the bubble and reaches her hand in it. Also seen, the beekeeper guy that shows up is not in a beekeeper suit when he enters the bubble. This shift is mostly likely shifting into what’s happening from S.W.O.R.D.’s perspective.

January 28, 2021
‘AGE OF ULTRON’ is All About Demons and ‘WANDAVISION’ Will Be Too

The latest episode of Marvel’s WandaVision may have been packaged with a hidden teaser for the show’s future that most of us weren’t even looking for. So far, Marvel Studios’ maiden foray into the world of television has come without the creative giant’s customary post-credit scenes. You know, those minute-long tidbits that lead us to linger several moments in the theater for a peak at what’s to come? Well, the third episode of the series, “Now in Color”, didn’t have one of those little scenes, but the credits did finish with a bit of a recommendation. It seems Marvel was really hoping you’d give up a little time to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron before you continue along with the mind-bending adventures of Vision and the Scarlet Witch.

*Spoilers for WandaVision*

There are a lot of simple reasons why Disney+’s algorithm may have decided to advertise the second Avengers film at the conclusion of that WandaVision episode. After all, Age of Ultron was the Marvel Cinematic Universe project that introduced both Wanda Maximoff and Vision, and “Now in Color” contained a major reference to the climax of the film, with “Geraldine” commenting on the death of Pietro Maximoff at the cold, metallic hands of Ultron himself. The more interesting explanation, however, could be that WandaVision will make an effort to continue the major theme of Ultron; confronting demons. Eventually maybe literally, but for now, I just mean figuratively. One of the major plot points of Wanda Maximoff’s debut appearance is her ability to mess with other people’s minds, forcing them into dream-like states they can’t escape. The unfortunate souls on the receiving end of this magic travel ticket find themselves facing down their deepest, darkest fears and insecurities. Of course, we’re still a long way off from finding out what’s really going on with Wanda in her current starring vehicle, but if Marvel is actually trying to tell us something with that sneaky “watch next” suggestion, it would make a lot of sense for it to have something to do with the dream-world power we haven’t seen in action since 2015.

Thus far on WandaVision, we’ve seen Wanda doing her best to live a happy life in a picture perfect town. And yet, despite her best efforts, she’s occasionally put in the position of preventing the real world (because I think it’s safe to assume Westview isn’t real) from seeping in. It seems clear she’s giving the age-old tactic of suppressing trauma the old college try. Unfortunately for her, conventional storytelling would indicate she won’t be able to do it much longer. At that point, in my opinion, WandaVision is going to pick up where Age of Ultron left off, and Wanda is going to have to face all those demons if she wants to survive herself. Now, let me turn your attention to the film that brought us here.

The subtle genius behind the Avengers sequel script is the way it inverts the objective of the previous film to become a little more personal. Whereas the original is a story of our heroes learning to cope with each other to function as a team, the sequel is about them learning to cope with themselves in order to continue functioning. Over the course of the movie’s two and a half hour runtime, each prominent character is forced to confront their greatest personal demon, via some witchy business, and attempt to come out the other side better for it. And you know what? It’s all done brilliantly. It turns out that, just like Disney+, I think you should rewatch Avengers: Age of Ultron, and you should do it with this theme of personal demons in mind. I think it just might change how you see the MCU’s Phase Two. Here’s a quick rundown of what goes on for each major player in Ultron, according to the topic, so you can keep it in mind when you hit play (presented in pairs, for convenience).

Iron Man & Ultron – Ego

This is the obvious one, so let’s get it out of the way. Tony Stark’s greatest demon is his own ego, or more specifically, his narcissism. He holds a firm belief that he is the only person who can truly save the world, permanently, and if he doesn’t, everyone’s deaths will be on him. This is apparent in several spots over the course of the story. His Wanda-induced nightmare features Cap directly telling Tony that he failed the world, and he goes as far as to tell Nick Fury that the Avengers have found themselves at the end of a path he started them on. So, the man creates Ultron, a literal manifestation of his own overcompensation. He basically gives his ego a body. Ultron also firmly believes only he can save the world, to the point of operating with an army comprised entirely of himself. The lesson Tony learns from all of this is that sometimes he needs to listen to the advice of others, and it’s this acceptance of teamwork that leads to Ultron’s defeat. Oh, and in the spirit of inverse, the movie even goes an extra length to present Stark as Ultron’s demon, in oedipal fashion.

