In “Previously On …” Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) takes Wanda on a trip down memory lane, under the pretense of her past being the key to her future. Viewers also got a glimpse into Agatha’s past in order to learn, in part, how she became such a formidable wielder of black magic.
With only one episode of WandaVision left, the stakes, those of both the personal variety, and those concerning the larger nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, couldn’t be higher. So before WandaVision comes to an end, there’s just enough time for one more deep dive into questions and theories that may be illuminated in the finale, or at least set up to be answered down the line.
What does it mean for Wanda to be the Scarlet Witch?
“This is Chaos Magic, Wanda. And that makes you the Scarlet Witch,” Agatha says at the end of episode eight. But what does that mean? Wanda has yet to take the name Scarlet Witch in the MCU, though she inevitably will by the series’ end. But WandaVision makes it clear that Scarlet Witch is more than just a superhero alias, it’s a title, one that doesn’t belong to just one individual. The Scarlet Witch as a role, much like the Sorcerer Supreme, is a rather recent development in Marvel Comics.
As revealed in Scarlet Witch No. 4 (2015) by James Robinson and artist Marguerite Sauvage, Wanda is only the most recent Scarlet Witch, with her mother and grandmother also fulfilling the role. Wanda’s parentage in the comics is a mess of retcons, but in the MCU there’s no sign yet that Wanda was adopted (hold tight Magneto fans), making it unlikely the mother audiences met in the flashback had any magical powers. Still, it seems likely that Wanda’s path to becoming the Scarlet Witch, a vision of which she saw through the Mind Stone in Loki’s scepter, will also reveal she’s part of a larger legacy.
What will be left of Vision?
The eighth episode of WandaVision revealed the nature of Vision’s return — Wanda created him entirely through magic. But Vision’s real body, the one destroyed by Thanos, has been retrofitted by the SWORD as a weapon, an all-white android Vision. The finale will likely serve up a battle of the two Visions, but will either survive? Given that Wanda’s trajectory to becoming the Scarlet Witch is just beginning, and her role in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seems to point toward a darker future, I’m betting that Wanda and Vision’s love story will come to an end, for now. It’s hard to imagine Vision surviving and abandoning his wife, even if she did manipulate him, so I think Wanda’s Vision will meet his end in the finale. But if White Vision survives, it not only opens the door for Paul Bettany to explore a different side of the character, and perhaps sets up a scenario in which Vision is able to download Simon Williams’, aka Wonder Man’s, brainwaves as he did in the comics, regaining his humanity and his color.
Where will Wanda’s children go?
Teyonah Parris told The Hollywood Reporter that WandaVision would have an “epic and incredibly sad” ending. What could be sadder than Wanda once again finding herself alone, her husband and children gone? But if the comics are our guide, Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne) have a big future ahead of them as Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed. While the characters in the comics disappeared for almost 15 years, after being revealed as parts of Mephisto’s soul, their reincarnated selves have been Marvel mainstays since 2005. Assuming Wanda doesn’t have any motherly responsibilities in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems likely Billy and Tommy will disappear in the finale. But given how Marvel Studios is setting up the rest of the Young Avengers, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Stature (Kathryn Newton), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), with the potential for appearances by Patriot, Kid Loki and Hulkling, in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Secret Invasion respectively, teenage versions of Billy and Tommy will surely show up later.
Is WandaVision the end of Agatha?
Agnes being Agatha Harkness is simultaneously WandaVision’s worst-kept secret and one of its greatest assets. She and Wanda are destined to wage a witching war against each other in the finale, but will that battle end with Agatha’s demise? Agatha has died many times in Marvel Comics over the years, and has returned from death each time as either a ghost or a physical presence. Kathryn Hahn is way too welcome a presence in the MCU for us to imagine that WandaVision will be the last we see of her. Whether she eventually redeems herself and serves as Wanda’s mentor as she does in the comics, or remains an adversary, there’s still a lot of Agatha’s past and future to explore as the world of magic and Nexus-Beings opens new doors in the MCU. And while she hasn’t been listed as part of the cast, I can’t help but imagine the greatness that would come from a Hahn and Raimi collaboration in the Doctor Strange sequel.
What’s the deal with fake Pietro?
The identity of Evan Peters’ character remains a mystery. While some fans are certain he was pulled over from across the multiverse, making Fox’s X-Men films canon within the MCU, others are convinced he’s Mephisto. Agatha is shown to have cast a spell over this fake Pietro, using him as her eyes and ears, which makes me doubt he’s Mephisto. But this doesn’t mean I think Mephisto is entirely out the window. We still haven’t met Agatha’s husband, Ralph, and honestly I’ve spent far too much time on the Mephisto theory to let it go yet. Another theory that has been making its way across social media is that he is Agatha’s son, Nicholas Scratch. It’s notable that Agatha’s carnivorous pet rabbit is named Señor Scratchy, and she’s already shown off her powers of transmutation. It’s possible that Evan Peters is playing Nicholas Scratch, especially if we consider that Agatha left her rabbit behind when she took Wanda on her trip down memory lane, leaving the possibility open that he was able to turn back into a human and stop the snooping Monica Rambeau. Whatever the case, Evan Peters is definitely someone significant, and not just another Westview townie, right?
Mutants?
Audiences expecting WandaVision to be a stealth X-Men pilot will surely be disappointed. The series was always billed as Wanda’s transformation into the Scarlet Witch. But of course, Evan Peters’ appearance and some epic trolling from Paul Bettany fueled fan theories that Professor X, Magneto or even Logan might show up in the finale. That seems less likely, though I wouldn’t put it past Marvel Studios to deliver an internet-breaking post-credit sequence for its first foray into television. Although Wanda is no longer a mutant in the comics, thanks to yet another retcon concerning her parentage (she and Pietro were given powers as infants by the High Evolutionary), she’ll always be associated with mutants thanks to House of M’s “no more mutants.”
Personally, I’m more partial to Wanda and Pietro being mutants than anything else. The question, I suppose, is whether Kevin Feige is, too. While WandaVision has yet to mention mutants, the eighth episode did reveal that Wanda had probability-altering powers before HYDRA experimented on her with the Mind Stone. She could very easily be a mutant, whose powers were enhanced by HYDRA. In the comics, Wanda’s mutant powers gave her the ability to use magic, but not the understanding of its cost. Her abilities as a true sorceress came later, through the tutelage of Doctor Strange and Agatha Harkness. While I don’t think we’ll get any direct X-Men references or appearances in the finale, I do think we’ll at least hear the term “mutants.”
All will be revealed Friday, when the WandaVision finale drops on Disney+.
