Well, hello there. Yes, we’re talking to you. The casual movie buff and occasional TV binger. The one who has seen all of these Marvel movies and enjoys them, but can’t really be bothered with the nitty gritty that comes with 70 years of comic book history. The one who has embraced the idea of “Infinity Stones” now being a part of your pop culture vocabulary, but isn’t quite ready to take the leap into the wider world of Faustian comic book demons or anthropomorphic ducks from other dimensions. Are you enjoying WandaVision? Is it a bit too much inside baseball?
Well, you’re now well past the half way mark, you’ve reached Episode 6 of WandaVision, and you have questions. You already know the basics. You know who Wanda and Vision are, you’ve witnessed the tragic end to their all too brief love story in Avengers: Infinity War, and you’re here for the aftermath. But all of these sitcom simulations can be a little confusing. Just what is going on exactly? We hear you and we’re here to help.
So just what’s going on with all of these sitcom simulations?
We don’t know really. On the face of it, the narrative wants us to believe that Wanda, using her immense reality manipulating powers, has created this weird television utopia where Vision is alive and they are living a perfect, all American existence.
Why sitcoms? That’s unclear too. One theory is rooted in our own experience of America, and how we here in Malaysia consumed their popular culture. Being from the third world herself, Wanda’s only exposure to the idea of America may have come from the kind of television sitcom that is perennially in syndication. Growing up here in the 80s and 90s, our TV stations would often fill up their respective schedules with reruns of wholesome and relatively inoffensive American content.
That (faux) representation of the ideal nuclear family (something she and Pietro never had), neighbourly suburban living, and an all around peaceful, non-superhero existence, is something that Wanda craves so much that she seemingly found inspiration in the sitcoms she might have watched as a child.
All of that also feeds into this week’s Malcolm in the Middle homage and the evolution of the American sitcom over the years. As Wanda begins to lose control over what’s going on around her, it makes sense that the sitcoms that she’s simulating become more anarchic.
How is Wanda doing all of this? Is she doing all of this?
With regards to the “how,” we were shown how she can manipulate and influence minds in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we’ve seen just how powerful she actually is when she went up against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. So it is entirely possible that Wanda is capable of creating such a large simulation and controlling it.
We are, however, of two minds as to whether or not she’s the one responsible for whatever it is that’s happening in Westview. Yes, she’s doing it, but she may not be in control of her own actions.
As the series progresses, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Wanda herself isn’t quite sure how, or why, “the hex” exists. Her conversations with Pietro in this episode reinforced that idea as she seemed to be questioning him for new information.
Why then were all of those people at the edge of town seemingly frozen in time?
It seems like there are limits to her powers. As we move closer towards the edge of town, it appears as if those residents of Westview are stuck in some kind of repetitive loop. Think of them as background extras (or in gamespeak, NPCs) that Wanda hasn’t completely animated to be a part of her story. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t think they are essential to the “plot.” Maybe she’s just conserving her powers.
Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure, it’s agonising for them. As we see with the woman tending to her clothesline with tears escaping the corners of her eyes.
Who are Billy and Tommy dressed up as for Halloween?
This is a callback to the comics. Billy and Tommy are essentially dressed as versions of their comic book selves.
In the comics, Billy and Tommy also go by the monikers Wiccan and Speed. The former gaining the magical powers of his mother, while the latter manifesting super speed like his uncle.
But are Billy and Tommy really Wanda and Vision’s children or just two random kids in Westview that she’s zombified?
As far as we can tell, Billy and Tommy really are Wanda and Vision’s kids. She has somehow manifested them into being. Monica addresses this in Episode 5 when she says:
Oh, Wanda’s twins are hers. Everything might look fake in the TV, but everything in there is real.
Hey, that cinema in the background was showing The Incredibles and The Parent Trap? What’s the significance of that?
That’s a cute reference to the themes we’ve seen so far in WandaVision. As you know, The Incredibles is a movie about a superhero family trying to live a normal life in suburbia, and The Parent Trap tells of the reuniting of two long lost twins. Sound familiar? It’s also a keen bit of product placement as both movies are available to stream on Disney+.
Does this week’s commercial make a reference to something in Wanda’s past?
Unlike what we’ve seen in previous episodes, this week’s fake commercial within Wanda’s fake sitcom doesn’t seem to reference an event from her past.
Paying homage to a retro Lunchables ad, we think that it might be a reference to the idea that something or someone is using her, sapping her energy, and “snacking” on her magic.
What’s going on with Monica Rambeau’s medical exams?
It looks like WandaVision is also giving us a backdoor superhero origin story.
In the comics, Monica Rambeau has gone by many superhero aliases. She was the first female Captain Marvel. She was also Daystar, Photon, and Pulsar, among others. Her superpowers allow her to transform into any form of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum.
In Episode 5, Darcy mentions that “the hex” is full of “cosmic microwave background radiation.” Maybe all of that has rewired Monica and given her superpowers.
Wait, if that’s true, then does that mean everyone inside “the hex” will end up having superpowers of some kind?
Maybe…
One theory is that Marvel might be using WandaVision to introduce mutants into the MCU. In House of M, one of the most controversial comic book storylines of all time, a distraught Wanda uses her powers to rid the world of mutants. (You can read all about that here.) What if WandaVision is the reverse of that? What if Wanda has caused a series of genetic mutations that inadvertently gives people superpowers. Thus introducing mutants into this universe.
Yes, we know. It isn’t a very elegant solution to the narrative problem they acquired when they bought Fox. Which is why we think it’s more likely that mutants in the MCU might be one of the side effects faced by some of those who returned after “The Blip.” As Hayward makes perfectly clear in this episode (“You people who left, still have the luxury of optimism. You have no idea what it was like. What it took to keep the lights on.”), there is still plenty of trauma left to address in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame.
What happened to Darcy?
At the end of this episode, Wanda grows the perimeter of “the hex” in order to save a disintegrating Vision. When she does this, her television universe absorbs everyone in her way, including a bunch of S.W.O.R.D. agents – who get transformed into clowns – and a handcuffed Darcy.
We have no idea who Darcy will become inside “the hex,” but we’re really hoping she’ll slip into her apron and go all 2 Broke Girls on us.
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