Captain America & Thor – Destiny

Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson have perhaps one of the most unique relationships in the MCU. Aside from their now famous moments of mid-battle banter, both are soldiers who feel somewhat displaced. Rogers is a man forced out of his own time, while Odinson is a god who feels most at home among mortals. Age of Ultron plays off of this dynamic splendidly, as the two Avengers find themselves facing a crisis of destiny. Their nightmare sequences find them both at parties in locations they know they should call home. Cap hallucinates a group of WWII soldiers slain in war, whom he feels he should have been around to protect, and the love of his life still begging him for a dance. Thor finds Heimdall waiting for him with a foreboding message of a coming doomsday the God of Thunder is not around to prevent. The duo spend the film carrying with them the weight of guilt, contemplating whether they have cheated themselves out of their intended fates, and whether or not those they care about have suffered because of it. The difference between the two arcs is that while Thor struggles with his future, Rogers struggles with his inability to change the past. Ultimately, Steve commits to building a life in the present, accepting his role as a modern soldier, and Thor realizes that saving Asgard might be the key to saving all Nine Realms.

Black Widow & Hulk – Humanity

A tale of two people who see themselves as monsters. Natasha Romanoff, because she was once willing to sacrifice her future in order to become a better killer, and Bruce Banner, because sometimes when he’s mad he literally turns into a giant green rage monster. They’re both heroes who are concerned they’ve done too much harm to ever balance out with good, and they cling to each other so that they might feel just a little more human. Luckily for them, they’re actually more human than most at heart, and they’re able to see each other for who they really are. Despite magic-induced flashbacks to her time in the Red Room, Natasha spends most of the film bringing a much-needed sense of humanity to her teammates. She makes lighthearted jokes with Clint while he’s down and out, has his kids calling her “Aunty Nat”, and even manages to talk down a raging Hulk. When she has a chance to disappear and start a new life, she instead chooses to help save the world. In the end, Nat realizes that she never sacrificed a future, but has actually forged a new one with chosen family. Banner, on the other hand, opts to remove himself from the equation, and retreats to parts unknown.

Hawkeye & Quicksilver – Mortality

Clint Barton has maybe the second-most prominent demon in the movie, and it’s his own mortality. The character study is set up early, when Hawkeye finds himself unable to keep up with the Avengers’ newest super powered antagonist, Quicksilver, and winds up bleeding on the ground because of it. This is followed by a string of plot points and throwaway moments that just repeatedly punch you in the face with the concept of Clint Barton being a lot less indestructible than his teammates. Not only that, but Barton is revealed to have a family, which makes the challenge to stay alive all the more important. It acts as a foil for basically everyone else’s self-centered problems, and really highlights just how resourceful Hawkeye has been this whole time. It’s also juxtaposed wonderfully against the plight of Pietro Maximoff, an enhanced individual who is still coping with the death of his family. It makes it all the more surprising when a morally rejuvenated Quicksilver sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye, who accepts his mortality and attempts to ride off into the sunset with his loved ones.

Vision & Scarlet Witch – Trauma

Ever since her debut, the MCU’s take on Wanda Maximoff has been motivated mostly by past trauma. She loses her parents, and the emotions she feels fuel her to team up with Ultron. She is born from an act of terrorism and inadvertently finds herself acting as a weapon of a terrorist. Then, in the midst of trying to recompense, she loses her brother. It’s a lot for one person to bottle up inside, which we see when she drops to her knees and completely obliterates a small army of Ultron bots, before ripping the heart out of Ultron himself. After all she goes through, who else could possibly understand her pain? Only another child of trauma, Mr. Vision Vision (which I assume is his full name). He may be a synthezoid, but Vision was created using the brain patterns and powers of multiple men all trying to deal with what it means to be human, which could have gone horribly wrong, but instead resulted in a soulful figure with a deep understanding of failure. He ends up saving Wanda’s life, and who knows? She might have saved his as well.

From this point forward, Wanda only experiences more and more trauma. She accidentally causes the demise of countless innocents in Captain America: Civil War, and she loses Vision twice (once by her own hand) in Avengers: Infinity War. This is true for the other characters mentioned above, but unlike the heroic giants she’s surrounded by, Wanda has had trouble fully reconciling with her past. That thread hasn’t been tied up just yet. Expect WandaVision to change that.

January 27, 2021
Where ‘WANDAVISION’ Soared – and Slipped – In Paying Tribute to the 70s

This week’s installment of WandaVision took us to another decade as the story was set in the fully-colored sitcom world of the 1970s. The transition from the black-and-white palette of the two premiere day episodes to this comparative rainbow of an aesthetic was far from the only change in the manner the decade of choice’s sitcom elements played into, though, so let’s take a look at how WandaVision tackled the era of the Third Great Awakening.

Now in Color

I’ve already mentioned how this episode was the first time during the series in which we saw color other than the credits and ending of Episode 2. I appreciated that the palette of the 1970s was different from the one for the scene we saw at the end of the 1960s. That one was more muted with lots of neutrals like white, beige, and plenty of shades of brown, with only the colors seen on the characters and their clothing really popping out (most notably, the purple of Vision skin and the red of Wanda’s lips and clothing).

Conversely, the 1970s is full of bright hues from Wanda’s multicolored striped number to many of the walls in the house. However, what I appreciated about this was that the designers went with colors that were particularly big in that decade, with plenty of yellows and oranges abound, as well as some darker greens and lighter blues. Here’s hoping that now that the show is in color, these deliberate palette decisions will continue every week to match the era.

A Less Derivative Approach

Aesthetically, the episode does a bang-up job at capturing the 1970s, especially the hairstyles and aforementioned color choices. When it comes to the area of sitcom-specific material, though, the episode is pretty light on that compared to the first two. A lot of Marvel fans have been waiting for more emphasis on the action and mystery elements of WandaVision, and while we got that this week the majority of the show was still rooted in the sitcom antics but didn’t feel like it was supposed to be paying homage to other shows for the most part.

There are only two very obvious references to specific shows here: the house inspired by The Brady Bunch (which isn’t quite an exact recreation but it’s clear that an homage to the show is what they’re going for) and the theme song similar to The Partridge Family’s “Come on Get Happy”, which can actually be heard in Marvel’s own Ant-Man and the Wasp. Unlike the previous two episodes it’s mostly just the music that’s similar; since the entire Partridge Family opening sequence consists of animation and stylized photos the only specific visual emulated in this opener is The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s sprawl of colored copies of the program’s name before transitioning into live-action footage.

Unlike the first two decades, there’s no specific episode of a classic 70’s series like The Brady Bunch or The Jeffersons I could point to as the inspiration for this episode’s storyline. It seems like it’s almost supposed to be an homage to pregnancy and childbirth storylines, which have been present on sitcoms ever since their inception (though this episode is far enough along into the decades to allow the characters to acknowledge the pregnancy directly without having to dance around it with terms like “expecting” like they did back in the 1950s). I think this is actually a better method as it allows WandaVision to carve out its own identity rather than present itself as simply a tribute to old shows, but to do this after two episodes with more specific references makes this one feel as if there’s just a little something missing and I wish they would have just gone their own way a bit more from the get-go.

The Dilemma of The Decade

As I said, I appreciate the show going its own way with this episode but I think part of the way the sitcom elements contribute to the overall story is each potentially highlighting or offsetting a certain mood or attitude present in its episode. Ideally, this wouldn’t be directly lifting a story from a sitcom episode from that era, more like how the “wholesome” 1950s showcased Wanda and Vision’s innocence to the whole situation, and the changing attitudes of the 1960s taking the episode from silly fun to giving us (and the characters) a bit more of a hint as to the overall plot; the beds moving together and color being added to this world is intercut with clues as to what might really be going on.

This sort of thing isn’t really present in the 70’s episode, but the creators were probably in a tough spot here. The sitcom eras naturally have to go in order (at least for now, since it appears Wanda will discover the ability to mix them up at some point as showcased by some of the trailers) so the birth of the babies had to happen now. But unlike the decades before and after it, the 1970s didn’t really have a lot of iconic sitcoms with babies in them, even ones focusing on family dynamics like the aforementioned Brady Bunch and Partridge Family.

Women had also gained many opportunities in the working world by this point (which was nodded to in this week’s WandaVision via Geraldine telling a story about her job promotion) and things like divorce and single-parenthood were much less taboo. Therefore, a lot of the most popular shows of the era were workplace sitcoms like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, politically charged ones like All in the Family and Maude, or shows featuring non-nuclear family living situations like Diff’rent Strokes, Three’s Company, or The Odd Couple. So it’s understandable why the episode’s storyline doesn’t utilize a lot of 70s-based tropes, as they didn’t really fit with the whole childbirth plot.

Hopefully, WandaVision will be able to find a nice balance between paying homage to shows of the past, telling its own story, and including more creepy and mysterious elements in its remaining three sitcom era-based episodes.

January 27, 2021